I guess my comments will be as welcome as the proverbial "you know what" in church, but I am puzzled. Manufacture Francaise d'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne was probably the biggest arms and ammunition manufacturer in France outside the government arsenals. It is possible that they entered into an agreement to sell Lugers in France through their own distribution system, but in that period I doubt there would be many sales in France for a pistol made by the hated Germans. Maybe the French marking was intended to deceive the public into believing that the Luger was a French product, but that seems a stretch. The manual in French (mentioned by Kenyon), though, would seem to indicate some intended market in that country.
The marking on this pistol, while it appears to have been applied before bluing, was obviously applied after final polishing. That does not mean it was not applied at the factory, only that other markings applied at the factory were applied before polishing. It could have been applied in France (or elsewhere) and the barrel reblued.
It is also possible that the French company would buy a few pistols to examine them (as all gun makers do with the competition) and maybe for ammunition testing, and that they would put their mark on as an indication of ownership. (They would hardly ask DWM for a French manual, though.)
The absence of French proofs (this gun as well as the Kenyon example) indicates that the guns were not offered for sale on the market in France.
As to the story of a projected DWM factory in France, it sounds good, but I doubt it for the same reason noted above; the French hated the Germans and all their works and pomps and their pistols for good measure.
I wonder if we have any French collectors on the site who could find out if those pistols are known in France.
Jim
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