What is a 06/20

[Ron Wood]

Originally Posted by Mark1

Ron,
I've found your posts on this subject very interesting over the years. A couple of questions if I may.
Is this 06/20 title for the German made Swiss commercials, a valid one ?

John Walter in his Encyclopaedia.... calls the first Swiss made guns, from 1918, "06 W+F".
The Waffenfabrik Bern then made some changes to the top surface of the breechblock and the sideplate which Walter says had the factory designation of "06/24 W+F". What's your view on that ?

Hi Mark,

Good to hear from a Kiwi, and good questions!

“Is this 06/20 title for the German made Swiss commercials, a valid one?” – Yes and no. It is not an “official” designation but for collector taxonomy it is a pretty good descriptor for those commercial pieces made in the 1920s specifically for the Swiss market…sort of a “shorthand” reference.

I have always preferred “06 W+F” as a designation, or alternatively “06 Bern”, almost anything to get away from “06/24” for the guns that started production in 1918.

With regard to Walter’s assertion that “06/24 W+F” was a factory designation appears to be information to which only he was privy as I am unaware of any corroborating information from other sources. Now it is true that some cosmetic changes in Swiss production started to occur around 1924 in an attempt to cut production costs, some of which found their way into the 06/29. When the Swiss started production of their own guns in 1918, in addition to the bordered grips, for some reason or other they added a small step in the profile of the forward section of the breech block. The modifications explored in 1924 and ensuing years before the 06/29 were the elimination of this little breech block step and the extension of the raised portion of the side plate all the way to the top, strictly to cut down on the number of machining steps. However, these changes were not consistently applied to production subsequent to that date as pistols of the original “06 W+F” configuration continued to be produced up until the changeover to 06/29. There are some other variants that show up in this transitional period to include a couple of guns that have many of the features of the 06/29, to include the fully rounded portion of the forward receiver, but retain the “schnable” grip shape and grip safety of the 06 W+F rather than the straight grip and encircling grip safety of the 06/29. But all in all, I can see no justification for a “06/24 W+F” designation as there really was no “model” production, just some exploratory examples. This is of course my own opinion and others may disagree!

Best regards,
Ron