Erfurt-Ari till 1918???

has the ari from erfurt really been built till 1918???

every book i could read told me, that erfurt's have been built only from 1914-1915. if they have been built till 1918, has anyone a picture of an original one??? dieter

[Herb]

Dieter, if you have "The Luger Pistol" by Fred Datig look at pages 113 thru 115, he says they were manufactured through 1918. On page 315 he shows a representation of a 1915/1920 date stamp, for what it's worth. In what part of Deutschland do you live?

[Johnny Peppers]

Harry Jones book is the only source I know of that indicates the Erfurt LP08 was built through 1918. My own theory is that he saw the sight clearance cuts on Erfurt P08's dated through 1918 and made an assumption that the LP08's must have been made also. Supposedly there is one 1915 dated Erfurt LP08, but I wouldn't put too much stock in there being others. It may be correct, and it may not.

[bill m]

Hi,

Here is another example of the "old book" reference again. Information was thought to be correct at the time, but has since been proven differently. 1914 is the only date an Erfurt artillery was produced, except for the possible exception that Johnny mentions.

[Johnny Peppers]

We owe much of what we know about Lugers today to Harry Jones as he was a pioneer when little was actually known about Lugers, but much of the information that was thought to be correct at the time has proven to be incorrect. One of the carryovers is the "Double Date" Luger. The term "Double Date" has become the common term for a Luger with what appears to be two dates on the chamber area of the receiver. Harry Jones has a picture of a, as he called it "twice dated", Luger on page 145 that has 1920 stamped twice. He goes on to surmise that the first date was stamped at the time of manufacture and the second date was put on the pistol when it was transferred to another police division the same year. We have since learned that the handstamped 1920 is actually a Reichswehr property stamp and was used for several years on a variety of weapons belonging to the Reichswehr.

Bill this is not being a Smart Ass but with the wealth of information that you appear to have accumulated are you considering putting a book together? You mentioned one time that you had listings of Serial numbers etc. that had been given to you and your depth of knowledge on a whole range of questions could really be put to good use in book form.

I am reading John Walters book right now, he quotes Jones, Datig, Reese and others, tried to make corrections in his old books.


This is the newest reprint from Amazon, I think it is a good general knowledge book, although it solved a few questions I had!


Ed

The Long P.08 Erfurt was produced only one year,1914.

These Lugers are reported in the 63 to 9448b serial range.

The estimated production is 23,000 Lugers.The source of

this information is,Imperial Lugers by Jan Still.I have

one of these Lugers in my collection!

thanks to all. is it possible to mail me some pics from your 1914 ari??? thanks a lot. dieter

p.s.: i come from wuppertal in the west of germany (near cologne or d�¼sseldorf)

do you have a pic from that 1915 ari???

[John Sabato]

under my name. My collection includes a 1914 Erfurt Artillery and there are two photos there, but it is a parts gun...


wiedersehen,


John

What is a Erfurt two date? My artillery PO-8 S/N 4324 is what I call a two date. The reciever is stamped 1914 and 1920.

[Johnny Peppers]

The 1920 is a Reichswehr property stamp rather than a date. All weapons were ordered turned in and the stamp was applied to indicate weapons that were the property of the Reichswehr to positively identify them if stolen and recovered. I believe Jan Still makes note of a G Date (1935) P08 with the 1920 property stamp. Word must have been late getting to the field that the stamp was no longer required.