[Anfanger]

Photos and information in two well known Luger references, (Kenyon and Jones), both show the 1920 Carbine, Less Forearm, as posted by Eric. Also posted by Eric are the threads from landofborchardt.com, with this quote: "The Luger carbine reappeared in the 1920's, but as a new model parts gun, assembled by DWM/BKIW from WW1 and other commercial surplus Luger parts, being offered in a wide variety of configurations, mostly with mismatched serial numbers, being advertised in many 1920 American sales catalogs."

With respect, and understanding that this thread got highjacked talking about Ed's carbine, could the focus return to the original thread?
There is a lot of info in the above quote, and it all may apply to the topic of the original thread:
"reappeared in the 1920's"
"new model parts gun"
"assembled from...WW1 and other commercial surplus luger parts"
"wide variety of configurations"
"mostly mismatched serial numbers"

Books can and do have errors. Here are two authors, still being referenced by Luger collectors, both with correlating evidence to the existence of a 1920 Carbine, Less Forearm.
I have not fired mine to know if it functions properly without the forearm bar soldered to the front of the frame, but I think it will based on info in the Jones book, (see below). I have compared its condition and witness mark with several other Lugers that are in my collection, and feel that the witness mark is authentic and correct, and I'm not convinced that the barrel was replaced.
Referring to "Luger Variations", by Jones, on pg 30 there is a table showing all the different spring criteria. This chart was posted by Sheepherder a couple days ago for GT who is working on mainsprings. This table makes reference to the differences between springs in carbines with and without forearms. The carbine (w/ no forearm), has a spring with 51-54 pounds required for complete compression. This value is in line with the poundage of all other listed lugers, except the carbine with forearm, which is roughly half, at 23 pounds. At the bottom of the table is the following note, that explains this: "Note: The 1920 Carbine (with forearm) has an auxiliary recoil spring in the wooden forearm, and the two springs combined have the correct poundage (51)."
I will continue to search the forum for info about carbines without forearms, and welcome those references if someone has them.
If someone else has one these, please let me know.
I have looked at page 98 (P08 Carbine) of the commercial database, and there is one listed, S/N3 as "no forend", but it has an artillery style barrel and sight. Also on the carbine list is S/N 93, "no forestock".
There is also S/N 1896k, carbine style barrel, no forend. S/N 8939t has 11 3/4" barrel and ramp sight.

Should there be newer, published in a reference book information regarding this variation, the "1920 Carbine, Less Forearm", I would like to learn of it.
Many thanks to all who have contributed to this thread, and to all of us who continue to study and learn about these fascinating firearms.