Please identify this gun

[Don M]

Originally Posted by Ron Smith

Kassel was spelled with both a C and a K at various times.

It's also possible that it transitioned to the military late in the war, but impossible to know for certain. It's somewhat unusual, in that it escaped having a Police mandated sear safety installed.

The spelling of Cassel was changed to Kassel in 1926 (HWIS p. 60).

Actually, it is virtually certain that this pistol was transferred from the police to the military because it was issued to the barracked Bereitschaftspolizei which was transferred to the Landespolizei and then to the military in 1934-36. The first marking is in the format specified in the 1922 for barracked Hundertschaften (later called Bereitschaften). The fact that the pistol does not have a sear or mag safety is further evidence of this since these militarized police units were exempted from the 1933 order to install these devices on Lugers (HWIS p. 36).