Witness Marks--Evidence in Plain Sight

[Dwight Gruber]

For my recreational reading lately I have been paging through John Walters's "The Luger Story". I ran across an astonishing reference to witness marks on page 137 (although he doesn't use the term). It sent me running to G�¶rtz & Bryans and the 1910 P-08 marking instructions.

A quotation from the instructions (G&B, p.111):

"Pistol, finished as follows:
26a Pistol ready for power-proof and shooting in:
...
-Barrel and front sight: after sight adjustment, a chisel mark, 3 to 4mm high, of equal length on both parts.
-Barrel and receiver: after sight adjustment, a chisel mark, 3 to 4mm high, of equal length on both parts."

The illustration which accompanies the instructions show this very clearly (but very small) as the "witness marks".

I don't know how I could have missed it. This throws the entire discussion into a cocked hat. I have been preparing my conclusions, but I obviously need to seriously re-think some things.

--Dwight