Letter stamps inside frame
 

Hi Everyone,
This past weekend I decided to get my 08 out and do a thorough cleaning on it and came across a couple of things that I wanted to share with eveyone. It is a 1940 Mauser 42 code.

The first thing was when I was cleaning the frame I noticed that there are what appears to be two letters on the inside of the frame located at the rear of the frame where it curves back from the handle. The letters are U and B one above the other. I do not know if this has been brought up before and was curious as to what they represent. Are they acceptance code or manufacturing? Has anyone else notice this before and what letters have you guys come across?

The second thing is when I took apart the firing pin. I wanted to clean the inside of the pin to get out any gunk that may have built up. Well I was not sure as how to go about doing this until I noticed a cleaning rod pad for a 22 that I had. What I did was place a couple of gun patches w/clp over the end and used that to clean the inside. It worked quite well. What other methods has everyone used to clean this up?

Thanks.

Sid.

Tooth brush with soft nylon bristles, quitips with any solvent\oil\acetone\etc you want on it. Some have lanolin on them however. Hoppes #9, CLENZOIL are my mainstays.

Hi Thor, thanks for the tip, no pun intended. I will give that a go next time.

So anyone have any answers to my first question about the letters stamped inside the frame.

Sid.

those are marks left by the individual elves, and you gotta feed em BIER and ice cream to keep them going! WHEW!! hahahaha

Sid,
Those are inspector's marks and turn up all over the place in different Lugers. If you take the grips off and look on some of the frame webs you will probably find some there too.

Sid, my 42 1940 also has letters, they look like F (for sure), then probably an O and then an H, then towards the front there is an S in the well of the triger plate catch.

Ed

Thanks guys, I really would not have noticed them but was taking a hard look at all the parts, how they work together and trying to figure out how they were made. That was when I noticed the two letters. I will take another look and see what others I can find.
Thor, are you sure it isn't beir and Thai food? I think that would get them going a little better than the ice cream. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Sid.