[MJRiggs]

John,
I took a look at the magazine numbers under a 30 power binocular microscope and they are definitely stamped. For comparison I took a look at the engraving on my cat's collar tag and I could easily see the swirls that you described, but there are no swirls in the magazine numbers. In fact the two number 1s on the mag base have identical imperfections so I am pretty sure they were made with the same die. However, I did not see any obvious displacement of the metal from the stamping, then again I did not see any of the displaced metal on any of the other stampings on the pistol so it is likely that I just do not know what I am looking for. I am not doubting your read on the re-stamping because I can clearly see were the medal was sanded away (there is a slight dip in the mag base when viewed from straight on), but I believe the renumbering was done by stamping and not engraving. I tried to get you some better close-ups of the mag base, but my camera is just not up to it. Thanks from the education on engraving vice stamping.

Could the magazine have been forced matched during a military rebuild, or was this most likely an attempt at faking a matching mag?

The close-up photos you requested are attached. I noticed that the font of the stamping on the receiver does not match the font on the front of the frame. Notice that the 1 on the receiver has a very long serif (almost looks like a number 7) while the serif on the 1 on the frame is very short. All the other serial number stamping seem to have the long serif on the 1.



Frank,
Thanks for your thoughts on the barrel numberings. My one and only reference is the Standard Catalog of Luger by Aarron Davis. Mr. Davis states that for my type of pistol "The full serial number is found on the bottom of the barrel, the front of the frame, and the left side of the receiver" but he does not mention if these locations should also include the serial number suffix. The only places I see the suffix on my P.08 is in front of the frame and on my doctored magazine base.

If I am reading your excellent sticky on Military Mauser Magazines (thank-you for that) I believe the magazine I have is a Type 5, when the pistol would have been issued with a Type 3, is that correct?



All,
How well respected is the Standard Catalog of Luger? I found it to be a good book for the new guys like me since it quickly identified my pistol, but I wonder about a few possible errors in the book. I take these to be publishing errors (since if a newbie like me can spot them I am sure the author knew better). For for example on the page for "Mauser 42 Code, Four-Digit Date" which describes my P.08 the markings section at the bottom of the page shows my pistol should have a "S/42" on the toggle and "e/655" acceptance marks vice the "42" and "e/63" that I believe to be correct.


I just noticed a small dot stamped on the bottom of the frame just in front of the trigger guard. You can see it in the photo above that shows the bottom of the barrel. It looks too deep and uniform to be a ding from the field. Any ideas what this mark is for?

Thanks everyone for all your time and insightful comments. I am really learning a lot and I really enjoy this forum.

Mike