Witness Marks Report--Revised and Expanded

[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by physoft

I think all the opinions expressed here are valid and it's usually best to encourage an open discussion. Sometimes it is difficult to express a differing opinion without being critical of another. My take away from all of this is as follows. Witness marks that align perfectly are no problem, marks that don't align may or may not be a problem. My entry into this Luger world is a DWM 1923 Commercial rework. I am primarily interested in shooting rather than a collectible. I just purchased a full upper: barrel, barrel extension, toggle, BB and firing pin, etc. assembly which has a misaligned witness mark. Judging from what I have read here, I could have a problem or maybe not...I will let you guys know when I get to shoot it.....

A misaligned witness mark just does not mean much, IMO.
These are the "important" things:

-is headspace in spec?
-is extractor slot aligned?
-is front sight "straight"?
-is barrel tight to the receiver?

Answer to all must be yes to have a correctly assembled luger bbl/receiver.

This does not mean you cannot have another problem or two elsewhere; nor that if one of the above(maybe even two) answers are no- you will have a significant problem apparent in firing.

So I agree with you, shoot it and find out!