Mike,
Your question is a good one. On one hand the answer is pretty straightforward, but as I have pondered it and done some book research I have come to realize that the 1902 model Luger is generally misunderstood.
The short answer to your question is, that the Dutch 1905 trials guns were actually ordered and delivered in 1904. The serial numbers suggest that both these guns and the 1904 German test Lugers were drawn from production at random, and there is no conflict about production dates.
I am still formulating a longer answer, about which these Lugers are only a part.
As collectors we sometimes throw dates around pretty casually. Many of our variation designations are based on ancillary information or ex post facto observations which obscure or ignore more pertinent facts about the guns themselves (sometimes the facts are, indeed, unknown), and which lead to erroneous conclusions. The dates by which we name these guns sometimes have little relationship to when they were actually made; the "1905 Dutch Test" designation is a good example.
--Dwight
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