Where did "42" come from (in S/42 context)?

[Edward Tinker]

To cover all the other illegal manufacturers, the government gave official letter codes to the legal companies, like "S" to Simsons (guns), "P" to Polte (ammunition), and so on.

Are you referring to the S toggles? If so, then that is a wrong assumption.

This theory of the S meaning Simson for the S/42 is in the new Mauser book. I am still not convinced, as it seems every time an 'S' is used it is attributed to Simson, so I need a lot more convincing.

The Allied commission was gone in 1927, so why would they feel the need to use the Simson 'S'?

You see the S as a date code also, Kreighoff S dates and then you see the skryptic S on the k dates, and then later the S/42 on mauser.

The germans did hide their companies under codes to confuse the enemy; but the 's', being for Simson, well, I need more documentation.


Ed