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Thread: Gonna take the P08 for a walk this weekend.

  1. #1
    Boolit Master redhawk0's Avatar
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    Gonna take the P08 for a walk this weekend.

    Heading up to NH tonight for some small game hunting over the weekend. I'm planning to take my Luger P08 with me for a walk. Who knows...I may even try to give a squirrel or two lead poisoning with it. (primary gun will be my grand-dad's Ithaca 37 in 16 gauge) The Luger is a double date 1917/1920 so its saw some action in WWI. And seeing how warn the grips are (not scuffed, mind you...just really warn)...I can only assume it may have seen WWII also...I'm really glad this gun can't talk....I wouldn't want to know.

    In any event...I'll be taking it out with some LEE 124gr TCs. Even if I don't try to stop the killer squirrels...I'll be having some fun with it on cans/bottles/paper.

    redhawk

    The only stupid question...is the unasked one.
    Not all who wander....are lost.
    "Common Sense" is like a flower. It doesn't grow in everyone's garden.

    If more government is the answer, then it was a really stupid question. - Ronald Reagan

  2. #2
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    Sounds like fun. Let us know how it goes.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    Hi...
    I have an old Luger that goes to the range now and then with me.
    It is also a bit worn but functions fine.
    I enjoy shooting a few magazines of ammunition through it once or twice a year.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master redhawk0's Avatar
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    Yeah...mine is about 60% matching SN...so...its not worth much other than as a shooter. But is sure is fun. I'm not great with a semi-auto (never have been)...but that toggle actions makes for better accuracy...at least for me. I've sold almost all my semi-auto's due to my inability to shoot accurately. I keep my 380 Bodyguard (and it may go too), Ruger Mark II and this P08...but that's all that I have left. I can hit just about anything with a revolver...not sure if it's the grip differences...or the action differences.

    Anyway...I'll be happy to get the old fella out for a walk....it will be a blast for sure.

    redhawk

    The only stupid question...is the unasked one.
    Not all who wander....are lost.
    "Common Sense" is like a flower. It doesn't grow in everyone's garden.

    If more government is the answer, then it was a really stupid question. - Ronald Reagan

  5. #5
    Boolit Master Thumbcocker's Avatar
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    Pics please
    Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master redhawk0's Avatar
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    OK...didn't think there would be any interest...but here you go. 1917 double-date Luger P08 9mm Para. Its SN is 77XX. (and no..its not 42)

    redhawk

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    Last edited by redhawk0; 10-05-2018 at 02:39 PM.

    The only stupid question...is the unasked one.
    Not all who wander....are lost.
    "Common Sense" is like a flower. It doesn't grow in everyone's garden.

    If more government is the answer, then it was a really stupid question. - Ronald Reagan

  7. #7
    Boolit Master redhawk0's Avatar
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    Just a little info about double dates.

    redhawk

    One will sometimes encounter German WW1 arms – mostly Lugers and Kar98 carbines – that have two date stamps, one of them being 1920. What is the significance of this?

    The crux of the matter is that the “1920” stamp is not a date, but rather a property mark. When the Treaty of Versailles was being enforced, it restricted the German military to just 100,000 men , and strictly limited the number and types of arms they were allowed to have. At the same time, strict civilian gun control was enforced in an attempt to remove the leftover military arms from the war from Germany. In total, nearly 5 million firearms were collected and destroyed between roughly 1919 and 1921.

    The 1920 stamp on guns indicated formal (and legal) German military ownership of a particular weapon. This made it accountable to the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission (to the extent that they tabulated such things) and also made the gun easily identifiable if it were stolen from a military unit.

    The only stupid question...is the unasked one.
    Not all who wander....are lost.
    "Common Sense" is like a flower. It doesn't grow in everyone's garden.

    If more government is the answer, then it was a really stupid question. - Ronald Reagan

  8. #8
    Boolit Master



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    Quote Originally Posted by redhawk0 View Post
    OK...didn't think there would be any interest...but here you go. 1917 double-date Luger P08 9mm Para. Its SN is 77XX. (and no..its not 42)

    redhawk

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    Ha ha, no interest on this board of pics of guns, half the time I look at a thread that I have no real interest in just because it has pics of guns

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy The Governor's Avatar
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    Gotta have pics!

  10. #10
    Boolit Master redhawk0's Avatar
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    I shoulda knowed better....silly me....enjoy.

    redhawk

    The only stupid question...is the unasked one.
    Not all who wander....are lost.
    "Common Sense" is like a flower. It doesn't grow in everyone's garden.

