Indeed, it is indeed the employees of Mauser who assembled the P 08, with the stock of spare parts, stored in the factory, since the stop of the manufacture in 1942, in favor of P 38.
And as rightly said, our friend Vlim, the long barrels, for the P 08 LP, are from the DWM and served, at Mauser, to assemble, the Stoeger, the Siamese and Persian contracts, and in 1945- 1946, the P 08 LP.
These P 08 LP were mainly intended to be offered to personalities visiting the factory but also, it should be known that these P 08 short and long were sold to the French military but also to the military occupation zones and c that's why we find some in the USA ...
France sold a small amount of the P 08 of the 3rd series to Austria in the 1950s. The Austrians hit the BH marking, which differentiates them from the other P 08 and subsequently, they were sold as surplus on the European and US markets.
I do not have the amount found in the US and it is estimated production at about 2500 P 08 and 800 P 08 LP.
This is only an estimate because the French authorities have been consulted, have never wanted to answer on this subject ...
On the paperback, Automag, Napca, that some of you have known, a US citizen, then a soldier, reported having recovered in 1945 or 1946, at the Mauser factory a lot of these P 08, in exchange with Jeep tires!
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