Meet the newest (unplanned
) member of my Luger family: Test Eagle s.n. 7006. This serial number is on the Bannerman list and is also noted by Michael Reese in his book, 1900 Luger U.S. Test Trials (my thanks to Spangy for noticing this).
It has led a hard life, having been re-finished long ago and apparently used quite a bit since. The barrel, toggle-train and side-plate are mismatched to the frame and to each other but are numbered in the same font, leading me to believe this may have been one of the trials guns used in the interchangeability test. The barrel s.n. is 6247, which is not on the Bannerman list, but is in the generally accepted range. This would seem to confirm this s.n. as also part of the original 1000 gun delivery?
Any and all thoughts and comments are welcome. Thanks!
-Jason