Thanks for the responses!
You are absolutely right about me trying to draw those symbols, Dwight. I will see if someone at work has a better close-up camera I can borrow. I did find a 10x pocket microscope, and looked at everything again. That symbol on the left side of the barrel actually looks nothing like the drawing I made - which was based on what I saw through a 2x magnifying glass. With the 10x scope I saw extra marks and polished areas that make me think someone filed away (poorly) an older image and then did a poor job striking an eagle in its place.
When I get the camera I will take a photo of the suffix letter on the front of the frame also. I cannot find it in the Letter Suffixes Charts, but here is how I'd describe it: if you go to the "Letter Suffixes Chart 1" and overlay the 1st "Q" on the 2nd "A", that's what it looks like. For some reason I can't get into Ed Tinker's photo list to see if there is already a picture of it there.
As for the magazine not having a s/n - I swear, it does not look like there were ever any numbers on the magazine, Ed. No scratches or file marks or polished places either. How hard would it have been for someone to transfer the aluminum bottom onto a new magazine?
Finally, the 10x scope showed that the "3" of the number "36" on the trigger slide plate looks to have been struck over a "4" .
Could this have been done in an effort to deceive?
JohnH
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