Tony,
I think that no one has risen to the challenge because they havenâ??t any answers. I know that is my situation.
There is no provenance for this Luger or documentation to which to refer. It is interesting that it was purchased as a lot with two valid test pieces. That adds a tenuous link to Springfield Armory ownership and possible testing; therefore I would highly encourage that the circumstances surrounding its purchase be documented to provide a reference in the future to preclude this linkage from being lost.
However, that in itself does not validate this Luger as a US test item. Albertâ??s hypothesis that the â??US Sâ? markings could stand for â??US Springfieldâ? is a possibility, but it does seem an odd and crude way to mark the piece. Also in the odd and crude category are the three holes in the recoil lug. I might as well go out on a limb with a WAG and suggest that it was an attempt to lighten the barrel/receiver group to improve the loading and ejection functions during firing. That is an imprecise sledgehammer approach to the problem, but then again the Luger action, and in particular the 9mm cartridge, were new concepts back then so a ham-handed tinkerer at the Armory (or in Bubbaâ??s basement) may have thought it was a good idea.
Gerben van Vlimmeren has already pointed out that the only documented 9mm pieces tested by the Army outside of the Cartridge Counter series were part of the 5 Lugers personally presented by Georg Luger to the Ordnance Board at Springfield Armory on 21 May 1903. Two of the 5 Lugers were in 7.65mm and three were 9mm. The 9mm Lugers were in three different barrel lengths 3 7/8â? (10cm), 4 11/16â? (12cm) and 5 13/16â? (15cm). According to Walter (â??The Luger Storyâ?), â??Two of these have been identified as 10030B and 10060B, with a special 12cm barrel and a standard 15cm barrel respectively.â? That leaves the 10cm barrel example unidentified. However, in looking at the photographs above it appears that this Luger has the serial number 22700 [While I was composing this post, Tony provided the serial number - Thanks]. That would date the production of this piece after the Cartridge Counters. Therefore it is not the â??missingâ? example from 1903. It seems odd that it would have been purchased for testing when the Cartridge Counter versions may have already been in hand, but it is remotely possible since delivery of the 50 Lugers with the G.H. Powell Cartridge Indicating Device was delayed. According to the test report recorded by CPT William A. Phillips, Springfield Armory, Experimental Department, â??These pistols were made in Germany and some delay was caused by the firm having to do the work of putting on the Powell device by hand.â? It should also be noted that the testing of the 9mm cartridge vs the 7.65mm cartridge was conducted in November of 1903, fully 5 months before the Cartridge Counter examples were delivered. Most likely the testing was performed using one of the three weapons delivered by Georg Luger earlier that year, but with a great leap of fantasy it might be posited that Georg took the three guns back with him and this piece was purchased subsequently for the November test.
The bottom line is that there is no documented evidence (that I am aware of) to validate the ownership and testing of this Luger by Springfield Armory. Any speculation regarding its origins and use may only be conjectured from its reported purchase from the Armory and the odd markings. I am afraid that it will remain one of those wonderful enigmatic Lugers that give us something to talk about.
Good catch by Albert regarding the removal of the Powell device from two Lugers to be fitted to .45 Colts. It seems it would have made more sense to fabricate two new devices since they are rather fragile and the Luger device had to be shortened from 8 cartridges down to 7 for the Colt, but thatâ??s what they did. I would be willing to bet that if the two Lugers that had the grips removed still exist, they now have Powell grips installed. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />
Thanks Tony for a fun topic. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />