;
Mauser Parabellum Serial Numbering. External numbering This short document gives some information about the Mauser
Parabellum serial numbering. The Mauser firm, for the first time in the Luger history,
codifies the caliber of the pistol in the serial number pattern. The
following pattern is used for the Parabellum in .30 Luger 10.xxxxxx and 11.xxxxxx
for the 9mm. Another important point to correctly understand the Parabellum
serial numbering is that Mauser reserved the first 1000 numbers for
prototypes and special production. Therefore, the first commercial model in .30 Luger is numbered 10.001001 and 11.001001 for the
9mm. For example the pistol numbered 10.001019 is the 19th pistol
made in .30 Luger. Note that only the pistols sold
in Europe are dated, the models exported in The models in .30 caliber are quite
scarce. The following statistic clarifies this point:
The official Mauser documentation stated that at the end of
1985 the production of the .30 Luger models was 5070 pistols. As far as the 9mm concerns, the production at the end of 1985
was 16220. Internal numbering So far the Mauser Parabellum collectors and experts were
convinced that it was not necessary numbering the parts of the pistols. These
because the production standards used in the 1970 guarantees that all the
parts were interchangeable. It is a recently discover that several pistols
have the last two/three digits of the serial number engraved internally. This number is mainly applied on the rear toggle but some
pistols shown a great number of parts with the last two digits of the serial number.
I suggest all Parabellum owners to check the internal parts of
the pistol and let me know if some parts are numbered, this to increase the
knowledge about these interesting pistols. So far it is evinced that the pistols with more parts numbered
belong to specific contract; like the Bignami. Bignami, the Italian Mauser
Importer, ordered some pistols in caliber 7.65 in the second half of
’80 (mainly Luger Artillery commemorative). Hereafter some photos. |
|
Author’s
collection.
Pictures and results of the author’s researches presented on
this web site may not be used in whole, or in part, without prior written
permission from the author and copyright holder.