POTD: Making Use of Old Stock – The Steyr M1912 08
Sam.S 06.14.24
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Hitler’s Germany brought Austria under its control in 1938 and inherited the Steyr 1912 pistol, which was designed in Austria and chambered for a bizarre caliber. Instead of throwing them away, however, about 60000 of these P12 or M1912 08 guns were converted to take the standard 9mm Parabellum round by the Wehrmacht since it had adopted this caliber as its standard pistol ammunition. The rechambered models were designated as the 9mm P12(Ö), with (Ö) indicating that they originated from Austria. The pistols retained their original Austrian marks but new German proofs and an infamous Eagle/Swastika sign were also added to them. On the left slide, they were marked “P-08” or only “08.” Making these changes mostly involved changing barrels and adapting recoil springs for 9mm ammo. These revamped Steyr 1912s served in Germany’s armed forces until the end of World War II in 1945. By converting surplus arms into usable side arms, the Nazis achieved two objectives –standardization- while at the same time putting older weapons back into service again.
“Manufacturer: SteyrModel: 1911Type: PistolGauge: 9 mm paraBarrel: 5 inch roundFinish: blue/strawGrip: walnut”
Lot 2775: Three Steyr-Hahn Semi-Automatic Pistols – B) Police Marked Steyr-Hahn Model 1911 Pistol. (n.d.-af). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved June 11, 2024, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1035/2775/three-steyrhahn-semiautomatic-pistols.
