Norwegian Luger?

Robert W. Simms · 09-22-2003, 10:11 PM

Greetings to all:
I have a modest collection of WW1 & WW2 firearms. All my guns are shooters, so my collection has few pristine examples. Because they run the gamut, I never get to acquire the in-depth knowledge that a person with a narrower focus gains (as you might imagine I participate in several forums). I just recently traded for a nice 1940 Mauser mfg. Luger. The condition is probably NRA very good to excellent. Paid only $500 for it so I don't think I got hurt too badly. It appears to have the original finish, although if it was refinished it was never buffed to death. It is marked 42 on the Toggle with no import marks and all matching parts, including the wooden grips, EXCEPT for the barrel. The 100mm barrel is completely unmarked except for a 3-letter code on the bottom rear. It is the letter "P", followed by the letter "E" over the letter "S". The "P" is larger in size than the "E" & "S". The story (there's always a story, isn't there?) is that these were taken by Norway and rebarreled for reasons unknown and put into police and military service there. This is probably not true, but I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone would rebarrel a gun this nice. I figure one of you guys will recognize the P-E-S lettering and set me straight. Thanks for any info.

09-22-2003, 10:11 PM	#1
Robert W. Simms User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Mount Juliet, TN Posts: 16 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Norwegian Luger? Greetings to all: I have a modest collection of WW1 & WW2 firearms. All my guns are shooters, so my collection has few pristine examples. Because they run the gamut, I never get to acquire the in-depth knowledge that a person with a narrower focus gains (as you might imagine I participate in several forums). I just recently traded for a nice 1940 Mauser mfg. Luger. The condition is probably NRA very good to excellent. Paid only $500 for it so I don't think I got hurt too badly. It appears to have the original finish, although if it was refinished it was never buffed to death. It is marked 42 on the Toggle with no import marks and all matching parts, including the wooden grips, EXCEPT for the barrel. The 100mm barrel is completely unmarked except for a 3-letter code on the bottom rear. It is the letter "P", followed by the letter "E" over the letter "S". The "P" is larger in size than the "E" & "S". The story (there's always a story, isn't there?) is that these were taken by Norway and rebarreled for reasons unknown and put into police and military service there. This is probably not true, but I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone would rebarrel a gun this nice. I figure one of you guys will recognize the P-E-S lettering and set me straight. Thanks for any info.