Swiss Commercial Markings

Dick Herman · 05-05-2015, 07:55 PM

All the Swiss Lugers that I have had the pleasure of examining have had a Cross/V, Cross/N or a Cross/M control proof.. The pistol examples with a P was a marking for sale or release to the public.

There are some dealers that identify their Lugers that have no P marks as commercial examples. Are the P marked pistols commercial or surplus Lugers? Are there specific Swiss markings for commercial Lugers?

Dwight Gruber · 05-05-2015, 11:17 PM

The P (Privatized) stamp was added to Swiss military Lugers when the officers carrying them retained these pistols for personal use when they left military service. They are not properly considered "commercial" Lugers, and it would probably be misleading to consider them "surplus".

Swiss commercial Lugers--that is, Luger pistols destined for the Swiss commercial market--were proofed before export, following German civilian proof practice which was acceptable under Swiss proof law.

Swiss Old Model Parabellums have the crown/B, crown/U, crown/G civilian proof marks of the German proof law of 1891, as do New Model Parabellums made for the Swiss market before 1912. After 1912 these pistols have the lazy c/N proof mark. Postwar Swiss-market P08s and Alphabet Commercials all have the upright c/N proof.

--Dwight

05-05-2015, 07:55 PM	#1
Dick Herman User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 302 Thanks: 496 Thanked 354 Times in 138 Posts	Swiss Commercial Markings All the Swiss Lugers that I have had the pleasure of examining have had a Cross/V, Cross/N or a Cross/M control proof.. The pistol examples with a P was a marking for sale or release to the public. There are some dealers that identify their Lugers that have no P marks as commercial examples. Are the P marked pistols commercial or surplus Lugers? Are there specific Swiss markings for commercial Lugers?

05-05-2015, 11:17 PM	#2
Dwight Gruber User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,901 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1,316 Times in 430 Posts	The P (Privatized) stamp was added to Swiss military Lugers when the officers carrying them retained these pistols for personal use when they left military service. They are not properly considered "commercial" Lugers, and it would probably be misleading to consider them "surplus". Swiss commercial Lugers--that is, Luger pistols destined for the Swiss commercial market--were proofed before export, following German civilian proof practice which was acceptable under Swiss proof law. Swiss Old Model Parabellums have the crown/B, crown/U, crown/G civilian proof marks of the German proof law of 1891, as do New Model Parabellums made for the Swiss market before 1912. After 1912 these pistols have the lazy c/N proof mark. Postwar Swiss-market P08s and Alphabet Commercials all have the upright c/N proof. --Dwight