| Parabellum Pistole M1908; Weapons | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 9 2014, 10:09 AM (96 Views) | |
| Hobilar | Mar 9 2014, 10:09 AM Post #1 |
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War Correspondent
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In Germany, pistols had always been more popular with the military they had in England, and from the early years of the century the automatic pistol had been preferred choice. The best known was Georg Luger's famous Parabellum Pistole M1908, or the 1908 Luger as it was more generally titled. The Luger was first adopted by the Swiss Army in 1900, developed from the Borchardt, with a calibre of 7.65mm. The Germans, however, did not care for this calibre and a 9mm model was adopted. firstly by the German Navy in 1904 and then the by the Army in 1908. This pistol had a muzzle velocity of 1,150 fps and weighed 1-lb 15-oz. It had a magazine capacity of 8 rounds and was to remain as the standard side-arm until superceded in 1938. As a pistol the Luger unfortunaterly always left a great deal to be desired, for despite its attractive appearance and the engineering maxim that what looks right, generally is right, the Luger was not particularly well suited for military use. It was too complicated and too vulnerable to dirt and mud. There are frequent accounts of jammed pistols in the diaries of German officers, and it must have taken some effort to ensure that it was always ready to fire, despite the excellent leather holster which came with each pistol. The action was unusual , and has never been used in numbers for any other design. It used the toggle-joint locking system similar in some ways to that in the Maxim machine gun. This was somewhat sensitive to ammunition variation as well as to dirt. But the Luger overcame most of the disadvantages and gave sufficently good service to be eagerly sought after as a war trophy by Allied soldiers. Lugers were made with different barrel lengths (of which the 4-in barrel was most common), but there was one in particular with an 8in barrel which could be fitted with a 32-round 'snail' magazine - so it became practically a submachine gun. this, and certain other models, had a wooden backed holster which clipped to the butt to create a short carbine, like the RFC Webley. The Luger was a pleasant pistol to fire, and the well-fitted butt made it a natural pointing weapon; the balance was good and the recoil predictable and upwards. Although the Luger was the German standard pistol there was never enough to fully equip the entire German Army. It was made under license for many years in Britain and Switzerland as well as in many German factories. Production was finally terminated in 1942. |
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