Hello all. Found a Steyr M1912 I have my eye on. But it has some things that are different about it. The slide and frame match. It has all the stamps in the right place, 1917 Steyr on the slide. What is different is the Wn-18 stamp and the 5 digit serial number. It isn't a letter disguised as a number it is a 10XXX number that match's. What is the story? Most I've seen have letters and the Wn-# match's the year. Was this an odd contract? Thanks! Carl.
Pics.
Could well be the second Bavarian contract. Those purportedly lack the letter suffix. I have a 1918 about 1000 later than yours that also lacks the letter suffix, but the slide date and acceptance dates match. Perhaps yours is late 1917 production, and acceptance lagged until the next year.
The WN-18 is when it was accepted into service with the Imperial Army. The 1917 date is when it was manufactured. Acceptance doesn't necessarily happen the day its made, and sometimes parts are made in one year and assembled in another.
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