While not in the class of huggiebear's 1934 E/C, here are some pictures of a 1914 marked KP.L on front grip strap with mag stamped on the bottom and the body, 'I' + serial #. No police or military acceptance marks, which seems right for a Weimar era pistol. My read of the grip strap marks are, Kriminal Police, Luneburg. Granted, Nazi era Police designated Luneburg by 'Lg'. Certainly open to suggestions.
I have a 1914 with the same letters stamped on the front strap. Seems like there is a period stamped after each letter on mine. The mag is unmarked. I'm at work and can't remember the serial number of the pistol. My pistol is listed, not pictured, in Roy Pender's Mauser pistol book probably because it was around and handy when he put the book togther. I bought it from one of my fellow Dallas Arms Collectors Assn members. I posted a question some time back on the old board asking if anyone knew what the K.P.L. meant and I never got a response.
I never saw a Prussian Police marking stamped like this. They usually run the length of the grip, and read from the bottom up. I might suggest it's a Detective (Kriminalpolizei)Unit of the Landjagerei marking??? Was there such a thing?
I was browsing this forum for Weimar police unit marks and ran across this thread. Perhaps the questions have been resolved by now but, if not, I may have some clues.
The placement and format of your KP./L. mark is very similar to marks of the form S.P./X. on a number of Lugers from the police of the Free State of Saxony (not the Prussian Province). The X in these marks may be L. (Leipzig), D. (Dresden), C. (Chemnitz) or Zw. (Zwikau). Others have identified the S.P. as standing for Schutzpolizei although it may have meant Saechsische Polizei. I am not aware of a Kriminalpolizei force in Saxony but it sure seems logical.
I would like to know if you have discovered any more information about this mark.
Hey Bill, How ya been? Neat pistol. I hope to run across a unit or police marked 1914 someday.
I think they are one of the most interesting of all of the pocket pistols.
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