Hi Dwight,
Very interesting research. As to production. My assumption at the moment is that the pistols were produced in batches, not a continuous flow. A group of experts would work on several stages of production, finishing a batch of pistols before starting production of another batch.
Assorted small parts, rough forgings and barrel blanks would be kept in supply and these forgings were rough enough to be shaped into any contract form required, because the differences between frames (for example) were relatively minor.
Most of this 'wisdom' comes from studying the 1936 photographs of Mauser's pistol production location at Oberndorf. It would be tempting to think that this batch production method would also explain the '10,000' serial number ranges.
About 1914, DWM moved it's weapons production from the Martinikenfelde location in Berlin to their new facilities in Berlin-Wittenau. At the same time they upgraded their machine parks. This could explain a sudden change in production methods in early 1914 pistols.
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