Suspicious s/42 on WW1 DWM

[Dwight Gruber]

Originally Posted by www.prussia.us

Vlim, THANKS

So it was not uncommon for Mauser to stamp the replacement barrel with the original serial number of the Luger?

It looked too correct to be a forgery, but with Third Reich stuff I was always taught to first assume fake, until an expert (like yourself) can give some guidance.

Cool, means the Luger served the Fatherland twice.

Not Mauser, necessarily. The S42 stamp indicates a replacement part made by Mauser. It could have ended up as Heers Zeugamt (arms depot) stock, a unit armorer's replacement part, or obtained by a police organization.

The standard practice was, to number a replacement part the same as the pistol to which it was applied, regardless of the organization which made the alteration.

--Dwight