Gents,

I thought I would share an interesting CZ 27 variation that I picked up locally last week. This is a first German variation CZ 27 that was manufactured for the German Railway System and the Military. This particular pistol is marked to the Deutsche Reichsbahn instead of having military WaA markings.

This pistol was carried by the railway police and security forces.

This variaton is distinguished by having four angular serrations on the slide and a low serial number from 16000 to 21400 according to Still. It also has the early factory markings of "CESKA ZBROJOVKA A.S. v PRAZE" on the top of the slide. These pistols also have the German Army Test Proof on the chamber and are made without commercial proof markings.

The feature that indicates this is a railway police pistol is the "DR" marking on the trigger guard. It is always nice to come across these interesting variations unexpectedly.

Now all I need is the later Ordnungspolizei marked version with the Eagle/K marking where this DR is located. Keep me in mind if you run across an example for sale.

George

Nice Find George.

Thanks Rick. I decided I could live with a bit of pitting after noticing the markings. It came with two proper unmarked magazines and the generic holster. It also has fully matching serial numbers and the lanyard loop that is missing from the one shown in "Axis Pistols," so I am happy.

George

George, NEAT!!! You have a good reason to be happy. That is a very good find. Railway items are very hard to come by. FP

Thanks FP. This is my first Railway Police pistol. I know there are DR marked lugers out there as well, but I don't have one. I will put it with the two railway marked rifles that I have. Actually, one Gewehr and one Karabiner.

The Railway forces are interesting. They seemed to be one of the main "police" forces fighting the Communists in the 1920s. They would roar into town in their special armored trains and battle Sparticists and Communists in the streets of various cities that had riots and attempts at government overthrow. Their function was as mobile reserves for the regular municipal police forces during the time of the Weimar Republic. Quite a hard nosed bunch during this time period it seems.

George, I’m in complete agreement. The railway forces are very interesting and I think under appreciated. Maybe it’s because I lived in Germany for a short while. But with the exception of yourself of course, I’m surprised sometimes that there seems to be a lack of a depth of knowledge by many on what went on in Germany - which shaped the institutions there. I’ve looked a little at the period you mentioned and got the sense that “Rail” exerted the power that it did because it could cross political boundaries at will which was not the case for state/local organizations. Also very interesting I think are rail operations in the occupied territories and with the large scale use of armored trains - which is something I am looking into currently.

My compliments again on the pistol. Best Regards, FP