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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 19^th pistol made in .30 Luger. Note that only the pistols sold in Europe are dated, the models exported in USA present only the FBM (Internal Mauser Proof). The models in .30 caliber are quite scarce. The following statistic clarifies this point: On 1972, during the second year of production, the 9mm models reached the serial number 11.007xxx. Therefore around 6000 pistols were produced in two years. On 1986, quite at the end of production, the models in .30 Luger reached the number 10.0057xx. Therefore around 4700 pistols were produced in 16 years with the following distribution: At the end of 1972 the number was 10.0042xx (around 3200 pistols produced). It means that the 75% of the pistols were produced in the first 2 years. The 87% of the entire production was reached on 1974 (10.005009). Note that in 1974 Interarms dropped the original contract with Mauser. So far I have met only one standard pistol with the date that falls in the year 1975-1984 (10.005461 date 1975). In these years Mauser produced some commemorative models. In the 1986 the last commemorative (Luger Artillery) was produced. The models in 9mm are numbered with a special pattern LPxxxvon250. Some LP08 and at least one P08 fat barrel were sold to the Italian importer Bignami. These models are numbered with the standard .30 Luger pattern and fall in the range 10.0055xx – 10.0056xx. 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.

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