[mrerick]

I expect that the numbering of parts related to the hand fit nature of Lugers.

The inspection process wasn't there just to leave the little marks that we like to keep track of. The markings (both factory worker marks, and government inspection marks) are a record of approval that includes trace-ability back to the workers.

When the overall pistol was inspected and approved, it was done as a complete functional unit. If the pistol somehow failed after the military took delivery, the numbered and fitted parts could all be traced back for either process analysis or individual responsibility reporting.

This makes me wonder if there was some level of hand fitting for magazines, especially the wood ones. We certainly find them sensitive for hold open operation and feed operation. While I doubt it, they were numbered from the beginning. The numbering traces them back to testing of the whole functioning pistol during final evaluation before leaving the factory.

Eventually, with the milled steel magazines, this numbering was finally dropped in 1941. By then, resources were more limited, and the precision of the magazine probably eliminated any fitting variance.

The German manufacturers were always pragmatic. They didn't waste anything, including labor. The Swiss were likewise obsessive about precision. Their magazines are not numbered.

I can imagine some obsessive Prussian officers that treated their matching magazines as part of their crisp and perfect uniforms.

The everyday soldiers were unlikely to care much as long as the magazines worked properly. Much of the swapping had to take place at unit level cleaning parties where things just got mixed up if keeping track of them didn't matter...