1936 S/42 = "Banner"??? I don't get it...
 

Here is a link to a 1936 S/42 that I had bid on, but then got out bid.
S/42 on a certain Auction site

It's a nice Luger, but it has gone out of the range I think it's worth.
Despite all that, is there something about the 1936 and earlier Lugers that I'm missing? I remember an old collector friend of mine mentioned something about some Banner lugers being stamped with military stamps, or perhaps it was the other way around, that some were not stamped with Army stamps but were S/42 instead of Banner...

In the case of this example, it looks like a typical S/42 with Army stamps...I don't know where the Seller gets "Banner" from at all, as I certainly don't see a Mauser banner on it where the S/42 is.

Also, do 1936's command a higher price than others? The seem to, I've been trying to get a nice one for several months now, and they keep drifting up out of what I'm comfortable spending. I realize that the strawing makes it more desirable than the later '37's and later (all blued), is that it?

Just curious.

They were misinformed; a banner is a Mauser commericial luger, with some having gone into military and some into police service.


Take a look at Third Reich Lugers by Jan Still and you can see the different variations and also Banners.


Ed

Christian,

Your friends may be referring to a small group of commercial Mauser Luger pistols that have S/42 on the toggle instead of a Banner.
These are found between #5216v and #5569v; having 1938 on the chamber and C/U proofs. Only 8 have been reported so far. There are also some Banner marked toggles reported in this range, but these have chamber date 1939.
I hope this helps.

Its a bit odd that the pistol has an "in the white" extractor. I believe this should be blued as the rest of the toggle is. Maybe someone polished it to remove the rust spot.