[DonVoigt]

See below in red:

Originally Posted by grantman

Fellows

In the days before CNC machinery, were Lugers manufactured by skilled operators with each part manually produced and hand-checked for adherence to spec? yes

How great was the level of automation in the production of parts, especially frames, uppers and toggle mechanisms? Pictures from the era show normal machine tools of the era, no automation, but many special fixtures, cutters, and gages

I suspect that Lugers were fabricated from "ordnance steel", an analog of 4140 steel. Am I correct? No, various steels were used for different parts, these predate modern steel nomenclature

How common was subcontracting major assemblies to smaller manufacturers? I realize that there were likely many changes, especially during wartime.

Not common, if at all. DWM made all parts in house, as did Erfurt. An exception may have been magazines.