1918 Arty observation

[Doubs]

Originally Posted by Norme

I'm pretty certain that the Artillery barrels that were made, and proofed, at the Erfurt plant were shipped to DWM without sights, the rear sight for certain. As you can see from the photo below, it's not possible to screw on an Artillery barrel with rear sight attached as it "overhangs" the receiver. Norm

Norm, that's an interesting observation. The rear sight assembly is dovetailed into the sight base and, as you say, would not have been on the barrel when the barrel was installed in the receiver. So the question becomes, who actually made the sight assemblies?

In reading G&S concerning development and testing of the LP.08, it's unclear whether Erfurt or DWM made the test pistols. What is clear is that plans were for Erfurt to be the primary manufacturer and, indeed, Erfurt made approximately 21,000 Artillery Lugers in 1914; DWM far less. Thus, if I had to guess, I'd say that Erfurt manufactured sights for the LP.08 and likely sent them with the barrels to DWM. Once the barrel had been installed, then the sight assembly could be mounted. It's also possible that DWM made sights as they were the only manufacturer of the LP.08 from 1915 to 1918. I can't find a reference for who actually made the sight assemblies but I suspect that both Erfurt and DWM made sights for the LP.08.