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Introduction
At the beginning of the 1900’s there was much interest in the use
of the first semiautomatic pistol both as pistol and carbine.
This demand was felt both in commercial and in military domains. The
Borchardt, the Mauser C96, and the Luger Carbine are some examples of this
interest. The Luger Artillery Model
represents an historical milestone in the
development and use of the pistol-carbine semiautomatic in the military domain.
The military use of the Luger Artillery Model ended after the Great War,
even though a limited production of automatic LP08 pistols was made during the
Second World War. One of these guns,
serial number 9, is part of the collection of Paul Regnier
–
In the commercial domain the success of
the Luger Artillery Model continued, especially in the
After the Second World War, the Mauser
firm produced the Luger Artillery Model, under French control, from 1945 up
through 1947. Most recently Mauser
produced this model in a limited commemorative series during the 1985-86
timeframe.
This article will briefly summarize the
history of this model. Those who are interested in a thorough analysis of
Artillery Luger history can refer to my book “La Luger Artiglieria
– The Luger Artillery”, the first book completely dedicated to this model. This book contains
more than 190 photos and describes various models and accessories.
Military
Requirements
In 1907, the German Artillery requested
the development of a pistol-carbine. Comparative tests were done between
several pistols of the day, the Borchardt, the Mauser C96, and the Frommer, but
these pistols were not chosen for adoption.
In 1908 the German Army adopted the
Pistole 08 (P08). The Kriegsministerium decided at that time to re-consider the
artillery requirements. Captain Adolf Fischer was assigned to head a team, that
in collaboration with DWM / Deutsche Waffen – Und Munitionsfabriken, was tasked develop such a variation.
It is possible to trace several technical
solutions back to the previous models. The first stocked Lugers with 7 inch
barrels were produced for the South American market around 1900. Many of these
Lugers have the GL stamp which indicates that Mr. Georg Luger, inventor of the pistol, was directly involved in the supervision of
their manufacture. The serial number of these weapons falls in the interval
10.000-10.050. Experiences with these
pistols were refined and incorporated into the Luger model Carbine. The Imperial German Navy also adopted a
pistol-carbine, the Selbstladepistolen 1904 (P04).
Captain Fisher was inspired by these
preceding models to fulfil the Artillery requirements. The result was a Luger
with an 8 inch barrel, an 8-position tangent rear sight (calibrated to 800
meters) and a shoulder stock with holster. Kaiser William II approved the
official use of the LP08 on June 3 rd 1913.
LP08
Use
The Imperial Artillery was the first military unit to use the new
Luger but, due to this model’s extreme flexibility, other types of
military units including the famous elite troops Sturmtruppen also employed it.
The new aviation military units also used the Luger Artillery. Several tests
were performed for evaluating the effectiveness of the pistol in aerial fights,
and in the damage experienced on the airplane engines. But the Sturmtruppen, on
the Western front, proved to be the most important use. The historical
pictures are today a useful instrument to analyze and clarify the use of
the LP08.
World War I quickly turned into a stagnant trench war. A
philosophy of "live and let live" silently and comprehensibly emerged
among the soldiers on both sides. The soldiers clearly preferred to maintain
their trench positions instead of inconclusive and costly blood-thirsty
attacks. With the intent to break this "status quo", a new tactic of
fighting was developed. The new tactic introduced the use of small groups of
well-armed soldiers with limited objectives. For the first time, infiltrations
into hostile lines were used.
The Sturmtruppen were also armed with the LP08 with a new large
capacity magazine. The Trommelmagazine provided a great volume of
fire that was effective in the trench fighting. This magazine loaded up to 32
rounds of ammunition. It was carried in unusual holsters made of cloth (some
Trommelmagazine holsters presented in my book are shown in leather, but there
is no confirmation on their actual use in combat). The Trommelmagazine,
together with the special loading tool and the ammunition, were stored and
transported in a wooden box called a P-Kasten.
The
Model History
This section will briefly describe the
Luger Artillery models, from the Imperial types to the Commemorative models
produced in 1985-86.
We begin with the acceptance prototypes
produced by the DWM for the Army qualification trials. DWM made about fifty
pieces between 1912 and 1913. Charles Kenyon, Jr. wrote a very good article on
these pre-production pistols. These pistols obviously don't have the standard
military acceptance stamps. The followings aspects characterize them:
1. The date is not present on the chamber;
2. The rear sight numbers are engraved; indicative of the care applied to
this pistol (this is also evidence that not all the production tools were
available yet. DWM used the results of the trials as justification to invest in
the production tools).
3. The diameter of the sight adjusting screw is larger than the later
production.
4. The serial number was stamped on the front of the frame and
doesn’t follow the military standard at all.
