New (to me) Banner Mauser Luger - Some questions...

[mrerick]

Hi,

I just purchased a Banner Mauser Luger from another forum member, and have a couple of questions about it.

It is two digit date marked "42" on the receiver:



Why did Mauser vary the date coding between 4 digit "1942" and the "42" on my gun?

The pistol has E/135 proof marks and E/Swastika marks in multiple places:



There are no apparent foreign proof marks. Was this most likely a German Military pistol?

It has a 3 digit plus cursive "g" "q" or "y" serial number. I can't tell for sure since it doesn't match any of the cursive forms documented in the tech section of Luger Forum.



Is it possible to estimate a manufacture date from this?

There is a beautiful plum blued extractor:



Why did Mauser mark Lugers with the different codes "42" "byf" and the banner? Were there any manufacturing or marketing differences?



It also came with an aluminum base FXO extruded magazine with E/37 proof markings. There is no serial number on the magazine base. Is this correct for this manufacturing period?



This pistol is sharp and feels tight with very little functional wear. I'm looking forward to the range this weekend!!



I feel lucky to have this Luger, and look forward to learning more about it!

Thanks for the forums... and thanks for looking.

Marc