Data Base Descriptions
The purpose of this exercise is to assemble data on DWM pistols manufactured in the period 1920-1921 which were, presumably, for the use of the Weimer police and Military.
Criteria For Inclusion
All are 9mm And all have Eagle proofs and acceptance marks and have chamber dates of 1920 or 1921.
There are basically two flavors of these weapons. The first is the continuation of the pre-war DWM commercial production. These are characterized by five-digit serial numbers (referred to as 20 DWM). The second is DWM production specifically for Police and Military. These are numbered with a 4 digit serial followed by a letter and positioned in the military style (referred to as 1920 DWM).
It had been assumed that the numbering of the 1920 DWM examples used the “no suffix” (ns), a and b blocks exclusively. However it has been reported that DWM produced a series, in 1920, using the n block. Where they are found they, too, will be included (lifted from the thread on this site and other places).
These pistols comprise the subject matter for the proposed data base.
What follows is a description of the sources of the data and the assumptions that are being made in the interpretation of the data.
DATA
Dwight Gruber's Commercial Data Base*. This data was converted to a spreadsheet for ease of examination and searches were performed for various elements.
History Writ in Steel (HWIS) by Don Maus.
Police Lugers by Tinker and Gruber
Weimer Lugers by Jan Still
And both this Forum, the NAPCA Forum and the Still Luger Forum as well as sales sites opportunistically.
The data that I am attempting to collect includes the following. Note that this is beyond optimistic. Very few cases have all this info.
1. Chamber Date
2. Serial Number
3. Serial Letter
4. “1920” Stamp (Y/N)
5. The inspection/Proof stamps on the barrel extension and the barrel and toggle (5 entries)
6. Any Inscriptions,
7. Presence/Absence/Removal of Sear Safety & Mag Safety
n.b. Partial data is OK but the absence or incompleteness of a serial renders the exercise pointless. That said, a serial and chamber date are the two minimum pieces of data that must be provided.
My plot is to cull the sources for a bit and then take stock of what I have accumulated. I will probably produce some summary statistics and share them here and in the NAPCA rag.
The result will be, I hope, a comprehensive data base of Luger pistols produced for the German Police and Military during the period 1920-1921. Nothing more, nothing less.
I would appreciate any suggestions and any data.