Luger P08 Review

The Luger P08, let’s check it out. 

 

The Luger was introduced in 1898 by George Luger, and by 1908 the German army had adopted the 9mm Luger. This was originally chambered in 7.65×21 Parabellum.

In fact, Switzerland and the German navy adopted the Luger in that caliber. But with the 9mm, that’s the caliber that the German army felt was the best, and obviously has proven to be a great round. The Luger P08 served all throughout World War I. World War II was used after the war.

In fact, up until the 1980s was used in police agencies in Germany. It is a very unusual firearm. It’s by the toggle action system, but this is one of the most iconic firearms in history.

Because of World War I and World War II, of course serving against the Colt 1911. And we see how that went. This is a loaner from a really good friend of mine whose grandfather picked this up off the battlefield in World War II.

And I really appreciate Bill for letting me borrow this beautiful firearm. Very interesting. The Luger P08, this was probably the most recognizable sidearm of World War II, and possibly even World War I. Of course, alongside with the Colt 1911.

These were adopted by the Swiss army in 1901, and it was chambered for the 30 Luger or the 7.65 Parabellum. The German navy picked it up in 1906, and then the German army chambered it in 9mm, and then adopted it in 1908. And there are a lot of different versions, including the navy version, the artillery version, which actually has a stock that fits on the front and a longer barrel with adjustable sights.

And guys, there’s a ton of different variations for these pistols. And the value is all over the place. The US military even tested a number of Lugers in 45 ACP, but of course ended up going with the Colt 1911.

Let’s go ahead and drop our magazine. One of the things that’s fascinating with the Luger is it does have the frame mounted mag release, which typically on most of the pistols at that time, it was the heel type mag release. Did come with an eight round magazine, has these small little grips at the bottom, and this allows you to pull the magazine out of the magazine well very easily.

There is a small little catch right here to be able to pull this down when loading, which makes it fairly easy. And we’ll make sure the chamber is unloaded, and it is. Now, the first thing, of course, that’s really unusual about this pistol is its toggle action.

It’s a toggle lock recoil operated action. Every time a round is fired, this little toggle lifts up and comes all the way back and spins the round and then adds another one into the chamber. It’s a very unusual design, but actually inspired by the Bouchard pistol, the C93, which was an ungainly pistol.

And of course, George Luger brought that down to a more manageable, really very fine firearm. I mean, the pointability of the German Luger is exceptional. A lot to do with this little grip angle that comes up.

It’s a very natural pointing firearm. And one of the things about this era was that most people shot with one hand. The two handed grip really didn’t come until later, even though I’m sure people use two hands at times.

So this was actually designed to be fired with one hand. Now, the toggle has these little grips, and they are finely checkered. And you can see the action.

I mean, it’s just a really beautifully fitted firearm. And that’s one of the downsides of the Luger is, again, just manufacturing processes. It took a lot to put these together.

But because of the tight tolerances, because of the really high quality heat treating and metal that went into these, they were very durable firearms. Now, here we have the safety, and you actually bring it down for safe, up to fire. And you’ll notice this little piece right here that is part of the safety mechanism.

So this kind of locks it down. And once it’s locked down, these toggles only go up to a certain point. Mag release, very well checkered.

We have really nice walnut grips. The P08 came with a four inch barrel, but originally the Swiss Luger had a little bit of a longer barrel. And here I have one of the Swiss Lugers.

This is a really beautiful firearm. And you can see the five inch barrel, very well made, has the Swiss cross here. And again, with the wood grips, but we do have a grip safety, which the German army didn’t want.

And so there’s no grip safety here. But you will notice that here on the back, it does have a locking area to be able to put a stock on it. And again, the Swiss Luger is in 30 Luger or 7.65 Parabellum.

Now the nine millimeter Parabellum on the right, on the left, we have the 30 Luger or 7.65 Parabellum. Smaller bullet, but it is a neck down case. And Fiocchi still produces the 7.65 Parabellum.

But with the nine millimeter, we have a superior ballistic round. Now 1938, Walther introduced their P38, which was a double action, eight round magazine. And this is an aluminum frame.

So it was a lot less expensive to produce, a lot less fitting. And so this really just took over with the German Luger. But of course, production was not up to par to get as many out as they needed to.

So the German Luger stayed in production and on the battlefield all the way through the end of World War II and beyond. But the P38 is a beautiful handgun in itself. And it’s really the father of the Beretta 92 with this open slide design and a lot of the other features.

But again, double single action and just a single action. So a lot of people really loved the P38. But on the battlefield, the Luger P08 was definitely the number one prize.

Many people think that the Ruger Mark Series is based on the Luger and it is loosely based because of the grip angle, but they were actually designed after the Japanese Nambu, but which is pretty similar to the German Luger. This does have a metal loop here toward the back, and this would be your lanyard loop. The sights are really thin.

It’s a really small notch at the back. And then of course, a small notch at the front or a small post at the front. And this actually allows for pretty good accuracy.

And in your hand, it does point extremely well. It’s a very natural pointing firearm, but it does have that larger area right here. And it’s funny because the rear sight is actually attached to the toggle.

So it pops up and down while you’re getting your sight picture. Now the trigger is unusual as well. And it has this kind of a crescent moon that comes all the way around to the front of the trigger guard.

A little bit of take up right here. It’s a very crisp snap. I mean, that break is really nice.

And this is a single action pistol, but definitely by today’s standards, this is a pretty archaic type design, and yet it’s very functional. Of course, being a nine millimeter really helps to keep this alive. And there’s a lot of collectors out there.