    If more government is the answer, then it was a really stupid question. - Ronald Reagan

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    Your Luger is an interesting one (but, aren't they all?). According to my reference books the "42" on the toggle mechanism indicates manufacture by Mauser, but wasn't put into use until 1934, and only used for a couple of years before it became "S/42". Since your frame was made in 1917 it must have been a replacement part, but after the post-WW I 1920s rebuild. Is it numbered to the frame, like with the last two numbers of the serial number? It might well be, if it was done by the factory. The part looks newer than the rest of the pistol in the photos. Neat old pistols.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master redhawk0's Avatar
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    Yeah...this is for sure a Frankenstein. Many of them are. The part specs of these Lugers never changed from production year to production year or from gun maker to gun maker. So theoretically, all the parts for all model years and makers were interchangeable. My frame, Barrel, and trigger and some internal parts all have the same SN. But most of the internals, extractor, magazines, and toggle assy are different. Its actually a pretty simple gun.

    I did find my original 1917 pistol was made by Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken or DWM in Germany.

    Another interesting note is, when the Russians captured firearms they would stipple out the markings on the capture. This IS the case with this gun as well. All the German stamps on the barrel and frame are stippled out.

    It doesn't really matter to me....its just a shooter.

    redhawk

    The only stupid question...is the unasked one.
    Not all who wander....are lost.
    "Common Sense" is like a flower. It doesn't grow in everyone's garden.

    If more government is the answer, then it was a really stupid question. - Ronald Reagan

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    That bluing sure looks nice for such an old gun.

    To add what others have said, I am always disappointed when threads don’t have pics. I must have taken the short bus to school....
    TEAM HOLLYWOOD

    NRA- LIFE TSRA-LIFE SASS-LIFE

  14. #14
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    Oh, well that explains a lot about how a "42" toggle ended up on your pistol. I can readily understand why you're fond of it, as the fact that it was a Russian capture is an interesting part of its history. Many folks want pristine collector arms, but I've always thought that guns like yours are also interesting and well worth owning, not to mention the facts that they get less common and more expensive every year and more are unlikely to be made. Better, to my way of thinking, to actually have something you can use and enjoy than waiting for that one pristine specimen to come along.

    Here's an East German VOPO Luger assembled from parts after the war. No two numbers match and the main number is electric penciled onto the frame over the original number. Nevertheless, it's fun to shoot and reliable.
    Attachment 228359
    Click to enlarge.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master Thumbcocker's Avatar
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    Lots of character on that one.
    Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    Mine came to me free completely disassembled in a cigar box. They are a hoot to assemble with no directions at all .. I found out why it was apart when it went full auto on me during its initial outing, Hey! that was exciting! A very worn sear spring was the culprit, and imagine that, a spare was in the cigar box. It has more serial numbers than you can count, and is one ugly sucker, but it's just neat to hold a Luger in your hand.

  17. #17
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    Texas by God's Avatar
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    I had a 1923 Commercial Safe/Loaded 3-5/8" 7.65 with a stock lug. It would hunt.
    Yes, I HAD that gun. Lugers are works of art.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

  18. #18
    Boolit Master redhawk0's Avatar
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    Well...it was a fruitless weekend in the NH woods. The game just wouldn't move. Saw just a handful of squirrels and they were all around the house (too close to really hunt). I was quite the sight in the NH woods with my P08 in an original German 1941 dated black holster. (wish I could have found an older one...but I got it from Cheaper Than Dirt about 20 years ago when they were selling them for $15.) I had the Luger out up by the power lines and decided to have a little fun. I had a box of those 124gr TC loads that I had built about 8 years ago. Unfortunately it was a box of the loads that I had trouble with (you forget after 8 years). Every other shot would stovepipe. I still had fun...but it wasn't the nice volley of pistol fire I was anticipating. My next outing (local range)...I'll blow through the rest of that bad batch (I don't think they were sized correctly...they would stick and didn't feed to the top of the magazine as expected ...and I have two magazines)

    Der Gebirgsjager....nice Luger...I see you have an original magazine too. There is something about that wooden heel that is just "sexier" than the new plastic repros.

    redhawk

    The only stupid question...is the unasked one.
    Not all who wander....are lost.
    "Common Sense" is like a flower. It doesn't grow in everyone's garden.

    If more government is the answer, then it was a really stupid question. - Ronald Reagan

  19. #19
    Boolit Man 415m3's Avatar
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    Nice Luger. I have a 1921 DWM with unit markings that we shoot a few times a year. Swapped out the firing pin since it's all matching (would hate to break that).

  20. #20
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    Probably the coolest pistols ever.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check