Suspicious s/42 on WW1 DWM
 

when looking at the barrel of a DWM 1916 (all visible numbers matching, no import mark) I saw between the serial number and the caliber marking a small but visible S/42, I am pretty well-versed on German Mausers but not Lugers.

Question, anyone ever heard of Mauser stamping WW1 Lugers almost 19 years after they were made for use during the Third Reich, (it does not seem logical but you are the experts)?

The barrel Looks like this from the bottom:

1XX (serial number)

S/42 (but picture it perpendicular to the serial and caliber)


8,82 (caliber)
RECEIVER

It is a Mauser made replacement barrel.
After 19 years of service, barrels can wear out.

Vlim, THANKS

So it was not uncommon for Mauser to stamp the replacement barrel with the original serial number of the Luger?

It looked too correct to be a forgery, but with Third Reich stuff I was always taught to first assume fake, until an expert (like yourself) can give some guidance.

Cool, means the Luger served the Fatherland twice.

Are photos of the gun and barrel markings possible?
dju

The Germans did the same thing when they upgraded the WWI-era Gewehr 98 rifles to WWII standards. I have a 1916 Gewehr 98 that was reissued for WWII use and it's marked "S/42" on the right side of the receiver and the rear sight parts. I would assume they did the same thing to pre-WWII pistols that were intended to be used by the Wehrmacht.

Not Mauser, necessarily. The S42 stamp indicates a replacement part made by Mauser. It could have ended up as Heers Zeugamt (arms depot) stock, a unit armorer's replacement part, or obtained by a police organization.

The standard practice was, to number a replacement part the same as the pistol to which it was applied, regardless of the organization which made the alteration.

--Dwight