DWM & Mauser Metallurgy
 

Has anyone measured or tracked DWM's and Mauser's P08 metallurgy during the P08 production run? I'm looking for more data along the lines of hardness tests reported by Gibson in his study of the Krieghoff Parabellum.

hardness
 

Hi Michael, do a search of 4140 on the forum here, Gerben send a materials chart, I know it's not any info on hardness, but it might be enlightening as to what was possible??... til...lat'r....GT:cheers:

Interesting side story..At a yard sale in Yuma AZ once a guy has a Mauser..41 BYF I think..I am looking it over cause it's reasonable..then I notice a thin crack in the bolt. I look closer..the thing is cracked all over. Like it had been dipped in liquid nitrogen and hit with a hammer. Cracks so fine they were hard to detect but there they were.

Really scary story Jerry. What happened to the gun? It would make a great display piece!

I don't have Gibson's book, but IIRC this has come up before, and a member pointed out that not only are different parts of Lugers different hardnesses but also different alloys. This makes sense, as unstressed parts need not be expensive alloys or unnecessarily heat treated. And wartime manufacture would have led to shortcuts in quality.

I have John Sabato's blueprints CD but my German is pitiful; maybe someone with more fluency could see if the prints specify heat treatment???

Did Mauser ever employ slave labor?

I know that the P38 crowd is wary and carefully inspects CYQ, (Spreewerk) coded guns because Spreewerk used slave labor extensively and it is not terribly unusual to find the inside of a slide rail hacksawed and various other examples of "production flaws".

John, I really can't say cause I lost track of it..I do know the seller though. I can call and ask him.

Yes - there were "Guest Workers" at the Mauser Oberndorf facility. They had their own camp several kilometers from the factory site.

Marc