[mrerick]

I'll add my thoughts interspersed with your questions:
- - - - -

This is a 1938 pre-WWII German Luger pistol manufactured by the Mauser factory. (Was the factory in Oberndorf at this time, or somewhere else?)

I think that this is discussed in the FAQ. At the time, Lugers were being made in Mauser's Oberndorf am Neckar building "D", and by Krieghoff in Suhl.

These were the standard service pistols used by all German troops, Wehrmacht, SS, Luftwaffe and Navy forces during WWII. (correct?)

Wehrmacht - yes. SS didn't issue Lugers to my knowledge, and their preferred handguns were Walther PP and PPK pistols. Luftwaffe contracts were with Krieghoff because Goering had his hand in that enterprise. Some Navy Lugers did come from Mauser.


It has the early salt blued metal finish on all the parts, and it is fitted with checkered walnut grips. The grips are not chipped.
(Question about grips—the right side grip doesn’t seem to fit the handle exactly—it bulges out in one spot at the top. Is this an indication that it has been replaced, or would this be within tolerance? I can post a photo if you need to see what I’m talking about.)

Take a look inside the grips (remove them very carefully, especially the left one). They should be acceptance marked and may be numbered or have Mauser factory inspection markings. Sometimes grips warp.


It is complete with a matching blued, [folded sheet metal?] magazine with an aluminum base. The number on the inside of the magazine is 122 (which I think is consistent with wartime manufacturing of Haenel Schmeisser magazines. Would there be other manufacturers doing the same thing at this time?)

It's got the same numeric digits but is not matching. The suffix letter is different, and Haenel magazines were not used until 1940. Unfortunately, it's not period correct

The gun has matching serial numbers on all the parts including the magazine. The serial number is 70. (Does this mean it was the 70th one produced in the factory in 1938? Also, it looks like there’s a letter “L” on the frame but not the barrel. Would the serial number be 70 L?

Mauser didn't restart their serial number series at the start of each year, they just continued from "z" to "no suffix" to "a" when they had to whenever that occurred.

(The magazine bears the serial number, which is 70, and a letter but it doesn’t have the eagle and 63 on it. Is that unusual? I couldn’t find that exact configuration in Tharpo’s excellent photos in the FAQ.)

Different year of production, different factory, different Wehrmacht acceptance inspector, different inspector code.


Condition
Good (?) Excellent? Fair?, with ??? % of the original blue finish, edge and high spot wear overall, excellent blue on the front grip strap with some light thinning, and brown patina showing through on the rear grip strap. ??????

I have a 1939 Mauser made Luger with salt bluing that is extremely thin. They were still experimenting with the bluing process and trying to increase output under time pressure. That resulted in some variability of finish depth. It may have left the factory with a thin appearing blued finish.