[EVR]

Could anyone comment on the barrel marking of a 41 BYF #4347r that I own? On the right side 18mm foreward of the frame is a stamping that I can only describe as two plus marks (+) 2mm wide 2mm high superimposed on each other, one rotated 45 degrees with a dot in the middle. Sort of an astrik (*) with four legs. About 10mm rearward of this mark is the usual eagle with swastika. The gun is original with all matching numbers and black plastic grips. Thanks.....Co-Met

 

[Edward Tinker]

I wonder if it is actually x markings?

Can you provide either scans or digital pictures of all the marks and the gun?

Ed

 

[EVR]

Ed, I will try to get some digital shots but the marking is quite small.....Ed

 

[EVR]

Ed, Here is a picture of the marking. Hope this works...Ed

Download Attachment: P5010005.JPG
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[Edward Tinker]

I do not have any books with me, but I beleive this is a east german, i.e. later than WW2 sunburst.

others?

Can we see full pictures of each side?

The proofs on the right are eagle 655, a common proof, and eagle 655.

Ed

 

[EVR]

Here are a few more pix....Ed

Download Attachment: P5010001.JPG
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Download Attachment: P5010002.JPG
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Download Attachment: P5010003.JPG
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Download Attachment: P5010004.JPG
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[RockinWR]

Edward,
* The following may shed some light on your asterisk marked barrel. The byf'41 pistol shown turned out to be from the "w" block.

http://www.gunboards.com/luger/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3967&SearchTerms=byf

* Not an uncommon byf'41 barrel mark. I own a "y" block with what I believe is the same asterisk & have seen a recent post for another "y" block similarly marked.

* Trust this helps.

 

[Edward Tinker]

Thanks for setting everyone straight Bob,

Ed

 

[Edward Tinker]

Thanks for setting everyone straight Bob,

Ed

 

[EVR]

Thanks everyone for the info. What does W block mean? I always thought it was the suffix of the serial number.......Ed

 

[EVR]

Thanks everyone for the info. What does W block mean? I always thought it was the suffix of the serial number.......Ed

 

[RockinWR]

Edward,
* Of course you are correct. The small lower case letter is the suffix letter of the S/N.
* As Army issued Lugers were produced in a block of 10,000 pistols per suffix letter, I've fallen into the habit of refering to a single suffix letter range as a "block".
* The "w" block mentioned in my post above denotes the pistol pictured in the attached thread shortcut as belonging to the "w" suffix block and not to the "n" suffix block as that post originally suggested.
* A case of collector's shorthand is all!

 

[EVR]

Thanks Bob. I am impressed by the amount of information on this web site..........Ed

 

[Guest]

Lets kick this thought around. During the imperial era many Erfurt Lugers will be found with a Crown over RC mark on individual parts. Basically, the Crown over RC indicates the part is "out of tolerance" but functions normally. As reported by Heer Gortz, the mark was that of the Revisions Commission. Apparently the pistol was assembled with the questionable part, tested for function, marked with the Crown RC and sent to war. Keep in mind that Erfurt had no Commercial Luger Division.

The Crown over RC mark is seldom found on DWM Imperial Military lugers. Could the reason be, because DWM had a commercial division where their "out of tolerance" parts could be used? As far as I know, there was no Military Inspectors to check the parts in the Commercial division. One though might be that The tolerances in the Commercial assembly were probably not as close as those on the Military pistols. Consequently, If the pistol functioned normally, away it went.

Now we come to Mauser, Mauser had a Commercial Division and it's a fact that many Commercial Banners were assembled with some rejected Military parts. The parts are normally recognized by the Military marks found on these parts. For example Commercial Banner number 1419V, has a bunch of K-Date parts. I suspect that many of you guys have Banners with obvious Military parts. Opinions??

Could it be that Mauser had marked a few of these barrels with a * mark to indicate the tolerance was not exact but the pistol worked fine. Maybe by late 41 they wanted to get all the good parts used up before the KU guy showed up with his front loader and truck to move out all the real junk parts?

This mark seems to be found on P-38's of the same era. I remember a conversation with some P-38 experts in KC one year. The conversation included the apparent odd * found on many P-38 parts. When the thought was presented that, this mark might represent "out of tolerance" yet acceptable parts. Most seemed to agree that this might be a logical explanation of the * mark. I have no clue what the current opinion might be.

 

[Jared]

I have an late a block K43 ac45 with a similar asterisk on the barrel. I tend to agree with Mr. Hallock that it is a out of spec. but usable part marking as it seems to show up on weapons that are close to the end of their production or later in the war.