Luger P08 (Parabellum)

Georg Luger's toggle-locked Parabellum, from the Swiss 1900 and the Navy's 1904 to the P08, the long pistol, Mauser's code years and Krieghoff's limited edition of 2006: history, the 7.65 and 9 mm cartridges, the mechanism from the Swiss service manual, identification, field strip and repair, ATF's list of stocked Lugers removed from the NFA read entry by entry, and a from-scratch build from the Swiss federal drawings.

Firearms

Luger P08 (Parabellum) · Deep Dive

Luger P08 (Parabellum)

The Swiss arms factory's dimensioned drawings of the Luger survive and are online, and every sheet calls the "New Model" the "Mod. 1904", with its barrel screwed in by a thread cut twenty to the inch.

Georg Luger's toggle-locked Parabellum, from the Swiss 1900 and the Navy's 1904 to the P08, the long pistol, Mauser's code years and Krieghoff's limited edition of 2006: history, the 7.65 and 9 mm cartridges, the mechanism from the Swiss service manual, identification, field strip and repair, ATF's list of stocked Lugers removed from the NFA read entry by entry, and a from-scratch build from the Swiss federal drawings.

Photo: Mauser 9mm Luger S-42 1938 3930 L DSC7742 by Self Loader · CC BY-SA 4.0

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    Volumes

    1. Vol 1 From the Borchardt to the Pistole 08, 1898–1914 Georg Luger's redesign, the Swiss 1900, the American trials and the .45, the 9 mm cartridge, the Navy's 1904, the coil-spring 'New Model', the P08 and the long-barrelled artillery pistol
    2. Vol 2 War, Weimar, Mauser and After, 1914–2006 Two world wars, the drum magazine, Versailles and Simson, Vickers and the Dutch, Bern, Mauser's code years and Krieghoff's Luftwaffe pistols, the end of production, and the Lugers made since 1945
    3. Vol 3 Two Cartridges: 7.65 and 9 mm Parabellum The bottlenecked 7.65 and the straight 9 mm, what the factories and armies loaded, what they measure, what is made today, and what to feed an old Luger
    4. Vol 4 How It Works: The Toggle, the Ramps and the Sear Bar The parts by their German service names, the over-centre lock, what unlocks it, how the striker is cocked and released, the disconnector, the safeties and the hold-open, and why the Luger is particular about its ammunition
    5. Vol 5 Identifying a Luger: Makers, Codes, Dates, Proofs and the Many Variants Where every mark is, what it means, how to tell the models apart from the left side and from the top, which numbers should match, and the fakes
    6. Vol 6 Field Strip, Detail Strip, Care and Repair Four official procedures side by side, the Swiss army's detail strip, cleaning and lubrication from the manuals, decocking, the parts that break, springs, and what an owner should and should not attempt
    7. Vol 7 Owning One: The Market, C&R Status and the Stocked Luger What Lugers sell for and why, curio-or-relic status by date and by name, ATF's list of stocked Lugers removed from the National Firearms Act read entry by entry, and Michigan
    8. Vol 8 Making One: From Parts and From Scratch What has been made since 1945 and by whom, the law of a self-made Luger and the question of which part is the firearm, building a shooter from parts, and a from-scratch lab build from the Swiss federal drawings