Curious Relics #062: Too Many Toggle Locks – The Luger Pistol Part II
Sam.S 04.19.23
Welcome, if you are a newcomer to this fun bi-weekly segment of AllOutdoor.com! In the last article, I covered the history (abridged) of the beloved Luger pistol. This time I plan to detail some of the more prominent and important variations. Unfortunately, I will not be able to name them all nor describe them all since there are a few million of them out there. Let’s dive right into the legendary toggle-locked Luger Pistol!
Recent Curious Relics Coverage:
- Curious Relics #061: Another Beloved Icon – The Luger
- Curious Relics #059: Sweeping The Range – C96 Broomhandle Part Five
- Curious Relics #058: Full of Features – The Mauser C96 Part Four
- Curious Relics #057: Variations Continued – The Mauser C96 Part Three
- Curious Relics #056: A Legend is Born – The Mauser C96 Part Two
- Curious Relics #055: A Personal Favorite – The Mauser C96
Welcome to our recurring series of “Curious Relics.” Here, we want to share all of our experiences, knowledge, misadventures, and passion for older firearms that one might categorize as a Curio & Relic – any firearm that is at least 50 years old according to the ATF. Hopefully along the way you can garner a greater appreciation for older firearms like we do, and simultaneously you can teach us things as well through sharing your own expertise and thoughts in the Comments. Understanding the firearms of old, their importance, and their development which lead to many of the arms we now cherish today is incredibly fascinating and we hope you enjoy what we have to share, too!
Variations: The Luger Pistol
Before diving in i would like to reiterate and impress upon you that this is not a definitive guide on Luger variations. This is my personal list of ones I feel are important points in its history. There were some very early versions of the luger that were made in small numbers but these are not ones that someone is going to find in their attic or at a gun show. I want to convey the heavy common hitters as well as some neat ones. The Luger went through very few changes in its development and fewer yet in changes to its appearance.
1900 Luger: The Model 1900 Luger was the first real-deal commercial Luger. It came about after a small initial run of 1898 or 1899/1900 Lugers. It featured a lovely rust blue, checkered wood grips, a magazine with a wooden floorplate, strawed small parts, and grip safety. These pistols were produced from 1900 to 1902 and were chambered for the 30 Luger cartridge. These were marketed to anybody and everybody. Long before Germany took a bite of the Luger the Swiss jumped on it for military issue and as a result you get the Swiss Model 1900 Luger as seen below. On top of that in 1901 the United States ordered 1000 Luger pistols. these have since been dubbed “American Eagle” Luger pistols since they have an eagle crest on the top of the chamber.
Lot 505: Early Dwm Model 1900 Swiss Contract Luger Semi-Automatic Pistol – Desirable Extremely Early Three Digit Serial Number Dwm Model 1900 Swiss Contract Luger Semi-Automatic Pistol with Rare Unrelieved Frame, Accessories and Publications. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/85/505/early-dwm-model-1900-swiss-contract-luger-semiautomatic-pistol.
1902 Luger Carbine: This is the first of a small run of Luger pistols that popped up when everyone that made a handgun decided it would make a good rifle. Besides the positive attributes such as weight reduction (in comparison to a rifle) and lack of recoil, this occurrence was because these inventors found autoloading designs that actually worked and wanted to apply them to everything as quickly as possible. Only about 2500 of these 1902 Luger Carbines were ever made.
Lot 446: Dwm Model 1902 Luger Carbine with Shoulder Stock – Exceptional Early Dwm Model 1902 Luger Carbine with Shoulder Stock. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved April 18, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/56/446/dwm-model-1902-luger-carbine-with-shoulder-stock.
Between 1900 and 1906, an absolute ton of countries would field the Luiger in military trials such as the United States (Army), Serbia, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria, etc. In this space of time, there were very few changes to the Luger’s design and almost all were very minor and geared toward certain countries’ requests. The next notable changes did not open up until 1906. Note: Commercial sales to different countries would continue throughout the Luger’s whole history. There were more contract guns, more American Eagles, and more goofy configurations and modifications.
