1917 LP 08 Artillery- Red 9 grips

[George Anderson]

Originally Posted by ithacaartist

A link to this listing appeared today, part of the G.A. "wish list" to which I'm subscribed. This one has just about the weirdest-shaped "9" I've seen pics of so far. The variations in shapes and sizes of this mark make it clear that the process was carried out with field-made branding irons. They're all similar, of course, but it would seem that in order to encounter two that are exactly alike, one would have to find two pistols marked by the same iron made by the unit that marked them!

I have an "orphan" pair of grips exactly like those on the auction pistol and have seen a pistol in France with exactly the same odd missing top 9s.