Interesting piece. Here are my thoughts.
First, the example is NOT a pure 1914. The relieved sear, and unmarked grip screws date this piece as 1916 or later. In my opinion the unmarked grip screws can be correct for a late Erfurt. The relieved sear means the piece was produced/assembled/refurbished sometime during or later than 1916. The notch on the reciever indicates to me that this was originally intended to be an artillery receiver. So, in my opinion I think these were assembles or refurbished at a later date than 1914, and possible a time frame as late as from 1919 into the late 1920's. With the serial number in the "q" letter block it very well could have been assembled from parts, made to match, and issued to the Weimar military. If you look at Weimar Lugers you will find that military examples are fairly hard to find, as most have a sear safety added and were issued to the police. The extent of the rework varies as does the workmanship. It would be interesting to know what the other oddball 1914 Erfurt Lugers looked like and there serial numbers. This information would be very helpful. So, in my opinion this is not a true 1914 military example and was assembled/refurbished sometime later than 1914. --- Bill
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