1918/1920 DWM Police P 08 - a little different

[DonVoigt]

Don,
thanks for your comments and observations.

Your explanation of the right side makes sense, I struggled with the crown/G, but crown/T underlined makes more sense, as a scrubbed receiver probably would not have gotten the Imperial eagle but another eagle form as proof(?).

I also agonized over 1113 and 1143, in fact I changed from 1113 to 1143 and back again! one of the "x"s over the third digit forms a perfect left stroke to a four, but in person I believe I see the one under there and not a 4.

Either way it is not a big one, as the Schupo of Frankfurt A/M was large enough to reach those numbers of pistols, I think.

It surely is an interesting pistol.

What do you make of the scrubbed left chamber and re-numbering there?

Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Don M

Don, this pistol does have a number of interesting features and a variety of plausible scenarios could be developed to explain them. Rather than add to them, I will offer several comments/observations.

I don't think the right side of the receiver has been scrubbed. The "C/G" is actually C/T. This acceptance stamp, along with two C/S stamps is found on virtually all 1917 and 1918 DWM P08s (http://luger.gunboards.com/showthrea...EPTANCE-STAMPS). The lack of C/S acceptances suggests the pistol had not been fully accepted by the military by the end of the war. Many 1918 police P08s share this feature.

I question whether this pistol was reworked at the Berlin Police Armory. While the barrel certainly appears to be from Simson, the lack of a PTV/E or TP/E proof suggests this was done elsewhere, probably before 1927.

The inventory number in the Schupo marking may be 1143 but I surely will not go to the mat over this.