Two K Date Sub Variations

Dick Herman · 07-08-2015, 01:56 AM

Thought I would share some history with ya'll.

I started surfing through the Gortz & Sturgess encyclopedia searching for a clue regarding the unique foresight bed on the earlier of these K dates. There is a picture of a Commercial Mauser Banner Luger with this foresight bed. The caption with the picture reads, "short lived early Mauser pattern found in mid-range K dated (1934) military P.08s with the longer muzzle band and the foresight bed set back." According to the narrative there were approximately 3,800 of this sub-variation manufactured.

I could not find any other reference to this longer muzzle band and the foresight bed set back mentioned, but it is a very large information source.

In 1925 the Reichswehr initiated an armament expansion program. The Reichswehr developed the secret German manufacturers codes we give Hitler credit for. Starting in 1925 a year code was developed to 1935. The P.08 years we are familiar with are K (1934) and G (1935). Additionally a alpha/number code was developed for manufacturers. S was for small arms to be followed by a number for the manufacturer. 42 was the number for Mauser. That is how we got S/42.

07-08-2015, 01:56 AM	#18
Dick Herman User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 302 Thanks: 496 Thanked 356 Times in 138 Posts	Thought I would share some history with ya'll. I started surfing through the Gortz & Sturgess encyclopedia searching for a clue regarding the unique foresight bed on the earlier of these K dates. There is a picture of a Commercial Mauser Banner Luger with this foresight bed. The caption with the picture reads, "short lived early Mauser pattern found in mid-range K dated (1934) military P.08s with the longer muzzle band and the foresight bed set back." According to the narrative there were approximately 3,800 of this sub-variation manufactured. I could not find any other reference to this longer muzzle band and the foresight bed set back mentioned, but it is a very large information source. In 1925 the Reichswehr initiated an armament expansion program. The Reichswehr developed the secret German manufacturers codes we give Hitler credit for. Starting in 1925 a year code was developed to 1935. The P.08 years we are familiar with are K (1934) and G (1935). Additionally a alpha/number code was developed for manufacturers. S was for small arms to be followed by a number for the manufacturer. 42 was the number for Mauser. That is how we got S/42.