P08 Newbie with a growing collection 1920?
Only found the site today. Been reading it all day.P08 I ordered a few months ago finally turned up at the dealers and I was more than happy to find it was all matching. Pretty good nic too. I presume the date on the barrel is the year? Also very different markings on the backstrap. Does it mean it's been French property at one time?
Now I just have to wait for the licence to come back.
Apologies for the poor photos, they were taken in a hurry at the dealers.
Welcome to the forum. I'm sure others will be around shortly to provide feedback. I am personally not well versed in the particulars of the P-08 beyond the basics.
But to me this looks a bit strange. Looks re-blued, pitting (?), weird gouges by the serial number and odd grips. Besides the Waa stamps from WW2, I'm not sure if the others are Weimar era or another country. As said, not something I'm up to speed on.
Might all be fine, just pointing out questions I have.
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
I believe this weapon may have been refinished in East Germany post-WWII. The Waffenamts appear to have been 'de-Nazified' and the black plastic grips with the circular mark are another pointer.
An almost identical-looking P.08 can be seen on p.222 of John Walter's 'The Luger Story'.
Agree with Martin Bull on the grips - a definite sign of East German use.
The grip strap marking is Polizeischule Frankenstein [Lower Silesia] ref: History Writ in Steel by Donald Maus
The S/42 on the toggle is the mark of Mauser and was used from 1936-40.
Kett = Kettner - a West German company which imported East German P08s.
Also a West German proof marking [Koln/Cologne]
Last edited by Richie B; 11-23-2016 at 11:13 AM. Reason: more info
The '1920' mark on the chamber usually means that it was a WW1 Luger that was retained in service by the Weimar republic post war-that would mean the Mauser Oberndorf 'S/42' coded toggle group was a replacement at some time, probably post WW2 when it was refurbished for the East Germans-very strange as one of the defining characteristics of the Luger is hand fitting of parts with little interchangeability between pistols!
Unfortunate they have to make all these changes and stampings with post war usage. Kinda wrecks collector value but thats the way it goes
Guys thanks for all the info. You all really came back quickly. Can you recommend a good book to read on the subject? I kinda like all the extra stamps and detail. Makes it a little more interesting. This one will stay in the collection until I am too old to shoot it.
Chris
There have been a number of specialist books on various facets of the 'Luger' published in the USA which I'm sure others on here will have first-hand knowledge of.
Useful also is John Walter's 'The Luger Book' published by Arms & Armour Press in 1986 - it's a large-format encyclopaedia of information. As mentioned above, the same authors' 'The Luger Story' ( Greenhill Books 1995 ) provides a very readable history of the weapon. Although OOP, both books can be found fairly easily secondhand.
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