Interesting reflection.
 

The production of Mauser Parabellum in 7,65mm was much reduced with respect to the 9mm. To clear figure out this point please note that:

1. The first .30luger is numbered 10.001001 the first 9mm is numbered 11.001001.

2. In the 1972, at the beginning of the production, the 9mm serial number was around 11.007xxx. It means that around 6000 pistols were made at the end of 1972.

3. In the 1986, at the end of the production, the serial number for the 7,65mm was around 10.0058xx. It means that in about 14 years the Mauser Parabellum production in .30luger was about 4800 pistols, an average of 300 pistols per year.

Hi Mauro,

As I own 7.65 #4187 with a 1972 proof date, and the 1986 versions end with #58xx, it makes things even spookier.

This would make some 115 7.65 Lugers a year between 1972 and 1986. It seems the bulk was made in 1972.

Very interesting Gerben,
Should be very useful to know some serial numbers in the period 1973 - 1985 to have an idea about the .30 luger Parabellum progression.
According to you it seems that the maximum effort has been done in the 1972.
If other Luger Forum members have Parabellum in .30luger, please post your serial number range. In this way it is possible to build a statistic per year.
Thank you
Mauro

Hi Mauro,

I think they produced a good quantity of 7.65mm barrels in the early years and had enough in stock to cover demand well into the 1980s.

There is even a good chance that there was an initial run of a few thousand 7.65 commercial pattern pistols made in 1972 that again lasted until the mid 80s.

Mine is an early number 10.00.1336 and the enclosed target is dated 1970. There is no date stamping of the gun. It has a straight "Swiss" style frame. When was the change made to the German style with the curved backstrap?

Steve

Steve,
Thank you for the interesting information. Your pistol, a 29/70 model, is the 335th made by Mauser in the very early time of production.

The change to the model 06/73 was done during the 1972.

Please can you post photos of your interesting pistol?

Thank you in advance.
Mauro Baudino

The 11 & 10 prefix style serial numbers may only apply to the pistols intended for the US market. I have one intended for the Italian market and the serial number does not follow the above pattern at all. How many were made with other serial number styles and not generally seen in the US?

As for 11 & 10 prefix style serial numbers, I have #19 from the prototype run of 50 pieces. Any one have an earlier number? (The prototype run of 50 pieces did not have the shoulders rounded on the receiver.)

Hello fellows,
Being Italian please let me clarify a point related to the Renato Gamba Mauser Parabellum. Renato Gamba in the near 1970 produced under Mauser license the HSC model in Italy. Due to his "particular relationshipâ?� with Mauser, he asked for a customization of the 06/73 Mauser Parabellum knows in Italy as Renato Gamba contract. These Mauser Parabellum are marked on the chamber with RG and on the right site â??Serie Speciale Renato Gambaâ?�. The serial number is RG xxxx â?? 1001.
Unfortunately the Renato Gambaâ??s firm had a serious problem and was not able to buy the entire production (1000 pistols).
Therefore Mauser decided to sell these pistols in other markets, mainly USA.

Today in Italy there are few Renato Gamba models as well as the usual production with 10.xxxxxx and 11.xxxxxx as well as in other countries in Europe. This numbering is NOT a special feature for the USA Interarms model.

The numbering 10.xxxxxx and 11.xxxxxx was used by Mauser for all commercial models excluded the Commemorative Models and the Renato Gamba contract.

Unspellable please can you post some pics of your interesting prototype?
Thank you in advance.

Mauro

I am in kind of a weak position for taking pictures and getting them posted, but I'll see what I can do.

Unspellable, if you have a flatbed scanner, you can sometimes get a pretty good image... if it comes out too large to post, you can email it to one of us to assist...

I do have a flatbed scanner. If I can get time tonight I'll give it a whack.

(I get two coffe breaks and a lunch break at work. Now if I could convince the other half that the same ought to apply to the honey dew list...)

try a color scan at about 200 dpi... and cover the pistol laying flat on the glass with a dark colored cloth...we will be waiting to see the images...

Here are three views of #19. The last (4th) view is of #40XX for comparison. Note the shoulders have not been machined off the receiver of #19. (Either side of the eagle or where the date would be on a P08.)

<a href="http://forums.lugerforum.com/lfupload/nhc_para_19_left_copy1.jpg" target="_fullview"><img src="http://forums.lugerforum.com/lfupload/nhc_para_19_left_copy1.jpg" width="400" alt="Click for fullsize image" /></a>

<a href="http://forums.lugerforum.com/lfupload/nhc_para_19_right_copy1.jpg" target="_fullview"><img src="http://forums.lugerforum.com/lfupload/nhc_para_19_right_copy1.jpg" width="400" alt="Click for fullsize image" /></a>

<a href="http://forums.lugerforum.com/lfupload/nhc_para_19_top_copy1.jpg" target="_fullview"><img src="http://forums.lugerforum.com/lfupload/nhc_para_19_top_copy1.jpg" width="400" alt="Click for fullsize image" /></a>

<a href="http://forums.lugerforum.com/lfupload/nhc_para_40xx_top_copy1.jpg" target="_fullview"><img src="http://forums.lugerforum.com/lfupload/nhc_para_40xx_top_copy1.jpg" width="400" alt="Click for fullsize image" /></a>

(Message post edited to insert thumbnail images that link to the full size scanned images â?? Admin-JS)

Hello Unspellable,
Thank you for the pictures. Unfortunatly the quality is not good enought to appreciate details. May be you have some friends with a digital camera that can shoot some photos of your #19.
Ciao
Mauro

I'm going to try this again with a dark cloth over the scanner and see if it improves the detail.

Hello everybody,
Just read on the Walterâ??s book â??The Luger Storyâ?�, in the section related to the Mauser Parabellum, at page 236:
â??â?¦.production by 1985 actually totaled 5070 7.65mm caliber guns and 16220 9mm examples.â?�
Ciao

In the Dec 79 issue of the American Rifleman, there is a six page article on these, it was written with the assistance of Carl Ring of Interarms, and Rolf Gminder, Manager at Oberndorf. Gamba order was 1000 pieces. They were restricted to 200, but before the decision was made, a thousand frames were made with the "RG" along with the normal serial#. Interarms bought 100 of these in 30 cal-4 inch, marked in their usual manner.

Hello Hondo,
I see that this is your first post therefore welcome.
Thank you for the very interesting information about the early years of Mauser Parabellum production. You confirm what I have previously written about the Gamba model adding the actual quantities of production. If you have few minutes, please can you send me a scan of the article you mentioned; I am really interesting in this matter.
Thank you.
Ciao
Mauro