[Johnny Peppers]

Kyrie,

I certainly won't go so far as to say you are mistaken, but there is absolutely no way that Aaron's pistol can be mistaken for a 1920 Commercial. First it was not numbered into the 1920 Commercial serial number range. The pistol is still in the original rust blue, with the "halos" around the serial numbers that only develop over time in rust blue. The pistol is still carrying it's original military serial numbers, proofs, and acceptance marks. In addition to that, it still has the pitting that no attempt was made to remove. It is plain and simple a used military pistol sold in the United States by one of the firms importing the pistols for sale "as is" or converting them into virtually custom Lugers. The pistols converted into custom order pistols, as in the case of Pacific Arms and others, had all remnants of the original markings removed and were fitted with custom length barrels and sold as new pistols. It would have been hard for anyone to have sold Aaron's pistol as a new pistol, and it appears very apparent that nothing was done to it to try to upgrade it to anything. It is still a 1914 dated P08 with an export mark on it.

The interesting part is the pin in the top of the sideplate. This pin is directly over the trigger lever, and could have been an attempt by some previous owner to modify the trigger in some way. Could you add a picture of the backside of the sideplate?