1906 Luger: Here we have the Luger pistol’s first stop in terms of a round of changes (and arguably the most in its lifetime). The first and most obvious changes are to the safety and toggle grips. The safeties began being marked “safe” and “fire” (in whatever language necessary from the order). Not all had marked safeties. The toggle or toggle grips for lack of a better term ar now a solid knurled chunk rather than the older dished-out version. The mainspring was changed from flat to coiled and the bolt contour was modified for stronger extraction (and the extractor was changed).
Note: One extra change that is seldom mentioned is that the “anti bounce” mechanism was removed. The anti bounce mechanism was in place to ensure that when the bolt chambered a new round that the toggle did not bounce up slightly and cause an out of battery detination should someone ull the trigger at the precise time. This was found to be pointless since the springs had plent enough power to keep the dreaded mythical bounce at bay.
Lot 3660: Dwm Model 1906 Commercial Luger Pistol with Holster – Dwm Model 1906 Commercial Luger Semi-Automatic Pistol with Holster. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved April 18, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/77/3660/dwm-model-1906-commercial-luger-pistol-with-holster.
P08 Luger (1908 Luger): Luger pistols remained mostly the same as the 1906 model however when the German military finally took a serious look at it and adopted it they requested a few features that would make things even more similar to what we are used to today. They wanted the grip safety gone. They wanted a shoulder stock lug at the rear. They wanted all the guns to have that lug regardless of barrel elngth so everything was interchangable. Lastly they wanted it in 9mm Luger. The Luger would commercially continue on in both the “P08” (Pistole 1908) format and 1906 format.
Lot 1470: Dwm 1914 Pistol 9 mm Luger – Outstanding and Rare Dwm Model 1914 Commercial Luger Semi-Automatic Pistol. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved April 18, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/57/1470/dwm-1914-pistol-9-mm-luger.
P08 Navy: The German Navy requested a P08 with a longer 6 inch barrel. They also requested an adjustable rear sight for further encounters. These were mainly produced between 1916 and 1918.
Lot 548: Dwm P.08 Navy Luger Pistol with Stock and Holster Rig – Documented Dwm P.08 Navy Luger Semi-Automatic Pistol with Stock and Holster Rig. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved April 18, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1036/548/dwm-p08-navy-luger-pistol-with-stock-and-holster-rig.
P08 Artillery: The P08 Artillery is one of those classic and easily identifyable variations of the P08. They have a long 8 inch barrel and barrel mounted adjustable sight. The adjustable sight goes out to an optomistic 800 yards and the sighting plain is shorter than that of a normal Luger. These were often paired with shoulder stock/holster rigs and sometimes even the 32 round Trommel “snail drum” magazine.
Lot 3535: Dwm – P08 – World War I 1917 Dated Dwm Artillery Luger Semi-Automatic Pistol Rig with Shoulder Stock. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved April 18, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/75/3535/dwm-p08.
End of Part II: The Luger Pistol
The Luger would continue on (mostly as the P08) for the rest of its life, especially in those last three patterns. There were some oddball iterations mixed in there. Some attempts to copy and clone. At the end of the day nothing can beat the original. See you all next time! If you are curious and want to see some more detailed photographs of many variations I highly recommend checking out this site at the link here.
I want to say a heartfelt thank you and a big shoutout to my friend Steve Murphy for loaning me his Luger. It was a wonderful piece to work with and an absolute beauty that cannot be fully captured in pictures. This article would not have happened as soon as it did without you, Steve! Thank you.
In closing, I hope our Curious Relics segment informed as well as entertained. This all was written in hopes of continued firearm appreciation and preservation. We did not just realize how guns were supposed to look and function. It was a long and tedious process that has shaped the world we live in. So, I put it to you! Is there a firearm out there that you feel does not get much notoriety? What should our next Curious Relics topic cover? As always, let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.
