Internal markings question

[skeeter4206]

Eric broght up a good topic on the markings on the inside of lugers. Most of what I have seen are numbers or letters. I stripped mine down last night for just a good cleaning and noticed some stampings on the inside of one of mine that are letters like the alphabet that goes along with the serial number. That gothic look.

One of mine is a police issue luger dated 1917 with the letter suffix "h". Well on the frame under the left grip appears to be a "k" or a "h" stamped just under the safety. On the top of the frame inside where the hold open latch is appears to be a "c" and a "d" right next to each other. And on the inside of the grip inside the magazine well another one, maybe a "L" or something.

My other one, a 1916, with the letter suffix "j" does not have the gothic stamping anywhere on it on the inside parts except inside the magazine well. I always used to think it was just pitting until I got a magnifying glass out last night and looked. But it appears to be a "L" stamp as well.

my question is, is it common to see inspector stamps with that type of lettering on the inside of the frame like these?

[ithacaartist]

Glenn,

That last one looks more like a "b" to me. I'm sure you mean cursive, not Gothic. Cursive = running, as in running together, as we learned around 3rd or 4th grade to write, not print. Gothic, or Blackletter script is the old style of German font. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackletter

My notion is that the internal stampings like these are all over the board as far as font/characters and locations. I've read here that there's no particular documentation of what means what, since they are ersatz indicators of steps in the machining and assembly process applied by individual workers or sub-inspectors?

[mrerick]

Hi Glenn,

On these Imperial era DWM Lugers, you'll find factory inspector stamps in many places like the ones you found.

These stamps were used by individual factory inspectors as they measured, gauged and judged the quality of hand finish work in the many steps of manufacturing Lugers. The government inspector stamps were only used after manufacturing completed and final acceptance testing and proof testing was done.

The stamps take the form of letters and sometimes cryptic symbols. In each case, they correspond to an individual inspector.

This changed from manufacturer to manufacturer and in the different periods. Toward the end, in the 1940s, Mauser eventually designated a single inspection stamp "WR" in a circular motif.

Marc