Hello Mike Burley... Welcome to the Lugerforum.

The answer to your question can be found in this thread:

http://forums.lugerforum.com/cgi-bin...;f=12;t=000086

There is a forum search function at the top of the page for your convenience in locating information that might have been asked previously...

I know that you will find owning and shooting your Parabellum Mauser a real pleasure...

Enjoy.

Mike Burley,

Welcome to our forum! Where in Oregon do you live? Several of us on the forum live in the state. What show did you find your gun at? I have not seen one at the shows in Portland.

If you are interested in finding out about the Mausers, get a copy of The Mauser Parabellum by Francis Allan. Tom Heller sometimes has copies for sale. He is listed in the Links and Resources at the left. His are cheaper than ones I have found on the web.

My Mauser is .30cal but my 9mm guns all like the S&B ammo that is sold at the gunshows. The last show in Portland had it for $4.50/50. Cheap and very good!

Steve

Hi Tac,

The Mauser Parabellums were proofed by the Ulm proofhouse, thus have the staghorn mark.

We have observed that Mauser Parabellums, proofed until 1972 indeed have the 2 last digits of the year and those proofed from 1973 onwards have letter-coded dates.

It appears that the Walther target pistols, having staghorn stamps, are proofed by the Ulm proof house as well.

Do they have date-letters (A-J combinations) or date-digits (75 - 97)?

I still have several new copies of "The Mauser Parabellum" book available @$30 each postpaid. Also have Kenyon's "Lugers at Random" @$60 and a close out special on Datig's luger books, "The German Military Pistols 1904-1930" or "The Swiss Variations 1897-1947" @$15 each or both for $25. Additional postage require for none US orders. Tom Heller POB 398 St.Charles, MO. 63302.

My Luger has the Mauser FBM proof mark, so I assume there is no way to date it precisly? I bought it at the Portland gun show at the Expo Center Sept. 12. Two dealers had Lugers for sale. The dealer I bought from also had a Stoeger Navy in stainless. I bought a box of Winchester (USA) ammo for it. I will look for some S&B at the next gun show in Canby. I live in Wilsonville.

Mike

Mike you should also find the Winchester ammo to be satisfactory... many swear by it for reliability... you can buy it in a bulk pack of 100 rounds at walmart for about $11.00 or less.

Regarding the year your gun was produced, the thread I mentioned had this information:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by mauro:
the production date is stamped on the frame left side. Usually close to the Ulm acceptance mark there are two digit or two letter. If you have two digits, they represents the last two digits of the year, for example (73 for 1973). At a certain point of the production, Mauser started to use two characters instead of digits. In this case you have to apply the following rule: A=0, B=1, C=2 .. For example HI, it means 78.

-------------------------------------------------

So what numbers or letters appear on the left front of your frame?

Hi Gregg,

The folks at Simpson LTD usually have a few for sale. Private party sales between USA collectors will probably be a $ 100-150 less in cost...

Here is their web site link :

http://www.simpsonltd.com/LugerRoom/...rms_lugers.htm

Regards,

Pete... <img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />

JS-

I have one box of the Winchester 115 gr. fmj ammo. I'll have to check out Walmart. Thanks for the tip. $$$

Mauro's thread goes on to say that the letters or numbers next to the Ulm proofmark only appear on non export Lugers. Interarms imports simply have a Mauser "FBM" proof mark on the frame above the take down latch. It seems there ought to be a way to determine the guns vintage by its serial number.(?) What year did production start on the Mauser Parabellum?

Mike

Not all of the re-intros followed to 10.xxxx or 11.xxx serial number format. I think this format was sued for those intended for the US market. I have one intended for the Italian market that has a totally different style of serial number.

I also have #19 from the proto type production run of 50 pieces. The full production run starts at #51. There was a modification i nthe receiver ring going from #50 to #51.

Hello,
Concerning the serial number it is important to clarify some points:
1. the commercial numbering is 10.xxxxxx for the .30 Luger and 11.xxxxxx for the 9mm
2. the commemorative numbering is â??lettersâ?�001 von 250 up to â??lettersâ?�250 von 250. The letter is unique for each commemorative, for example: B for the Bulgarian, LP for Lange Pistole, K for Karabine and so on.
3. The special contract, as the Renato Gamba Italian model, has RG plus digit.
4. Only for the Italian market, in this case for the Bignami importer, Mauser made few LP08s in .30 luger that have the commercial number: 10.00xxxx
The serial number of these rare models ranges in the 10.0055xx ... 10.0056xx

Unspellable please can post some photos of the prototype you mention. Thank you.

Ciao
Mauro