WWII Era German Luger Pistol

Probably one of the most recognizable pistols in the world, the Luger entered German service in 1908 and remained the primary issue pistol through two world wars. Although it was officially replaced by the P-38 in 1940, the Luger continued in service with the German military through the rest of WWII and also served in the armies of several other nations.

Way back in the 1970s, when I was still in high school, I purchased this Luger with my summer job money. Actually I should say my mother did, as I was under age to buy a pistol. I recall dragging mom to a pawn shop, and her patiently filling out the paperwork. Today they call that a straw purchase, back then it was just a mom who knew her kid could be trusted with a handgun.

My Luger was manufactured in 1936, as marked over the chamber. During that time, the Germans were making a concerted effort to conceal their arms buildup, and used various manufacturing codes and serial number sequences to conceal production numbers from the allies. The S/42 on the toggle was code for the Mauser Oberndorf plant.

Each manufacturing code had its own serial number sequence, and this caused me a bit of a headache in the late 1980s. I was reassigned to Ft Hood Texas and followed the rules of registering my privately owned firearms with the Provost Marshal. The weapon’s serial number came up as stolen in Florida. I spent several hours cooling my heels at the police station until Military Police Investigators determined that the stolen gun had a different manufacturing code. – Same model and serial number, different code. Ugh.

My Luger has all matching serial numbers except the magazine. It came with the wood base magazine shown, which should have been with a WWI era Luger. I purchased the correct era aluminum base magazine some time later. The combination tool that would be stored in the small pouch at the top of the holster is unmarked, and of undetermined age – but likely a reproduction. I will address the holster in my next post. The uniform I used as a backdrop will be posted sometime in the future.

Ammo: The standard German military 9mm Luger round fired a 124 grain full metal jacketed round nose bullet. I use the same bullet with 4.5 grains of Hercules Bullseye with good results. As shooting vintage firearms involves a degree of risk, and condition of these firearms varies, I do not recommend this loading to others, but provide it for information purposes only.