[DonVoigt]

I'm still confused, you wrote above:

"Earlier this year P08 grip safety commercial sn 72571 sans stock lug appeared on auction, and I saw an opportunity to make a direct comparison myself. Satisfied with the serial number and auction description, I bid and won the pistol.



When it arrived I unpacked it and began my examination confident that I would finally learn something concrete about the non-stock-lug grip-safety P08. When I looked at the safety I learned something else entirely.



Rather than the expected GESICHERT safety mark, this pistol has a routed safety indicator. When I examined the bottom of the grip frame at the magazine well, it was clear that this pistol was originally manufactured without a stock lug.



Frankly, if I had paid more attention, this would not have been a surprise. The auction photo showed the absence of the upper GESICHERT mark. More importantly, the serial number appears in the commercial database. It is one of three adjacent reports—sn 72571, sn 72621, and sn 72646—which share anomalous designations and comment.

In late 1914 the recoil spring well changed to a flat profile, rather than retaining the vestigial remnant of the grip safety pedestal. This shows up in commercial production as early as sn 71857. With this pistol in hand, it is possible to confirm the continuation of New Model Parabellum production—at least in a small way—into 1914.

And I still want to examine a grip-safety P08 commercial without stock lug.

--Dwight"

Why do you say you still want to examine one?
What am I missing?

While I was writing this, Dwight answered by question by PM:

"The essential--and picayune--difference between the two is that the Parabellum has a routed safety indicator in the lower position, and the P08 has a GESICHERT mark in the upper position. What I would hope to determine is the manufacturing pathway for the P08, and whether the absence of a stock lug is original manufacture or modern removal.

Sorry for the confusion."

Though not stated clearly(to me) , the pistol Dwight bought was a New Model Parabellum- not a P 08 with grip safety and no lug.

Looks to me in the one picture that the back strap is rough, and the lug may have been present then removed???
Or what looks like roughness from removal may just be a lighting/angle artifact.