Witness marks are one detail of the larger topic of barrel originality. Illustrated below are the witness mark examples in the context of the guns they actually are on. Examples 12-14 are not included as the guns are not mine to identify, however for the sake of comparison I will note that example #12 is a military Mauser. As in the case of the witness marks themselves, there are questions about barrels concerning original practices which must be answered before any definitive statement can be made.
What are the principles by which barrel serial numbers include their letter suffixes? The 1910 instructions and amendments for marking P-08s as translated in G�¶rtz & Bryans (pp111-114) specify only the serial number on the barrel; oddly, the text does not mention serial numbers on the frame at all. The letter suffix itself is dealt with in note 2 at the end of the instructions--this is the instruction which deals with the number sequences, and specifies that the sequence letter is to be applied below the pistol numbers on the frame and on the magazine. The accompanying document illustrations do show the frame with serial number and suffix on the front, but only the number sans suffix on the barrel.
Real-world examples reveal Lugers with barrel number suffix and without. Of my Lugers which have frame number suffixes, a 1917 LP-08 barrel is with suffix, as is a 1918 LP-08 (with mismatched barrel). My S/42 and u-block Police do not include their suffixes.
Still's Imperial Lugers shows a picture on page 43 of a military-style serial number with a letter suffix on the barrel. In Weimar Lugers guns can be found with corresponding barrel number suffixes on pp. 58, 150, 239, and 272 (one of these is a u-block Police, so much for my own sample); and without corresponding suffixes on pp.66, 138, 210, and 212. A barrel with suffix is pictured on page 230 of Third Reich Lugers.
Does anyone here know why Luger barrels are disparately marked?
Corresponding questions need to be answered about authorized rebarrelling practices. At what level was barrel removal and replacement accomplished--field repair level? armory? some intermediate repair depot? The power-proofing procedures presented in G�¶rtz & Bryans (p.119) for replaced barrels imply that this was an armory-level repair. Were replaced barrels stamped with serial numbers to match the weapon? Are there regulations extant which detail these specifications?
Example 02 KOL is an obvious assembly job, barrel and receiver are original to neither frame nor each other.
Example 06 5-inch is a modern rebarrel; the origin of the 5" barrel is obscure.
Example 11 1918LP is plainly a rebarrel, the serial numbers match the frame except the barrel suffix is l and the frame suffix is b.
Comments on the examples presented should prove interesting,--observe critically, and comment candidly.
--Dwight
