Hello everyone, after lurking here for a couple of weeks and soaking in as much knowledge as possible, I finally took the plunge and bought my first Luger.
My primary interest is in WW2 small arms so I really wanted a Nazi pistol, and I was lucky enough to find a 1936 S/42 to go along with a 1936 Mauser-Oberndorf K98k I recently picked up.
I'm curious to find out if the finish is original and if the magazine is at least period correct. It is unfortunately force matched, as I posted about in another thread. The side plate is the only other non matching part. Someone once told me that side plates were commonly taken from returning GI's while they were on the ships returning home, and then re distributed upon arrival in the States, resulting in mis-matches. Similar to Arisaka bolts in the Pacific. Have there been any documented cases of this?
Are there any serial # records that might show when specifically in 1936 this Luger was manufactured? Has a "p" suffix. Grips are un-numbered and the right grip is just a little loose, while the left grip is snug. Lastly, it came with the holster seen in the pics, but as I recall, P08 holsters had the strap offset to the side, and not down the middle as this one is. It has what appears to be a unit marking on the back. I'm excited to learn more and get to the range. Any input or feedback is much appreciated!!!
Link to pics:
https://imgur.com/a/rGhc0QW