Auction # 40250081
 

On gunbroker this artillery is offered . It has a "9" burned into each grip. Weren't the nines used on the early artillery's to reduce confusion about caliber? Is it common to even correct to find these on a 1917 artillery?

jimmiej, It would be interesting to see if the grips are numbered to the pistol....Jerry Burney

The nines on artillery Lugers are thought to be due to confusion on the company and battalion level that arose from directives addressing the concurrent issue of 9mm Parabellum C96 pistols. Only 1917 dated LP08's so marked are reported.

JimmyJ,
George is right, but the "Red Nine" grips look so cool on an artillery Luger that, over the years, people put them on other chamber dated years of Lugers. I once bought a 1914 DWM artillery that had repro grips on it. I put a set of "Red Nine" grips on it. Then I found some original grips with "Trench Art" on them and put them on it. That really dressed up that artillery.
Big Norm