Another Circle S, the mystery is safe, more questions!

[Dwight Gruber]

Originally Posted by DonVoigt

Dwight,
thanks for the comments and for the book. The Police Luger book is really one of my favorites,
since I favor the Weimar police Lugers, yours and Don M's HWIS are my go to books.

I got the circle S is not a rework marking from the book and various threads.

This pistol is clearly "re-worked", my question was - Is the rework from before or after it was stamped with the circle S?

I also read that most of the circle S pistols have Not been reworked, so was wondering if this one, like so many Weimar police lugers, is an "anomaly"?

Or are there many other examples of re-worked pistols with the circle S?

Don,

My observations suggest that un-modified c-S marked pistols are the anomaly. Individual pistols require close examination to determine when modifications took place. The c-S mark was in use for less than four years, so there was lots of time after that for use repair.

There are details which help establish the date range for the modification of your friend's pistol.

The frame and upper of this pistol were not originally mated. This is obvious from the overstamped frame serial number and the different serial number suffixes.

The center toggle numbers appear identical to the number set used for the frame serial number overstamp. It would be interesting to know what other numbers might be hidden in the toggle train.

The back-frame unit number dates from before the 1922 Prussian unit marking instruction. Aside from the sear safety (1933) there are no Weimar-era police-associated modifications or markings.

The receiver has the 1920 property mark.

The circle-S overstamps the first digit of the receiver serial number.

Unfortunately, the c-S mark can be dated no closer than 1918-1921. Considering that the 1921 limit is from dated examples, the mark's close connection with pre-1922 unit marking extends the possibility of that range by a year. The collected characteristics of this pistol, as assembled, fall within that range.

So, I am afraid that it is not possible to answer your specific before/after question.

--Dwight