Nice K-Date photos...

Jimbo · 10-26-2002, 03:32 AM

MarkC,

You said there should be thousands of Mauser Lugers with SN 10000x. Not so. Total Mauser Luger production was about 900,000 (Still, "Third Reich Lugers" p. 16) With one Luger so marked from each lot of 10,000 only 90 would have been produced between 1934 and 1942.

We have seen photos of 2 of them -- the K-date in this thread and the 1937 Mauser in Kenyon's, "Lugers at Random." Who is to say these 2 are original? If they are, where are the other 88? Several more should have survived. I like to guess that at least 10% survived the War but who knows?

Personally, I believe Mauser Lugers were marked from 1x to 10000x. I have no basis for this opinion. This opinion is solely based on the near-anal exactitude of the Prussian mind. If guns were stamped from 1-9999, they would actually be produced in lots of 9999 rather than 10000. Gun 1a would then become the 10000 Luger produced. That would create an annoying accounting problem for our precise German who wants to know, not an estimate of production, but to know it precisely!

I cannot fathom the German mind producing Lugers in lots of 9999. It would be "unnatural." I am convinced they produced lots of 10000 for each letter suffix. This only allows 2 possibilities: either 00-9999 or 1 to 10000.

I have seen 2 photos of the latter, none of the former. In the absence of new evidence, I am convinced that the final military Mauser Luger form each lot was SN 10000x. JMHO.

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As to the use of a 5-digit die stamp, I am persuaded by Leon's reasoning that the 4-digit die stamp was set to "0000" and the preceding "1" was hand stamped later.

I certainly wish a few more of the original 90 produced would come to light.

FWIW, I have only seen ONE photo of a military Mauser Luger NO. 1, so the fact that we can only account for 2 photos of SN 10000x does not strike me as noteworthy.

10-26-2002, 03:32 AM	#21
Jimbo User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: SF CA Posts: 167 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	MarkC, You said there should be thousands of Mauser Lugers with SN 10000x. Not so. Total Mauser Luger production was about 900,000 (Still, "Third Reich Lugers" p. 16) With one Luger so marked from each lot of 10,000 only 90 would have been produced between 1934 and 1942. We have seen photos of 2 of them -- the K-date in this thread and the 1937 Mauser in Kenyon's, "Lugers at Random." Who is to say these 2 are original? If they are, where are the other 88? Several more should have survived. I like to guess that at least 10% survived the War but who knows? Personally, I believe Mauser Lugers were marked from 1x to 10000x. I have no basis for this opinion. This opinion is solely based on the near-anal exactitude of the Prussian mind. If guns were stamped from 1-9999, they would actually be produced in lots of 9999 rather than 10000. Gun 1a would then become the 10000 Luger produced. That would create an annoying accounting problem for our precise German who wants to know, not an estimate of production, but to know it precisely! I cannot fathom the German mind producing Lugers in lots of 9999. It would be "unnatural." I am convinced they produced lots of 10000 for each letter suffix. This only allows 2 possibilities: either 00-9999 or 1 to 10000. I have seen 2 photos of the latter, none of the former. In the absence of new evidence, I am convinced that the final military Mauser Luger form each lot was SN 10000x. JMHO. *********************************************** As to the use of a 5-digit die stamp, I am persuaded by Leon's reasoning that the 4-digit die stamp was set to "0000" and the preceding "1" was hand stamped later. I certainly wish a few more of the original 90 produced would come to light. FWIW, I have only seen ONE photo of a military Mauser Luger NO. 1, so the fact that we can only account for 2 photos of SN 10000x does not strike me as noteworthy.