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Unread 06-11-2003, 02:02 AM   #2
Dwight Gruber
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Herb,

On March 17, 1932, the Ministry of the Army published an instruction requiring toggle-pin heads to be stamped with the last two digits of the serial number. On May 20, 1932, the Police Procurement Office of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior followed suit for its Police weapons, to be carried out by Police armorers. A corresponding instruction for the Prussian police has not been discovered, though the action is likely. (This information from G�¶rtz & Bryans, "German Small Arms Markings", pp.131-132).

Mauser military production commenced in 1934 with the S/42 K code (Still, "Third Reich Lugers"). Therefore, -all- Mauser army Lugers will properly have the number-stamped toggle pin.

Mauser commercial/Weimar Police production began about 1930, in the v block serial range. Determining whether or not strictly commercial pistols were so stamped will be a matter of survey and report, unless somebody actually knows--I was not able to find documentation.

One would expect Police pistols, of whatever source or age, to be number stamped. My u block (1929 DWM/BKIW), for instance, has the numbers.

--Dwight
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