[Luke]

1916-17 Navy Lugers have the date (1916 or 1917) stamped in what looks like 1.5mm characters on the front left frame rail and the left front sight ramp.

Were these normally stamped with the same die sets?

Were the 4 digits of the date stamped individually or as a group?

Was the spacing of the frame rail date identical or nearly identical to the spacing on the front sight ramp?

Would appreciate your observations on known-authentic Navy Lugers you might have in your possession.

Thanks for your help.

Luke

 

[pisto]

Luke, seems to me on my 1916, that the frame and the front sight are stamped with individual

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[taudelt]

I would say they were stamped individually based on the two that I have. The front sight on my 1916 sure looks like it is going downhill.

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The stamps on the left hand side would indicate to me that the "1" was stamped a lot deeper ( or new stamp) than the rest.

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My 1917 has obviously been buffed and refinished at some point in time but "9" still shows what looks like a double stamp to me.

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The front stamp looks pretty straight but based on the other three I would vote for individual stamping.

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