Hello Karl,
I think you have posed a very interesting question and I hope others will come in and offer their opinions also.
The Weimar Police Lugers are one of the most interesting Lugers to me because of the history behind many of them. Many were used in WWI, the Weimar Era, and on into the Third Reich Era. This gives them a rich history of use.
As to your question, I don't have a definitive answer, but I feel the Sear Safety was removed sometimes during the later WWII period. The Police during the war were probably required to join the soldiers on the front line and the pistols they had with them were the ones they carried into combat. Since a combat situation is different than Police duty, I feel the military requested/required that the Sear Safety be removed since it was not a military requirement. If this was the case, I feel the sideplate with the cutout for the Sear Safety should still be with the pistol to keep it all factory original parts. As it is well known, the government requested that all pistols that could be spred from civilians, Police, NSDAP, etc. be sent to the front line combat troops for the defense of Germany from the Russians. This is the reason I feel that there are those like your pistol with the removed safety.
On another note, the saftery could have been removed by anyone at anytime and no one would know unless told when and by whom this was done. During a war, anything can happend and rules can be bent to meet the situation. Just a few of my thoughts!
Great question!!!!
Marvin
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