Indentification
 

Recently I purchased a 'shooter'. I had asked for a ww1 military Luger. I received a re blued 1916 dwm with a good bore. So far so good. But I have just noticed a curious line stamped on the bottom of the barrel 'zdf slc ut p-08 9mm ger'. What does this tell me? Is this an original ww1 pistol? Is it military or commercial?

That is the importer's mark,evidently a firm out of Salt Lake City, Utah. It is WWI and it is military. The term "original" has two connotations. It is not original in that it has been reblued, but it was originally used in WWI.

Thanks! Can you break down the 'code' for me. I see 'ut' guess that means Utah. Why did the importer stamp the gun? Can I find out when the gun was imported?

slc is Salt Lake City. I have no idea what "zdf" means. The P-08 and 9mm is pretty well self-explanatory. Perhaps another forum member is familar with the import firm and can interpret the zdf marking. The stamp is required by law to import former "military" issue weapons to identify and track their distribution. Probably the import date is a matter of record, but it really isn't worth the effort to try to trace it. In all likelihood, it has been within the last five to ten years, perhaps even more recently.

Jerry, The markings are ZDF Import/Export Inc., otherwise known as Robinson Armament Company, P.O. Box 16776, Salt Lake City, Utah 84116. Thier web site is http://www.robarm.com

Thank you very much for the infomation! I really appreciate it.