"All of the 1916 to 1918 Erfurts have the artillery sight notch in the frame."
Heinz, not all 1916 Erfurt Lugers have the sight notch in the frame. The directive for the arsenal to notch the receivers was not issued until late 1916. Thus, early 1916 production Erfurt Lugers do not have the notch. I have an un-notched 1916 Erfurt.
If Erfurt production data for the 98 rifle and other arms was available, it may give a clue as to the lack of 1915 Erfurt Lugers. With the Imperial Army expanding at a furious rate, I would think that rifle production as well as machine gun production would be given priority and the skilled workers may have been employed in something other than pistol manufacture. Even with the Mauser factory as well as Danzig, Amberg and Spandau arsenals turning out rifles, demand may have exceeded production for some time. Spandau, of course, was also turning out machine guns.
It's still an interesting question and so far it has no definitive answer that I know of.
Mauro, I notice that according to your chart, Spandau turned out 400 LP-08's in March, 1915. I've never heard mention of a Spandau LP-08 and only a few Spandau standard P-08's have surfaced. Do you have any additional information on the possibility of Spandau LP-08's?
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