Production Dates???

[Dwight Gruber]

Originally posted by saxman
So if there's anyone else in the same boat with me, we can never know even the year of manufacture of our Lugers. The date was ground off and a 1920 property marked stamped in it's place. The 4-digit number with h suffix is military, because it's before the i-block beginning of the 'alphabet commercials'. All that can be determined is that it's an imperial DWM '08, made before 1920. Mine had a unit mark ground off the front strap, reinforcing the imperial origin (imprint of marking visible on back of front strap). So, I just call it a '1920' and be done with it, since that could include quite a variety of pistols, including 'put-togethers' after the war. Hey, maybe these will someday become another niche collectible!

Saxman,

With the information you provide, and the aid of a good book (Still's Imperial Lugers) one can make an informed approximation.

Of DWM, only 1915-1918 were produced in sufficient numbers to reach (and pass) the h suffix. Unfortunately, of those years, 2% of 1915; 1% of 1916; 1% of 1917; and 1% of 1918 are reported unit marked, so that statistic doesn't help much to narrow it down.

--Dwight