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P08 Luger
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Long Lugers


 

The Luger was derived from the ground breaking Borchardt automatic pistol, by Georg Luger (1849-1923). A brilliant designer, he was employed by the D.W.M. (Deutsch Waffen und Munizionfabrick) as a designer/salesman.

While the Borchardt received great critical acclaim the Luger became an overnight commercial success.

1901 The Swiss army adopts the Luger. It will remain in service for over 50 years.
1902 Portugal, Brazil, Bulgaria, Holland, Chili adopt the weapon.
1904 The German Navy makes it the regulation handgun. It is the first 9mm Parabellum in the German regulations.
1908 The German Imperial Army follows suit . Tests are conducted by the U.S. Only the formal decision by US manufacturers to develop an automatic weapon stops the Army from going any further.

From 1904 a "Parabellum carbine", with a 30cm long barrel, can be found in the DWM civilian catalog. In direct competition with the Mauser and Mannlicher it had the advantage of a removable stock. Despite its finish and remarkable performances at short and medium range, it was not very popular.By 1912 the weapon is also offered to the public in a choice of caliber, 7.65 and 9mm.

The Imperial Staff was keen to equip the special units of the Army with a new weapon to replace the 1898 carbine. The brief was simple, the gun had to be light, small and have a great rate of fire!!
The DWM, Mauser and the Erfurt arsenal, all provided answers basedon the same principle, a pistol with a detachable stock.

In 1913 the P 08 "Lande Modell 08" was accepted. Based on the shell of the original P08 it had a 20cm long barrel with a very elaborate sight graduated to 800m, with compensation to the left for long range firing.

The butt snapped on the back and bottom of the pistol handle. The leather holster was fastened to the right side of the removable butt in a very neat and compact arrangement.
The closest competition.
The Mauser model 1916, reworked for 9mm. While as good a gun, and lighter, it did not achieve the balance of lines of the Luger.

The new P08 is adopted in 1913, production will start in 1914, 20000 were build at the start of WW1. First issued to mounted artillery and submariners only, the P08 found its way into MG units, pilots, and assault troops.
In 1915 the safety device is improved, all guns manufactured after this date are labeled P08N/A (Neues Art)
As the conflict wore on, the German army was faced with a lessening of its firepower advantage. Steps were quickly taken to remedy the situation.

  • The 08/15 machine gun is introduced
  • The 98 carbine is equiped with a bigger magazine
  • The Mauser automatic carbine is put into service
  • In 1917 the first Trommelmagazin (drummagazines)are issued to front line troups

This strange contraption was the result of work done between 1910 and 1912 for Browning by two Hungarians, Tatarek and von Benko. It was revived in 1915, and adapted, with very few modification in the manufacture of the Mexicano-Swiss, Mondragon carbine, favored by German flyers. DWM worked on a TM from 1915. Great difficulties were encountered to fit the bulky 9mm Parabellum amo in the magazine.In 1917 the first deliveries were made to front line in great secrecy and with a great deal of anticipation.
Unfortunatly the TM did not live up to expectations, it proved to be heavy (1kg), fragile, unreliable, but worst of all the maintenance and loading were a nightmare in combat situations.
A "pump" was provided for loading (pic. right). By hand you could not fit more than 12 bullets in the magazine...and were running the risk of breaking your fingers if the springlock came undone!

Manufacture was slow and of uneven quality, being left to small subcontractors.The experiment was a disaster and the TM was abandonned as viable option in German weapon design after WW1, only the Bergmann-Schmeisser 18/1 retained the idea. It would however give birth to two great weapons, the U.S. Thompson and the soviet P.P.S.H.
In 1917 more weird and not so wonderful experiments were made with the P08.

  • A 40 cm barrel and a scope were tried.
  • they were fitted with Maxims silencers
  • They tried a 100 shot TM!
  • Attempts were made to turn them into submachine guns.

    At the end of the war, the conditions of the Versailles treaty prohibiting Germany the use of a hand gun of a caliber of more than 8mm with a barrel over 10cm, most P08 long barrels were destroyed or sold to South American countries. Some did make their way to the USA were Stoeger in New-York was selling them in 1930 for no less than $115.

    While the Mauser C96 was given a second life in WW11, it seems that some P08 long barrels did find a way back to the battlefield, witness this picture of a Waffen SS in 1944 France.