Very nice model George !
According to what I read, the "Prussian eagle" should have been used on trigger-guard as a property mark. But the official directive seems to have been transmited to the units armorers beginning of 1918. Due to the situation, only few pistols were marked.
There is something similar with swiss military pistols. Some pieces were sold on the private market. These specimen have a serial number beginning with a "P" what means private. On the other hand, swiss army members, holder of a gun, were allowed to keep it after they had completed their military duties ( age 20 to 50 , now 20 to 32 )
The day of the "liberation" the weapons were marked with a "P" anywhere ( normally on trigger-guard ). This ment the gun was no more " in duty".
Some book especially americans make a confusion between these "P" markings. The fact is that the specimen produced for the commercial market, had the "P" only before the serial number, and these numbers where different from military serials.....
For example the P49 ( SIG P210) military serials begin with 100'000, and the commercial with 50'000. The same happened with the P 06/29. Military numbers are in the range 50'000 to 77'000, and commercial in the 20'000 ( more or less)
In 1998 the swiss army sold huge quantities of the former infantry rifle, K31 Gewehr ( 7,5x55 swiss) . You could get it for $80 , and for $120 you got the rifle and the bayonet with identical serial number.
Many people think that gun and bayonet were delivered together, but in fact it was not the case. After the ceremony of the "handing" of the guns, during the first week of the "recruit school " , the new soldiers went to the battalion armorer to let their bayonet be marked at the same number as the rifle....and not everybody did, because it was only a use not a guideline....
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