1900 British Luger Photo...

[Ron Wood]

Albert
I believe that the strawed sear bar is original as manufactured by DWM. I think that it follows the early practice as is exemplified by the strawed sear bar on the Borchardt and the 1898 prototype piece serial number 5. Serial number 6 has a blued sear bar, but it also was extensively modified at a later date, so it too may originally had a strawed sear bar.

I think that the English test pieces were taken from the lot provided originally to the Swiss for testing, hence the Swiss markings.

I do not have any first-hand knowledge of the Dutch test pieces, and can only go by what I believe is the best reference on the Dutch Luger, that of Bas Martens and Guus de Vries. I would hazard a guess that the very early test pieces did not have a Swiss Cross. I think that the Dutch were doing their testing contemporary with the Swiss, therefore DWM created individual pieces for the Dutch just as they did for the Swiss. As Martens and de Vries document, the very first Luger provided to the Dutch in 1899 was a sholder-stocked example! I would love to find that one! It is hard to tell how the second two test examples, serial numbers 35 and 36, were marked. Serial number 36 was almost certainly of the 1899 configuration since it was documented that it had a "somewhat" longer breech block. Serial number 35 is pictured in the book, but it has been extensively modified, so whether or not it originally bore the Swiss Cross can't be determined from the photo. And so it goes. Questions only lead to more questions. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a time machine.