1906 W+F question
 

It has been a few years since I have been on here, in those years two kids have been brought to the world and we moved to Switzerland at the end of 2011. I am actually working on the site of Waffenfabrik Bern :)

Naturally I have begun looking for a good Swiss parabellum. I have found a W+F 1906 for a reasonable price and the shop proudly states that the sights are in original condition, i.e. with a V notch rear sight and original front sight.

I have done a little digging and found out that many were modified with a U notch but no information on the front sight. Could anyone enlighten me as to the nature of the official sight modification?

Hi Fabian,
Original front sights are inverted V shaped. When the Swiss modified the sights they filed the rear sight into a U shape and replaced the front sight with one that has a squared/flat top. This gave the Luger a sight picture that matches modern guns.

Thanks for the answer!

Hi Fabian!
I totally agree with Mike. I would just add that, in years dealing with Swiss Lugers, I noticed that the "U" rear sight modification is by far more common than the front sight modification. In other words, you can find a lot of M1900, M1900/06 and M1900/06 WF with "U" notch rear sight and standard front sight, but not so many with front sight replaced.
The standard military front sights for Swiss Lugers came in various heights so marked:
Normal (no marks ) = 6,4 mm
+ (plus) = 6,7 mm
+. (plus dot) = 7 mm
- (minus) = 6,1 mm
Aiming was done at the Pistol target at 6 o'clock black at 50m. with the Parabellum and at 25m. with the revolver 1882/29 which had the very same front sight of the M1906/29 but a different (larger diameter) muzzle base which makes the M1906/29 front sight installers/adjusters worthless. A larger front installer/adjuster was used on the M1882/29 revolvers and is by far rarer that those for the Lugers.
Hope this can help.
Fausto

Front Sight Profiles
 

Hi, Here are front sight profile pictures of my

(top) DWM Swiss 1900/06 (with U shaped rear notch sight):

(bottom) And W+F 1906 (with "V" shaped rear notch sight):

Are these both the original (not replaced on the 1900/06 DWM) front sights?

Both front sights are blued, just the way the light reflected in the second picture...

Marc

Marc.
It is easier to see from an angle but, I beleive the profile shows they are both original front sights. If they are wider at the bottom of the blade than the top (inverted v), they are probably original.