I have always had a fascination with Parabellum (Luger) pistols, and recently photographed this very nice piece. It's a Pistole 08, coded "S/42" on the toggle and dated 1936 over the chamber. It was made by Mauser Werke in Oberndorf on the Neckar river in Germany at the time when Germany was secretly re-arming in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles which ended World War I. I think these guns are works of art - using techniques far outmoded today. Hope you like the pics of this piece of history.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Look at that bluing and strawing and the fit of the grips. Beautiful. The feel of the pistol in your hand, and the accuracy. Nice.

I have a 1937 S/42 reportedly captured in Africa. Not as nice in condition as that 1936 though.

John-

Is it my imagination, or are these pics brighter and sharper than those you posted previously? Looks super.

Nice gun, and so pristine.

Thanks for the post. The Luger is a true classic, absolutely beautiful. I have never had the chance to shoot one, but did handle one at a gun show and understand why so many people love the feel.

I really like the luger pistols. I have my dads WW2 bring back. The ser nos. are mismatched, when the ship neared port the armors grabbed pieces and threw them together for the GI to take home. Screwed up a lot of guns in the process. I have never fired it. He said he took it off a German officer somewhere in Europe. I also have the holster. Larry

Nice example of the Mauser built P08. Last full year with strawing.

OK, I'll ask--what is "strawing"?

Nice pistol--a friend of my father's had an artillery model with all the accessories. Not sure what happened after he passed, as his sons had no interest in what was a nice collection.

I have a 1916 DWM, just the way it sits in your hand is all it takes to love one. Finicky, maybe but it has to be the coolest looking pistol of all time.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

Cooter-

"Strawing" is the yelllowish-gold finish on some small parts.

I love the P08. Here in Germany, I have recently met a gentleman named Herbert Werle. Herbert rebuilds M-1 Garands (he is currently working on one of mine) and P08s. I recently went to the range with him and he allowed me to fire a P08 carbine in 7.62x25 (Tokarev). He can make artillery Lugers, .45 ACP, carbines and all kinds of things you never imagined him. If you are interested in Lugers he will do it. Herbert used to work in depot maintenance for the US Army small arms section here in Germany before they closed it down. He is quite a guy, loves talking to Americans about P08s too. I was pretty honored to be asked to go to the range and shoot that P08. It's literally a work of art!

Here's his website: Home

And one of his P08s; the .45 and he likes to do those in the white (it's not SS):



And his .45 ACP carbine, my favorite:



Don't anyone get mad; Herbert tells me he only re-works junkers, not collectibles as he would have the purists (and there's lots of them here in Germany) and collectors kicking in his door. He can do a great restoration work on them too. I have an old "beater" P08 that one day I'm going to send him to turn into an artillery Luger or the carbine version he makes. He even has a plan to convert one to 9x21 and .38 Super (!) in the future. Take a look at what he can do to Garand's too! He's all over youtube with testfire videos.

Luger--quite possibly the sexiest gun ever.

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Pray for Gridlock

I have taken pictures of this gun before, but not with this camera and using a better lens and technique. These were shot in the shade with a Pentax K-5 16.2 mp camera and a razor-sharp Pentax 50mm prime lens from a tripod at ISO 100, f/8, 1/25 sec. with a two-second shutter delay to minimize any camera vibration. The results are far superior to equipment and techniques I've used in the past.

I did take some pics of a buddy's excellent condition 1914 DWM P.08 and posted them recently, but those were impromptu shots taken with a Canon 10 mp point-and-shoot on the hood of his car. It was the only camera I had at the time. The quality K-5 and its various lenses are great, but not especially handy!

More pics with the K-5 are posted in my albums in the "pictures and albums" section of the forum.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Like trigger, safety, etc.?

Thanks for clearing that up, TS.

Mr. Werle makes some very impressive stuff. The one I find interesting the most is the gas operated carbine that is a cross between a Luger and a 98K.

Cooter-

You're welcome. Takedown lever, too.

T-Star

I own a 1936 Luger like the one pictured above, but mine isn't in as nice condition. More wear on the blued parts, and the strawed parts too. The grips are more worn looking too.

But, it was what I could afford. IIRC, I paid $650 (or perhaps $750?) in early 1984. All the numbered parts match, except for the magazine. It has a very heavy trigger pull, and tiny sights, but delivers very tight groups during the rare trips to the range.

Later, I bought a 1937 German Police reworked holster, and one of the neat little tools for loading the magazines.

The prewar Lugers are real works of art. Fit and finish is just amazing. Germany continued to make Lugers until 1942. They were discontinued due to the high cost of hand fitting all the parts.

I compared my 1936 Luger to the 1942 Luger my Father brought back from the war. The 1942 Luger still looks nice, but the machining is rougher in several places.

Juist parted with a Mauser banner police Luger, dated 1940. Almost cried. Got a nice gun in return though.

For those who like puzzles, here are a couple of thumbnails of a Luger you can play with trying to identify. It's not mine unfortunately, but I've handled it; it belongs to a friend.

Attached Images

	Parabellum 45 ACP-D.jpg (33.7 KB, 52 views)
	Parabellum 45 ACP-G.jpg (32.9 KB, 61 views)

Some guy used to make those in California, I think. In .45?

Or, is that really a US Trials Luger .45?

T-Star: Close but no banana.

I'll second that emotion with my byf model.

I have a friend in El Paso, TX who collects Lugers, and he has one of these, modern-made, which I examined many years ago in detail. It's a duplicate of the rare original Luger .45s in every respect, and is exquisitely hand-made - very expensive piece. I don't recall the name of the man or shop that crafted it.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Bingo, Paladin!! This is your friend in El Paso's Luger. It's an exact replica of the SN2 Luger in 45 ACP. I think only about 50 were made. When purchased, the price was in 5 figures, probably more now.

Very nice pictures. What a great piece of history.

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He who angers you,controls you

seems like a guy named Martz made some .45 lugers a while back.

I've always wanted one, still looking actually, haven't found an affordable one yet.