Receiver C/Ms
 

Do these C/Ms look engraved? The pic is off a Navy for sale on Simpsons site and has been for quite some time as I recall...

Grappa, they sure do, in my opinion, especially the long stems of the "M".

Although I agree that the c/M look odd, this Luger needs hands-on inspection before making this determination. I have seen this "engraved" effect in a photograph of a witness mark, which was well and truly stamped.

--Dwight

If you look at the horizontal serif's on all of the m's, you will see a discoloration. This indicates that the proof marks were stamped on the receiver after the blueing had been applied. This is a good indicator of how to tell if the proof marks were applied to any weapon before or after the blueing process. This is something that all of old timers look for. Chuck Duke :D

If I'm not mistaken, the "halo" effect described above would only occur in a stamping where some of the metal around the mark has been displaced. I would not expect this with an engraving.

Don, that is correct. This mostly occurs when the surface metal has been disturbed. Ill bet if you look closely with a jewelers loop, there will be little to no dirt in the indentations. Chuck