Legit Unit Markings?????
 

Is this unit marking legit? No periods after each letter/number???


http://www.rockislandauction.com/vie...id/59/lid/3500

Given the date and condition, the whole thing might be questionable.

They sure have a lot of navy Lugers in the running.

I agree George. Markings look so crisp and clear and hardly any wear from handling and the absence of any periods is what bothers me the most. Bluing is just too perfect for me.

The unit markings do have the requisite halo....:confused:

Im curious about this marking on a 1906 navy. The back of the grip is marked WW/5751. When you zoom in at the marking its got some noticeable machine marks in the grooves of the lettering. Is that a common look for these markings? I know they were not put on the gun at the factory I don't think. Im just curious about what one looks like up and close.

http://www.rockislandauction.com/vie...aid/59/lid/420

Attachment 35321

Hi Glenn, That unit marking is perfectly legit. The Wilhelmshaven dockyard was unique in that it used a pantograph machine for most (but not all) of their property markings. All other dockyards and units stamped their marks.
Regards, Norm

Nice! When I first saw the picture on rock island, it almost looked like a weld. If you look at welds a lot, when someone welds with 6010, it looks like stacked dimes when its welded correct. Inside the W's that what it looked like when you zoom in on it. The rest of the particular luger looked correct, actually pretty nice looking to me. Interesting! thanks Norme.

Any suggestions why there are no periods?

I agree with Kubel. The halos look good to me.

The whole pistol looks bogus to me. The halos are round, they should follow the edges of the stamps. There's no halo at the bottom of the seven. Appears to have been done with a mini bead blaster.

The grips look like after market replacements. They are shiney and have some type of finish on them, smooth rounded checkering and show no wear or marks at all.

The high edge wear on the upper is very slight, even on the ears, while the receiver rails have heavier edge wear, and show knicks. There is very little if any wear on the muzzle ring, where holster wear is most commonly found. And no wear at all on the grip strap.

I just don't know. When it comes to unit markings, I'm still in boot camp. The variations are marked in so many different ways. The only way to learn is to read and ask.

It's very rare to find bogus unit marks on a pistol. Very few people know how to translate them correctly, and stamps in the correct old world font are nearly impossible to find.

Up until just the last few years, most collectors weren't interested. Even now many consider them to be a drawback to a Luger's collectability and value. So, boosters are just beginning to add them in hopes of hooking novice Unit Mark collectors.

This one is done in a convincing font, but the lack of periods does raise a red flag. Unit marks are often found to be not to regulation, and it takes an experienced eye.

The halos on this Luger are a joke IMO, and make the unit mark very questionable.

Halos are not that hard to fake. A baby Q Tip dipped in Birchwood Casey blueing remover watered down properly would create these types of halos. As pointed out, halos should not bloom out from the stampings, but should fairly follow the stamping's conture.
These do not.