FG, a welcome flashback!
Perhaps you could revisit the subject further and save the historical context here (K98k forum) in case Gunboards dissolves... this addition of yours expands upon what I have read. The immediate end of the war brought about great changes to all the major firms, the extent of which has been ignored, - certainly the end of the arsenals is taken for granted, but the commercial makers were greatly effected also, none more than DWM, WMO and OWG, but the Suhl consortium as well... in truth the circumstances faced by the privately owned firms were nothing less than catastrophic and by American standards inconceivable what they went through to stay solvent, - it probably was worse for OWG (Steyr) which really remained-survived because of state intervention (the Czechs especially acted reprehensible in this regard - confiscatory in sprit and action)
I am highly pleased you are furthering Jon Speed's effort to share his knowledge and archive to the forums, - I learned a great deal from Jon and I have saved every email and document he shared with me from 2010 on, a massive amount of documents, most that will undoubtedly lost to time... that Jon is willing and even eager to make his work out live him shows the exemplar character of the man! How much was lost when John Wall & CB passed.... (I have every email they sent me, but will be lost eventually, - John Wall and I shared many common interests, especially regarding Loewe, probably the only man that knew more than I do...)