The Mauser Parabellum
Co-Author Mauro Baudino
The
announcement
that
the
Mauser
Parabellum
would
be
back
in
production
again
was
made
on
the
21st
and
22nd
of
February
1967.
It
had
taken
5
years of decision making, planning and calculating before Mauser finally committed itself to this new production adventure.
When
the
Mauser
engineers
started
analyzing
the
project,
they
were
quite
confident
in
a
quick
solution
to
the
technical
issues
mainly
because
they
had
access
to
the
original
P08
blueprint
drawings,
saved
from
destruction
20
years
earlier
by
August
Weiss
.
August
Weiss
started
his
career
under
the
supervision
of
Georg
Luger
at
DWM
in
Berlin.
He
was
promoted
to
foreman
of
Parabellum
pistol
production
and
remained
there
until
a
move
from
Berlin
to
Oberndorf
in
1930.
August
Weiss
relocated
to
Oberndorf,
initially
to
assist
in
setting
up
the
Parabellum
pistol
production
line,
as
the
Mauser
employees
had
difficulty
getting
a
grip
on
the
complexities
of
the
Parabellum
production.
Weiss
personally
worked
on
the
first
batches
of
pistols
himself.
He
took
on
the
role
of
foreman
of
handgun
production
at
Mauser
in
Oberndorf
and
he
kept
that
role
until
the
liquidation
of
the
company
in
1948.
Several
design
improvements
on
the
1930s
C/96
and
the
Model
1934
Mauser
pocket
pistols
also
bear
his
signature.
Fortunately
for
us,
August
Weiss
wrote
a
resume
which
was
found
in
his
papers
by
his
daughter
after
he
passed
away.
A
copy
of
this
resume
was
given
to
Dr.
Gminder
by
the
daughter
of
August
Weiss,
so
that
Gminder
could
prepare
a
proper
funeral
speech.
Joachim
Görtz
published
a
large
part
of
this
resume in his excellent book Die Pistole 08.
Parabellum manufacturing
The
manufacturing
of
the
Parabellum
pistol
should
be
viewed
in
two
parts.
Production
of
the
major
parts,
from
which
guns
were
assembled
and
sold,
lasted
from
1969
until
1986.
After
1986
no
new
major
parts
were
made,
but
assembly
of
parts
into
guns
and
the
sale
of
guns
from
supplies
at
hand
lasted
until
1999.
The
first
Parabellum
type
that
was
produced
was
very
close
in
shape
to
the
Swiss
06/29
and
is
referred
to
as
the
Mauser
Parabellum
model
29/70
.
In
fact
most
parts,
including
the
grips,
can
be
exchanged
between
the
Mauser
Parabellum
and
the
Swiss
06/29
without
many
problems.
The
buying
public,
however,
favored
the
old
DWM/Mauser
style
above
the
Swiss
06/29
style.
Relatively
early
in
the
process,
INTERARMS
objected
to
the
design
that
was
presented
to
them
and
demanded
a
number
of
changes
in
order
to
make
the
Mauser
Parabellum
look
more like the P08 model.
Samuel Cummings (founder and manager of INTERARMS) personally wrote the following remarks on the
Mauser design drawings
:
Barrel: Wrong barrel and wrong sight for 9mm Para. Use original P08 form and sight.
Toggle buttons: Checkered as P08.
Safety lever, takedown lever and magazine release button: Checkered as P08.
Grips: Fully checkered as P08.
Barrel and frame markings: See INTERARMS letters for correct markings.
Caliber designations: the designation .38 Luger crossed out (as the US also referred to it as 9mm Luger and not .38 Luger).
Since
the
production
of
parts
had
already
commenced
and
tooling
was
already
in
place,
Mauser
had
a
serious
problem
with
the
grip
shape.
Changing
the grip shape, for example, meant that a new set of milling tools needed to be ordered, with a delivery time of at least 3 months.
Furthermore,
the
production
of
barrels,
side
plates
and
other
assorted
parts
was
already
in
full
swing.
Changing
the
design
at
that
point
meant
a
considerable
amount
of
parts
would
become
useless,
also
creating
a
shortage
of
new
parts.
In
order
to
get
out
of
this
impasse,
Mauser
and
INTERARMS
reached
an
agreement
in
1970.
Mauser
agreed
to
change
the
design
and
INTERARMS
agreed
to
accept
the
first
batches
of
Mauser
Parabellums
in
the
29/70
pattern,
as
long
as
the
changes
to
smaller
parts
were
done
as
written
on
the
blueprint.
Since
the
changes
to
the
frame
and
the
addition
of
the
grip
safety
were
accepted
by
INTERARMS,
no
comments
were
written
about
these
on
the
blueprint.
The
changeover
to
the
new
model
took
place
at
the
end
of
1972,
this
time
with
the
help
of
August
Weiss’s
P08
drawings.
The
grip
shape
of
the
Mauser
Parabellum
was
redesigned
and
the
shape
of
the
safety
lever
was
modified
to
resemble
the
P08
style
safety
lever.
This
new
model
was
very
similar
to
the
DWM
1906
model
(with
grip
safety)
and
thus
became
known
as
the
Mauser
Parabellum
model
06/73
.
In
the
timeframe
1972-73
Mauser
assembled
Parabellum
pistols
using
a
combination
of
29/70
and
06/73
parts.
The
authors
have
decided
to
refer
to
this
transitional
pistols
the
06/72.
The
29/70,
06/72 and the 06/73 were offered for sale on the market as long as they were available from stock...
Readers
interested
in
a
complete
description
of
the
Mauser
Parabellum
production
from
the
Mauser
Company
archive
can
refer
to
the
book “
The Parabellum is back! 1945 - 2000
”. A description of the book and the purchase modality can be found in the web site:
www.theparabellumisback.com
Artillery Luger pistol and Mauser Parabellum
Artillery Luger
© Mauro Baudino 2023 - all rights reserved