I was wiping down a pair of Luger pistols with an oily rag yesterday and noticed that they were both 1942 manufacture and yet one had Byf on the top of the receiver while the other had 'Mauser' in the Mauser banner. I understand the coding system and that Byf is Mauser ... but I thought that by 1942 they had moved away from imprinting the commercial name ... what am I missing?
(BTW - just for a little historical context ... one of these - the Byf - was one a 'pair' brought back by my father from overseas ... the other was a so called 'Black Widow' which he sold years ago along with a P38; The second '08 that I currently have - 'Mauser' Banner was given to me by a friend who served overseas as well... I dont know where he got it exactly although he did serve in Holland. My fathers Lugers were NOT taken off a dead German
.... although I suspect there were opportunities to do so. It was acquired because another unit officer he served with insisted he take a couple that had been surrendered because 'they would be worth a few bucks when they got back to Canada' ... my father described large sheds that were stacked to the ceiling with pistols in holsters. This was in Holland when they were disarming German troops. My father once mentioned having a C96 when he was serving in Italy -- but that he left in a desk drawer somewhere there when they moved on ... he didnt think very highly of it. Too bad we cant see the future!)
(BTW - just for a little historical context ... one of these - the Byf - was one a 'pair' brought back by my father from overseas ... the other was a so called 'Black Widow' which he sold years ago along with a P38; The second '08 that I currently have - 'Mauser' Banner was given to me by a friend who served overseas as well... I dont know where he got it exactly although he did serve in Holland. My fathers Lugers were NOT taken off a dead German
.... although I suspect there were opportunities to do so. It was acquired because another unit officer he served with insisted he take a couple that had been surrendered because 'they would be worth a few bucks when they got back to Canada' ... my father described large sheds that were stacked to the ceiling with pistols in holsters. This was in Holland when they were disarming German troops. My father once mentioned having a C96 when he was serving in Italy -- but that he left in a desk drawer somewhere there when they moved on ... he didnt think very highly of it. Too bad we cant see the future!)
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