The Luger
The Luger is immediately recognisable by its shape. The swept back handle and the narrow tapering barrel give it an unmistakable profile. Mechanically, it is also distinctive, as it uses a toggle action. The circular toggle grips add to its unique appearance.
The Luger was developed directly from the Borchard C93, which was also based on a toggle action. The Borchard was a much more eccentric and unwieldy design which was not really commercially successful. When Hugo Borchard refused to consider design changes, the project was handed over to George Luger, who simplified and improved the the design and produced the iconic Luger pistol.
The Luger was manufactured by DWM (Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken) in Germany and is often thought of as being a purely German gun. However, the first country’s military to adopt the Luger was Switzerland in 1900. Chambered in 7.67 mm with a grip safety, the Model 1900-06 was the initial main variant, followed by a simplification in the design, to cut manufacturing costs, in 1928, designated the Model 06-29. the Luger remained in service with the Swiss until 1949.
The Luger was also trailed by the British and American military, but was not adopted. However, a host of smaller military contacts were signed with Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Finland, Latvia, Netherlands, Persia (Iran), Portugal, Siam (Thailand), Sweden, and Turkey.
After a long series of trails the Luger beat off competition from an updated version of the Mauser C96 and various designs from Mannlicher. The first contract was awarded by the German Navy in 1907. The Army adopted the Luger a year later as the classic Pistole P-08, chambered in 9 mm parabellum, with simple fixed sights and no grip safety.
The Luger was the mainstay German Pistol during World War I. It was produced in barrel lengths of 4″, 6″, and 8″ (Artillery). The Artillery version featured adjustable rear sights, a removable wooden stock to turn the pistol into a carbine, and an optional 50-round drum magazine.
During the interwar years the Luger continued to be used by German Police.
Although the Luger was replaced by the newer and simpler P38 in 1938, the German Army still required large numbers of pistols and they continued to by manufactured and issued throughout WW2.
After the war the Luger continued to be assembled and manufactured using captured parts and machine tools. They were issued in France up until the 50s and large numbers were supplied by Russia to various communist regimes.