Several unit markings
 

Gentlemen,

Mr. G. Fjeld, curator at the Norwegian Defence Museum, has gone through the 2,500 uncategorized Luger pistols in their stores. Among these guns he found unit markings on more than 220 pistols. He published his findings in a Norwegian publication and has kindly permitted me to post some of them here.

Many of these guns were mismatched after long service careers with the Norwegian armed forces, therefore he has not yet taken down details on year of manufacture, maker, safeties or other markings. I thought the unit markings may be interesting to the collecting world anyway, I'll start with the 18 Sc�¼tzpolizei Berlin guns (S.B. XXXX):

127
165
279
2221
2361
3025 (with X-ed out S.B. III. 1.257)
4919 (X-ed out)
5487
5580
8179
9780
10085
10664
11093
16201
16880
16996
16998

There are also police markings from other cities and districts. The navy and army are also represented with several guns.

These markings have so far not been identified, maybe somebody can help:

B.S. 51 (and several other B.S. marked)
Ã??
S.L.Pol. 1940 (X-ed out)
Pw B
5.K.I.31
L.G.Ri. and also on the same gun: S.L.Pol.
P.C.5
S.L.266
S.P. D.

I've invited Mr. Fjeld to participate on this board, maybe we all can learn a thing or two.

Regards,

Balder

Hello Balder,

This is quite a list! I hope you can persuade Mr. Fjeld to add the details of the guns. Many collectors would be interested and, in some cases, it may help identify the markings. Here's my best guesses at some of the police markings:

B.S. 51 (and several other B.S. marked) - May be Braunschwigische Schutzpolei but more info about the marking and the guns is needed

Ã?? - ?

S.L.Pol. 1940 (X-ed out) - S�¤chsische Landessicherheitspolizei, weapon # 1940

Pw B - Polizeiwehr Bayerns

5.K.I.31 - If the 5 is really an "S", this is the Schutzpolizei of the administrative district of K�¶slin in Pommern province; otherwise, it is probably a military marking

L.G.Ri. and also on the same gun: S.L.Pol. - The first marking was S.L.Pol. and it has the meaning discussed above. The pistol was transferred to the Saxon Gendarmerie and re-marked by the Landgendarmerie at Riesa.

P.C.5 - ?

S.L.266 - May be an early mark of the Schutzpolizei of the district of L�¼neburg. Need to know more about the gun and marking.

S.P. D. - S�¤chsiche Polizei Dresden

I'm sure there is a story behind these pistols. It appears that a lot of German police, or at least their weapons, were brought to Norway. Anything you can learn from Mr. Fjeld about this would be very interesting.

Don,

Thanks for a quick and, as always, very informative response. The unknown markings may or may not be police. I hope Mr. Fjeld will chime in with more detailed information, but I can see how it may take some time to get all the details right - we're talking quite a number of guns here.

Regards,

Balder

I can add that the Berlin pistols came from the following Polizeigruppen in Berlin:

Gruppe Mitte
127
165
279
2221
2361
3025 (with X-ed out S.B. III. 1.257)
4919 (X-ed out)

Gruppe West
5487
5580
8179

Gruppe S�¼d
9780
10085
10664
11093

Gruppe S�¼dost
16201
16880
16996
16998

Would Combat Police Batallions be issued unit marked weapons from their respective districts? Or would they generally have unmarked newer production?