Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Wood
Sicherheits Polizei Gumbinnen (Sp?)?
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Ron's guess may be correct if the pistol was manufactured and issued before March 1920 when the Prussian Sipo markings apparently were standardized. Although a copy of this order has not been found, it probably was consistent with the April 1922 Schupo order that specified markings were to be applied from the bottom up and that the marking for the Gumbinnen district was
S.G. (HWIS pp. 56-7). Since there is no holdopen on this gun, it probably is old enough. The Gumbinnen district was captured by the Russians which is consistent with the evidence suggesting use by the DDR.
The fact that it has a sear safety indicates it was in police use in 1934 and probably throughout WWII. This raises the question why an outdated Sipo marking was never brought into conformance with either the 1922 or 1932 marking instructions. This reduces the confidence that it was from Gumbinnen since there are observed examples of updated Schupo markings from this district (HWIS pp. 170-1).
While
Sicherheitspolizei Gumbinnen is the most likely id, I would put the probability at about 60-70%.