How to tell police use?

[Edward Tinker]

FN, me and Dwight Gruber are in the tail end of writing a book on police lugers, so I can answer many of your questions

In short;

1. Many WW1 and earlier lugers ended up in storage and were released to the police. (Keep in mind that many police were not police as we know them...)

2. Many new made DWM went to the police, see Weimar Lugers by Jan Still; this was in the 1920's up to 1929 and early 30's before mauser took over luger production....

None of these lugers would have had a sear safety until

The Sear Safety was first implemented in 1933; here is a quote from Jan C. Still, Weimar Lugers;
…Prussian State Police Orders dated August 30, 1933, and almost certainly adopted later by the National Police (required the sear safety to be installed). Many also bear the magazine safety, which was introduced by the same orders.
The sear safety is held by a rivet at one end and on the opposite end bears a small pin that blocks the sear and prevents the discharge of a partly dissembled Luger. The sear safety was a police requirement introduced by Prussian State Police orders dated August 30, 1933. It was not a military requirement.

Magaine safeties were many times installed at the same time, but then required to be taken off.

After 1933 until around the early 1940's sear safeties were required to be put onto lugers, so those made after for police received them.

Ed