And honestly, it’s one of the most sought after pistols on the military collecting market. And man, it is absolutely beautiful. Now some of the mid-war production firearms and late war production especially, these can be pretty rough.

But even then, they command pretty high prices. And of course, with German markings, of course, those that haven’t been imported, just like this Battlefield pickup, they have a premium as well. There’s so many different variants, so many different places that these were produced, and a lot of the markings have to do with the value of the firearm.

Really appreciate Fiocchi for sponsoring the ammo. Of course, nine millimeter, all made in the USA. One of the largest suppliers of ammo in the country.

Now, when taking the Luger out to the range, it is a totally different experience, mainly because of the toggle action setup. I mean, when these toggles come up, it doesn’t come back towards you. It’s more of a down push.

It’s very unusual, but it’s really a smooth shooting gun. Because the sights though are so fine, that front sight especially, the blade, it points really well and it gets good accuracy. I mean, it’s known for its accuracy.

Very smooth shooting. The grip really is made to shoot one handed. Now we shot quite a bit with it one handed, of course, just for fun.

But then we shot it with the standard two hand grip. It’s a very pleasurable gun to shoot at the range. The grip angle seems to be nice.

The sights, while they are low, you can pick them up really easily. It’s a lot of fun to shoot. Of course, it’s only got an eight round magazine, so it was really quick.

But most of the firearms during that time also had it. And of course, we had a lot of fun putting on the German helmet and the German tunic, and just getting out and just kind of bringing together the time this firearm was being used. And we had no malfunctions, which with this really different action and a gun made over 80 years ago, it was nice that it just was very reliable.

And these tend to be very reliable. Now disassembly of the German Luger is not super complicated. So first we’re going to bring out our magazine.

Check to make sure that the gun is unloaded. The first thing you want to do is make sure that your safety is off. And then we’re going to bring back the action.

Right here you can see the top action just kind of pulls back. And you can do that in a number of different ways. Some guys to actually take it and push it here to relieve that pressure.

You’re going to have to bring this little lever down and you’ve got to have it back just a touch. So we’re going to bring it back, bring our lever down. Then we go ahead and remove this little cover plate.

Here you can see the inside of the plate and it actually fits into the action. Now we’ll take and just pull the action off the top. Now right here at the back is a small pin and this has got to come through.

So we’re going to bring up our toggles just a little bit to relieve the tension. And I found that you need a little bit of a punch sometimes to pull that through. Then you take your toggle, just pull it all the way back and it comes straight out.

Now here is your firing pin or your striker and you bring it up, but you don’t want to bring it up too far because when you do, you’re going to engage this little lever right here. So just actually, if you can get it just a little bit, just turn it, push it down, turn it, and then it’ll release it. There’s your spring and there is your firing pin.

Here’s your firing pin, your spring and your guide rod. Now to reassemble, you want to make sure that this fits right into this groove just like that. Now this little piece is going to fit into that notch.

And so be careful, of course, this is spring tension, kind of guide it in there. And then we just turn it and you turn it clockwise and then it locks into place. So you want this line to be vertical up and down.

Now your toggle in this orientation, you want to just put it into the rails, bring your toggle up just a touch, and then we’re going to replace our pin. There’s a small lip that the pin fits into, so it only goes in one way. Slide it right in.

Now with the toggle in the down position, you’ve got to fit this arm in, so lift it up. And the best thing to do is to do it upside down, just like this and slide it over. Now, once you get to this place right here, this is where that arm fits down into the action.

You just want to make sure that that is fitting in the proper place. With the lip on this little plate, you want to fit it under this plate. And we also want to get this arm into this little slot, put it like this, snap it down.

Now we’re going to return our lever, release it. It’s a little tricky because of just a lot of fitting and a lot of technology, but I’ve had other firearms that were a lot worse to break down. Definitely a beautiful weapon for a more civilized time.

Okay, maybe not, but this was definitely one of those firearms that is just iconic with the German army. And again, it served all over the world in a number of different countries. Very finely fitted, the heat treating processes that went into this.

I mean, this is German engineering at its finest. And because of that, this is still one of the most sought after military surplus firearms on the market. Now, obviously these are pretty expensive and they were expensive to produce.

They’re very intricate, very well machined. And if you can find them on the used market, they bring a premium, but there are all kinds of different models. And so there’s no way to give you a real price.

Years ago, in fact, about 30 years ago, I bought a Luger. It was an import, and I think I paid like $400 for it. And that’s when they were bringing in a lot to the country.

And that’s one of the things about surplus firearms, guys, is when they first come into the country, it’s a great time to buy them. Because now these are definitely on the collector status. And I really appreciate Bill for letting me use this family heirloom for this test and evaluation.

Guys, I picked up this German replica World War II helmet and the jacket at Sportsman’s Guide. And you get $20 off every $100 more purchase using Sooch. And they’ve got a lot of other cool surplus stuff.

I’m a big history buff, especially World War II. It’s always fascinated me. And the Luger has always fascinated me.

And particularly because it’s just such a unique looking firearm. And there were so many photographs of these being used in World War II and World War I. And I’ve always admired the German military machine. I mean, they have always gone above and beyond.

Sometimes over-engineering, and sometimes that can be their detriment. But still producing really high quality military arms. And while I respect them greatly, I definitely don’t agree with their politics.

I’m all about capitalism. I’m all about freedom. I’m all about America.

Just thought I’d throw that in, considering I was wearing a coal shuttle German World War II helmet. Replica, but still.

 

Be strong, be of good courage. God bless America. Long live the Republic.

 

-Don