LugerForum Discussion Forums - View Single Post - The Asterisk

Marvin · 11-20-2001, 08:22 PM

Hello All,

Well, due to my busy schedule this week, I decided to write my little explanation/opinion to the mysterious â??Asteriskâ? that is seen on the P.38, Lugers, and other German armaments in a little at a time and post it when I get completed. I have also posted this on the P.38 Forum as that is where I started a thread also. After thinking about Lugers having the "astersik", it needed to be dicussed here too.

I appreciate the different opinions, and that is what they are, opinions only. Even thought I have my opinion as stated below, I am not convinced it is the correct one by any means. When I was in Brazil, I wrote a little article on this opinion for NAPCA and immediately had responses that differed from mine. That is OK, and until some verified information comes to light, we will never know what this symbol means. I think we have had some good discussions and no one is right or wrong.

My theory began one day when I saw a photo on the Internet of a group of Allgemeine SS soldiers in a school classroom. On the chalkboard was various Runes/symbols used by the SS. When I got back home, I decided that I would look up the meaning of these symbols. One of these symbols on the board was the â??Asteriskâ?. This symbol was one of the old Germanic runes, which the SS was reviving at that time. I donâ??t remember exactly what the meaning was, but at the time the symbol made sense with the stamp on a weapon part. My theory is that the SS did provide labor to the various manufacturing plants in Germany and the plants paid the SS a small amount for each worker. If the plants were paying for this labor, to the SS, and I was a plant manager, I would want the SS to take some responsibility in these laborers providing part/s that were in specification. In addition to the regular Waffenamt inspection, I would want to know for sure the parts had not been sabotaged, etc. Since the SS were in control of the labor force as far as security was concerned, I would think the manufacturers would want the SS to take some responsibility for the parts their labor force generated? To do this, the SS would have a mark/stamp placed on randomly selected parts that were checked by them, in addition to the Waffenamt and plant checks? Since the SS was into the old Germanic Runes, the â??Asteriskâ? was a logical choice to use for this random check.

In a nutshell, this is my little theory and a theory only. I do not espouse this to be correct, just a thought only. What do you folks think? I think this has been a really good thread and got some of the posters thinking a little about the stamps on a pistol. I thank all those who participated and hope that one day, the truth will be know about this stamp.

Marvin

11-20-2001, 08:22 PM	#1
Marvin User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Upstate S.C. Posts: 1,132 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The Asterisk - My Theory Hello All, Well, due to my busy schedule this week, I decided to write my little explanation/opinion to the mysterious â??Asteriskâ? that is seen on the P.38, Lugers, and other German armaments in a little at a time and post it when I get completed. I have also posted this on the P.38 Forum as that is where I started a thread also. After thinking about Lugers having the "astersik", it needed to be dicussed here too. I appreciate the different opinions, and that is what they are, opinions only. Even thought I have my opinion as stated below, I am not convinced it is the correct one by any means. When I was in Brazil, I wrote a little article on this opinion for NAPCA and immediately had responses that differed from mine. That is OK, and until some verified information comes to light, we will never know what this symbol means. I think we have had some good discussions and no one is right or wrong. My theory began one day when I saw a photo on the Internet of a group of Allgemeine SS soldiers in a school classroom. On the chalkboard was various Runes/symbols used by the SS. When I got back home, I decided that I would look up the meaning of these symbols. One of these symbols on the board was the â??Asteriskâ?. This symbol was one of the old Germanic runes, which the SS was reviving at that time. I donâ??t remember exactly what the meaning was, but at the time the symbol made sense with the stamp on a weapon part. My theory is that the SS did provide labor to the various manufacturing plants in Germany and the plants paid the SS a small amount for each worker. If the plants were paying for this labor, to the SS, and I was a plant manager, I would want the SS to take some responsibility in these laborers providing part/s that were in specification. In addition to the regular Waffenamt inspection, I would want to know for sure the parts had not been sabotaged, etc. Since the SS were in control of the labor force as far as security was concerned, I would think the manufacturers would want the SS to take some responsibility for the parts their labor force generated? To do this, the SS would have a mark/stamp placed on randomly selected parts that were checked by them, in addition to the Waffenamt and plant checks? Since the SS was into the old Germanic Runes, the â??Asteriskâ? was a logical choice to use for this random check. In a nutshell, this is my little theory and a theory only. I do not espouse this to be correct, just a thought only. What do you folks think? I think this has been a really good thread and got some of the posters thinking a little about the stamps on a pistol. I thank all those who participated and hope that one day, the truth will be know about this stamp. Marvin