Simson P08 Replacement Barrels

[graf98a]

Not sure if this helps or not as my research is more aligned to Gewehr98/98b study, but Simson Suhl supplied replacement barrels to the German ordnance system as well as utilized them for their own reworking and production (Gew.98 mit s. S. Visiere & Kar98b)
Of the many dozen Gewehr98's with reworked Simson provided barrels no such indicator or number shows up.. usually just the Simson commercial logo, blank supplier/lot (usually Krupp as per IMKK regs), Weimar f/p, bore measurement on the shoulder and serial/usual acceptance observed on Simson products (which varies by date/range e/6 e/81 e/33 e/76 e/43 etc.. e/6 the only constant).
I'd suspect this marking more in line with your PTV facility than any Simson origin?

Originally posted by Don M
Tom, the problem with that theory is that the numbers on the barrels and the "Simson proofs" were stamped before bluing while the PTV, serial number and 8,8X were stamped after bluing, at the time of the rework. I don't see how Simson could have anticipated the date their barrels would be used by the armory.

If the digit does represent a date, it is probably the year the barrel was manufactured by Simson. Maybe Ed can tell us if that makes sense.