5. The inner rear frame re-enforcement is not present.
It seems that the first Luger Artillery
were equipped with a prototyping stock, similar to the one used with the Mauser C96. In fact, it is possible
to put the LP08 inside this stock as for the C96. Recently some replicas of
this holster/stock have been produced and the result is really interesting.
This stock was not retained for the final configuration.
Following Army acceptance, the production
of the LP08 was assigned to DWM, and also to the Royal Arsenal of
With the intent to distinguish government-owned
weapons from those that were contraband or clandestine, on August 7, 1920, an
order was issued by the Reichstag, known as "law for disarmament of the
people," that forced all persons to turn in all contraband war weapons
obtained from the battlefields during the conflict and also during the
revolutionary movements that followed the war. The directive "Inspektion der Infanterie Nr. 657.T 20 J2s (W.2)" introduced perhaps a most unique
circumstance in history, in that the year “1920” was stamped on
government-issued weapons as evidence of state ownership. This activity created
the variation known as the Luger
“double date”. These
pistols are characterised by the double date over the chamber. Actually the
state property mark of “1920” was stamped above the manufacture
year chamber date. There are some LP08s known in this configuration.
After WWI, the German economy was characterised
by enormous inflation. The American market was the only national market to
experience growth. In the
Beginning in 1930, the production of the
Lugers moves from DWM to Mauser located in Oberndorf, as DWM is now absorbed into the same commercial manufacturing group.
Mauser production through 1934 was based on the old DWM orders. The Stoeger
Artillery Lugers were produced by Mauser maintaining the DWM stamp on the
toggle. After 1934, Mauser distinguishes between military and commercial Luger
production orders. In this period, two interesting variations of Artillery
Luger are produced, the Persian and Siamese models.
The Persian model is characterized by numerous Farsi language inscriptions. These models
are considered very interesting and “exotic”. The Siamese model is
the first LP08 created with the commercial Mauser Banner.
Recently
a new variation resurfaces; in fact, some Imperial Luger (P08, Navy and LP08)
with Thai marks have been found. These pistols survived WWI and were sold as surplus to the Royal
Thai Police somewhere between 1919 and 1937.
They are characterized by particular Thai stamps, for more information read Imperial Luger with Thai Kor Tor and NAGA marks.
There are some examples of use of LP08
during WWII; for sure some LP08 where used in
At the
end of the Second World War, the French Army occupied the Mauser factory in
Oberndorf and took over the production of the P08. During this period of French
control, a small number of LP08 models were also produced. The P08 was used by
the French Police (Gendarmerie), and also by the French Army, especially in
The
French Army used also the P38 pistol. Also for this model a similar user manual has been published in the same year.
In the 1948, the dismantling
process started and in 1953 the Mauser firm is
completely liquidated.
In 1969, Mauser was awarded a contract by
Interarms in the
The new Mauser was based on three pistol
types:
· The model known as 29/70, similar to the 06/29 Swiss model;
· The model 06/73, analogous to the P06 model;
· And the Commemorative models.
The contract with the Interarms called
for 100,000 Parabellum Pistols to be produced in 10 years. It is interesting to
highlight that Mauser in the 1970’s was only able to produce 1000 guns
per month against the 500-600 per day that were produced in 1939. In 1986, the
production of the Commemorative models concluded with the production of the
LP08. This last Artillery Luger was manufactured both in 7.65 mm, and 9 mm
Parabellum. In the advertising of the period, it is written that the last
Artillery models produced by the Mauser were inspired by the Stoeger, Persian,
and Siamese models of the 1930’s. It is important to note that the
blueprints and production tools for both pistols had been saved from
destruction by August Weiss in 1947. The LP08 in
caliber 7.65 mm Parabellum, due
to the rarity of this calibre, is highly sought after by collectors. These guns
were furnished in a particularly luxurious case that contained the pistol, the
stock, the cleaning rod, the screwdriver and the sight adjustment tool.
Recent Discover
The researches on the Luger pistols are far to
be closed. Recently an important find has been shared with the Luger Collector
community by Paolo Petracco. He discovers that
Conclusions
Much
can be written about the LP08, its accessories and its use, from the early and
rare AWM holster
in pigskin, to the Turkish and Spanish model holsters, the rare Sudicatis
nocturnal sight (note
that the pictures at page 66 of my book are related to a Sudicatis for K98,
please refer at link for correct pictures) up to the 1943 ZF/41 scope modified for the Arty. Also the tools and
gauges for P08 and LP08 are an interesting area
of collection.
The Luger Artillery Web Site is a good
reference for the enthusiast LP08 collectors. It is updated regularly to keep
the reader informed about the state of the art of the research in the LP08 and
Mauser Parabellum domain. Your help is really welcomed therefore do not
hesitate to contact me for suggestion and improvements.
For a thorough analysis of this most
unusual pistol, please see my book; “La Luger Artiglieria
– The Luger Artillery” the first book completely focused on this Luger variation.
