Hello Norm,
I think the one on the auction that I provided a link for is a 1902 model. I believe the 1920 carbine would have the New Model toggle knobs, not the Old Model dished toggle knobs. I have read that some authors think 1920 carbines were Weimar-era "parts guns" (done at the factory...) but may not have been regular production offerings.
I was lucky enough to see a nice 1920 carbine change ownership at the November Reno gun show last fall.
The only reference I can find in my luger library (which at only 40 books is certainly not vast...) is in Fred A. Datig's book, "The Luger Pistol" on page 79 where he writes :
"...All production Luger Carbines were of one caliber, 7.65 mm. A very few were maded up on special order in caliber 9 mm, but because the bottlenecked 7.65 mm cartridge proved to be much more popular that the straight cased 9 mm round, the latter was discontinued....".
I would assume Mr. Datig was accurate with his research and findings, as he had met and interviewed both Georg Luger Jr. and August Weiss during his book research...but maybe this has been proven "not correct" in subsequent years...(?)
I have also been told by a pretty knowledgeable local collector that any "real" 1902 9 mm carbine would not have the accelerator spring in the forestock (and would have no evidence of its removal, either); as the 1902 7.65 mm carbine would have. This extra spring was apparently required to assist with the extra mass of carbine recoil at the small 7.65 mm load...
Do not know if this characteristic of a 9 mm carbine is true or not...as I have never had such a carbine in my hands to examine.
Maybe our Imperial experts on the Forum can clarify this and let us know if 9 mm carbines are accepted as very rare pieces or only spurious pieces...(?)
Regards,
Pete... <img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />