Before I add my two cents to the discussion about the 5-digit serial number, I'd like to ask Russell about the unit mark on the bottom of the front grip strap. The photo is somewhat unclear but it looks like SP. over ?. I can't make out the ? or whether there is a period between the S and P. I would greatly appreciate a clear photo of the mark or a good description. I'm also interested in knowing if the front of the grip strap appears to have been ground.
Notwithstanding the above uncertainties, your pistol belonged to the Schutzpolizei (SP. or S.P.) in one of the major cities in the Weimar German state of Saxony. The city is designated by the abbreviation below the SP. The most common one is Leipzig (L.). If the front of the grip strap has been ground, it almost certainly was to remove an earlier unit mark of the form S.L.Pol.xxxx. (S?¤chsische Landespolizei) of the State Police of Saxony.
Now, about the serial number. Not long ago, I posted the following on the new NAPCA forum hoping for some additional information on the topic Ed brought up here. So far, I have had no response.
Perhaps someone can clear up a couple of puzzles regarding DWMâ??s production in 1920 and 1921. The conventional wisdom as I understand it is that DWM resumed production in 1919-20 with two lines of production.
One line was the â??commercialâ? line beginning with approximately s/n 75000. This five-digit numbering scheme continued into 1921 up to about 92000 when it was replaced by the approach of limiting the numbers to blocks from 1 to 9999 followed by a letter suffix. The first of these was numbered approximately 2000i. The numbers were repeated with the letters incrementing through h, k, etc. to u when DWM (BKIW) production was transferred to Mauser in 1930.
The other production line was for military and police contracts. These pistols were chamber dated 1920 and 1921 and the parts serial numbered in the military style. Serial numbers began each year with 1 to 9999 no suffix and progressed through two successive blocks of numbers with â??aâ? and â??bâ? suffixes. This line of production was shut down in 1921 at the insistence of the Interallied Military Control Commission.
In my research into police unit markings, I have run across two challenges to this conventional wisdom.
Five-digit serial numbers beginning with â??8â?
About two years ago, there was a discussion on Jan Stillâ??s forum about several 1921-dated DWMs with five-digit serial numbers in the 8XXXX range and an â??aâ? suffix (http://luger.gunboards.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=664). Most of these were police unit marked O.P.M.xxx. A recent thread on the same forum revived this subject and came to the tentative conclusion that this marking represented the Ordnungspolizei of Mecklenberg-Schwerin (http://luger.gunboards.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5988). It was speculated that an â??8â? had been prefixed to the original serial numbers but no reason was identified.
In my database of police unit marks there are a number of 1921-dated Lugers with 8XXXXa serial numbers. There are also a number of examples of 1920 and 1921-dated pistols without suffixes that I am beginning to suspect really belong with this group. Hereâ??s what I have so far:
1920 dated, no suffix
83970
One intermediate
85260
1921 dated, no suffix
85473
8723x S.W.I.775
87893 S.W.I.719.
886xx S.H.888
88980 S.H.1208.
894xx S.W.I.1.145
At least two intermediate
89572
1921 dated, â??aâ? suffix
unknown O.P.M. 90
83203a O.P.M. 309
83204a O.P.M. 399
83240a O.P.M. 305
83282a O.P.M. 431
83426a S.Hn.
83591a O.P.M. 274
The entries without a unit mark and the statements about intermediate serial numbers are based on information in Jan Stillâ??s Weimar Lugers, Table 1a, p. 13. These represent serial numbers that have been included under the heading WEIMAR 5 DIGIT SN DWM LUGER.
I am wondering if all of the above should be considered together. I suspect this topic has been discussed in Auto Mag in past years and would appreciate any insights that may have been gained.
Ed has already posted some of the data listed above. If the chamber mark on Russell's gun is really the 1920 property stamp and it was originally part of DWM's postwar commercial production, there may be no real anomaly about it's serial number. The serial number on Russel's gun is centered on the frame and does not suggest that the lead "8" was added. This may also indicate that the other three pistols listed above as "1920 dated" fall into the same category. However, the same cannot be said for the "1921 dated" pistols with or without the "a" suffix.