Went out to CT weekend before last to visit some friends. A couple of us decided to hit the local range, and one buddy brought a pistol I had seen years before, but never fired.

Its a 9mm Luger pistol. His father served in the Second World War in Italy. The story was he was clearing out a suspected Nazi command bunker when a German Officer shot at him with the pistol, and missed. His father returned the favor, and didn't miss.
He decided to keep the pistol, and brought it back home with him. My friend inherited it about 10 years ago when his father passed. He has never shot it, and as far as he knows, his father never did either. If true, the last bullet fired from the gun was at his father, some 76 years ago.

We took turns running a box of Remington 115 FMJ thru it, with no malfunctions. I felt privileged to shoot it. Shot about 6 inches low for me at 25 yards. Jim said the Luger is going back in the safe, and will be passed on to his daughter, as a memento of the day that almost ended the family line..

Took a couple poor cell phone pics.

Lots of folks here own and shoot military surplus weapons, but I wonder how many actually think about what these guns have seen and been thru. If they could talk....

Larry

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I would recommend writi g up the history of the event to include with the pistol. Some of the facts can get fuzzy after a few years. Great story and a real part of the family history.

Glad to see this is staying with the family.

That is cool. What are the markings on it?

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No baby we aint

Super nice to own and a very valuable collector these days. Unmolested examples often selling for $1500-2000 these days. Thanks for sharing with us.

Unfortunately, I didn't write down the numbers or markings on the gun, other than what is in the pictures. Other than the left side, which appears to have lost some finish from rust, it is in pretty nice shape, and surprised me it ate a full box of shells without a stumble.

I agree, he should write a family history letter to go with that gun.

Larry

Cool gun and history. Yes, if they could talk.
I recently sold a FN 1922 rig that was taken from a dead German soldier who was found froze to death in an outhouse on the Eastern Front.

I have a safe full of ex military weapons that I wish could talk.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

That gun and the accompanying story is great, that gun should be in your friend's family forever, I would call it a family treasure.

Great Luger and story. The Italian Campaign does not get as much notice as the Western European Theater. The combat there was as fierce and the mountain terrain where the Germans often made their stands as they retreated back up the Italian boot made it even more difficult.

My Uncle Jack served in the 88th Division, 351st Infantry, 2nd Battalion, E Company and entered combat at Casino. He volunteered for the formation of the 2nd Battalion Ranger Squad which received training from the Ranger Units in Italy and served as a squad leader pulling patrols and special assignments for the battalion commander. The 2nd Battalion / 351st received a Presidential Unit Citation for the Mt. Cappello fight.

Uncle Jack received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge. He was one of my favorite uncles and we communicated by letter and phone often over the years before his death several years ago. My brother has a German Helmet that he brought back.

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Interesting story and reminds me of one of my military pistols that is a German Fabrique National Model P-35 with Nazi markings W2A 140 Waffen. The individual, I purchased belong to his father. Undocumented, he said his father took it off of a Fallshimager, Paratrooper, surrendering to American GI, his father, shortly after the fall of Berlin and the German carried this P-35 throughout 1940-1945 in all of Europe and mostly the Russian front. The captured papers were lost as to document the story. I lubricate it every year but have never fired it. The gun is tight and in very good condition.

Nick

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NRA Instructor\GCA Gunsmith

I don't shoot my milsurps, but the whole reason I collect them is so I can hold them thinking about what they've seen and been through.

Great story to go with the gun. The story should be written down for documentation to go with the pistol and kept for future generations to view.

I am also in possession of a family heirloom firearm, and documented it in writing. The gun and the documentation are in a fitted case in my gun vault. Here are pictures.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

The Italian Campaign does not get as much notice as the Western European Theater. My Uncle Ed a Army troop saw heavy combat in Northern Italy... He was leading a Army mule packed with the MG and tripod when its head exploded 2 feet away from my Uncle...the Germans had lots of snipers in the mountains. Both my Uncles came back from the war as Drunks most their lives, My Uncle Franks was in the 3rd Marines. Neither ever touched a firearm Post WW2 to they day they passed.

I'll bet it's Mauser made and dated '36,'37 or possibly coded with a G for 1935. Also, if your friend is storing it in the holster I would suggest that he not. Leather and steel don't mix over time and that could have been the problem with the finish on the left side.

I acquired a Russian 7.62 Nagant revolver that was made at Tula Arsenal in 1940, and has Finnish capture marks. What an interesting history it must have, being taken off a Russian in Finland and making its way to Gettysburg, PA, to be acquired by a student of the Winter War.

This guns were factory sighted at 50 meters

Regards

RR

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"Off we go..."

IIRC they were also sighted with 124 grain FMJ and were a tad hotter than current 115 grain FMJ FMJ loadings in the US.

P08's are always interesting to me.

Thanks for sharing this one.

A buddy from High School had his Dad's 6" Luger that the Dad got in Europe during the war. It was a very nice gun, good straw color as best I could determine all parts matched. We shot it a few times in the 60's then both went our separate ways.

Forty years later we find each other on Facebook and my next trip back east we meet up. Seems his Dad passed, he got the gun, and had it NICKELED! I almost died.

Great story and photo. The close up of "Uncle Jack" reminds me that most of the Greatest Generation was about 20/25 years old, and were just ordinary guys and gals until the chips were down. Then, most of their stories were never told. I salute the few remaining among us, and the Precious Memories of those gone on.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

Over the years I've been offered a nickeled P08 that was a "German general's gun" as well as a nickeled Sauer 38(h) that was special paratrooper issue. Those stories just seem to grow over the years. I've seen a Blue Sky Import marked M1 Carbine that was "brought back from the guy's dad from Korea" And an import marked P38 that was "captured off a German officer". Often Vets as well as their heirs tended to embellish or down right make up those bring back stories.

I find the holster as interesting as the gun. I see Lugers occasionally but rarely see the holster it was carried in. The wear and condition of the holster gives credibility that it and the Luger was taken off of a combat officer.

Roger that. Here's a pic of a WWII bring-back Luger and holster from the same year. Hard to find these days, for sure.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Having souvenir guns nickel-plated was fairly popular among GI’s in Europe after the war. There were shops in Germany and France offering the service. You come across a bit of hand-wringing about that especially among Walther collectors. Of course, in a world awash with guns back then, nobody saw these as future valuable collectibles, and vets wouldn’t hesitate to make the gun a little prettier.