Thanks, it is always helpful to have thoroughly detailed rifles in a sea of half reportings and rc's...
Yes, SDP was taking on a few stamped components in Army production. SS contracts are more prone to inconsistency, the Army contracts remained far more consistent with SDP-Radom components until the evacuation (of course the SS contracts were also late production, so it is harder to date them, - many 1943 dated are actually 1944 assembles). Trigger guard components are more common than the bands, it seems SDP took advantage of the stamped TG components earlier, probably curtailing the more complicated parts at Radom to take advantage of the new supply.
Regarding the barrel shoulder numbers, the only thing I can think of is possibly something along the lines of assembly numbers, but the patterns do not support this. First class firms like DWM would use such numbers on barrels and receivers (also TG) to mate the two components, sort of a pre-fitting exercise before serialing?? But SDP was neither a first class rifle maker (not since 1939) nor was this apparently needed by any firm in WWII. But, whatever the numbering on the barrel shoulder relates too, it began shortly before this rifle and became almost mandatory after this rifle (though so inconsistent in application to be indecipherable... just 0-9 and an alpha or two, perhaps if we had more examples like this to examine, thoroughly detailed, we could come up with some good guesses, but not too many take the time to detail a rifle this thoroughly, - which is what this forum was designed for, research, not blathering and bleating about every outrage in humperville)
Yes, SDP was taking on a few stamped components in Army production. SS contracts are more prone to inconsistency, the Army contracts remained far more consistent with SDP-Radom components until the evacuation (of course the SS contracts were also late production, so it is harder to date them, - many 1943 dated are actually 1944 assembles). Trigger guard components are more common than the bands, it seems SDP took advantage of the stamped TG components earlier, probably curtailing the more complicated parts at Radom to take advantage of the new supply.
Regarding the barrel shoulder numbers, the only thing I can think of is possibly something along the lines of assembly numbers, but the patterns do not support this. First class firms like DWM would use such numbers on barrels and receivers (also TG) to mate the two components, sort of a pre-fitting exercise before serialing?? But SDP was neither a first class rifle maker (not since 1939) nor was this apparently needed by any firm in WWII. But, whatever the numbering on the barrel shoulder relates too, it began shortly before this rifle and became almost mandatory after this rifle (though so inconsistent in application to be indecipherable... just 0-9 and an alpha or two, perhaps if we had more examples like this to examine, thoroughly detailed, we could come up with some good guesses, but not too many take the time to detail a rifle this thoroughly, - which is what this forum was designed for, research, not blathering and bleating about every outrage in humperville)
