Pistol "Parabellum": by country and continent
Swiss "Luger" with a distinctive brand. Photo Alain Daubresse / littlegun.be
"Studer" with a roar, like in a pipe, rolled over the cobblestone
and drove to Balchug, to the Yauzskaya embankment.
- Gleb Yegorych, here he will leave us! Here the motor has its resource ...
But Zheglov had already laid his stomach on the window frame, leaned out,
and its long-barreled parabellum swayed in time with the jumping machine.
A. Weiner and G. Weiner, "The Era of Mercy"
and drove to Balchug, to the Yauzskaya embankment.
- Gleb Yegorych, here he will leave us! Here the motor has its resource ...
But Zheglov had already laid his stomach on the window frame, leaned out,
and its long-barreled parabellum swayed in time with the jumping machine.
A. Weiner and G. Weiner, "The Era of Mercy"
History firearms weapons. Although the main goal of DWM was originally to obtain a German military contract for the supply of Luger pistols, in reality this happened only after this pistol was adopted by the armies of other countries.
So, in 1900, the armies of Bulgaria and Switzerland were the first to show interest in self-loading Luger pistols and then adopted them. Both used 7,65mm bottle-cased cartridges, designated in the United States as the .30 Luger, and had 120mm barrels. On Swiss pistols on the breech of the barrel there was a mark in the form of a cross against the background of beams diverging to the sides. The coat of arms of the Bulgarian royal house was depicted on the Bulgarian pistols. Commercial versions of this pistol were also sold in these countries.
Interestingly, the Swiss military became interested in the possibility of adopting a self-loading pistol back in June 1897, when they conducted the first tests of the Bergman and Mannlicher pistols of the 1894 models.
In 1895, the Borchardt K93 pistol was tested in Switzerland, and then the Mauser K96. It was obvious that even these rather so, say, primitive models of automatic weapons were head and shoulders above the 7,5-mm Ordonnanzrevolver revolver of 1882, which was in service with the Swiss army.
The Swiss Arms Commission did not like the K93 due to its excessive size and poor balance, but impressed it with its powerful and high-speed cartridge. It was proposed to use the "Borchardt" with a stock as a carbine in the cavalry, but then its complexity let down.
Mauser K96, by the way, was rejected for the same reasons.
Swiss Ordonnanzpistole 1900/06. Right view. Directly under the grooved washer, the reflector spring is visible, thanks to which the spent cartridges fly out to the left and up. Photo Alain Daubresse / littlegun.be
Bergmann and Mannlicher presented improved models of their pistols in October 1897, but despite the reduction in size and weight, the commission considered them too large and extremely heavy.
As a result, the Swiss planned new tests for October 1898, moreover, six samples were presented at once.
DWM presented two Luger pistols, and asked for permission to replace one of them with a new model chambered for 7,65 mm Parabellum in November 1898 before shooting trials. One of the "Lugers" was equipped with a long barrel, the other was with a short one, but both had a removable "butt holster".
Holster-butt. Photo Alain Daubresse / littlegun.be
The firing test consisted of two stages of 50 shots each, one accuracy test (50 shots at 50 m), an endurance test (400 shots one after the other, no cleaning and lubrication), and a firing test after immersion and stay in a dust bag.
And it was the "Lugers" that turned out to be the most accurate of all pistols presented for testing, and had the least misfires and delays. The commission was very positive about the "Lugers", noting that they were undoubtedly the best of all the pistols presented.
The commission named the second pistol Mannlicher.
The safety device for Roth's pistol was found unsatisfactory.
The final round of trials was scheduled for May 1899 with a prize pool of CHF 5 to the winner. DWM introduced two flag safety pistols in addition to grip safety.
The breeches have been redesigned for smoother operation and cutouts have been made in the frame to lighten the weight. These two pistols easily bypassed the Mannlicher pistol, while the Roth and Mauser pistols were withdrawn from the competition, as they had not been improved since previous tests.
1900 pistol magazine and 1939 ammunition box. Photo Alain Daubresse / littlegun.be
At the end of 1899, the Swiss military had already issued 20 pistols for field testing. At the same time, DWM was asked to reduce the weight of the weapon to 850 g. And the company tried and reduced the weight to 835 g.
This is how in Switzerland, for the first time in the world, a self-loading pistol entered service with the army, which received the official name as Ordonnanzpistole 1900. In 1906 it was replaced by the 1900/06 model, in which the old flat mainspring was replaced with a spiral one.
Marking of pistols "Luger", made in Switzerland. Photo Alain Daubresse / littlegun.be
With the outbreak of the First World War, the supply of pistols from Germany stopped, as the DWM company completely switched to supplying the German army. Therefore, the Swiss launched the production of "Lugers" at their Waffenfabrik Bern plant.
The pistol remained in production until 1933, but the Swiss believed it was too expensive for them - 235 Swiss francs per pistol, nearly double the price of an old revolver worth 120 Swiss francs. Therefore, in 1928 it was modernized.
The famous "sea model" P04 (manufactured in 1915). Royal Arsenal, Leeds
This is how the 06/29 model appeared. The unnecessary processing of the frame and receiver was eliminated, the trigger and handle guard were simplified, the grip covers and the base of the magazine were made of cheap plastic, and instead of three magazines, the soldier was now given two.
German P08 release in 1911. Left view. Total length 220 mm. Barrel length 100 mm. Empty weight 860 g. Royal Arsenal, Leeds
All of this resulted in a saving of about 30% on the unit price, meaning it now cost CHF 160.
During the depression years, DWM offered the Swiss to supply 10 new M000 / 1900 pistols for just 06 Swiss francs each, that is, at a very competitive price. However, the Swiss thought and ... refused, believing that it was better to pay a little more and leave the money in Switzerland.
As a result, production of the Model 06/29 began in 1933 and continued until 1947.
Since the production capacity of DWM on the eve of the First World War was not enough, the Erfurt Arsenal was also involved in the production of parabellums for the German army, which produced pistols with such markings. Royal Arsenal, Leeds
Among the design advantages of the parabellum was the slide delay, which left the slide in the rear position after the last cartridge had been fired. To bring it out of this position, it was necessary to remove the empty magazine and insert a full one, and move the shutter back a little. The levers will straighten and push the bolt forward. In this case, the cartridge will be fed into the chamber and the drummer will be cocked. Royal Arsenal, Leeds
Magazine and cartridge from a pistol model P08 release 1911. Royal Arsenal, Leeds
After World War II, it was planned to continue production of this pistol, it was bypassed by the 9mm SIG P49 pistol, which replaced the M 06/29 in Swiss service since 1949.
Very interesting tests of the Luger pistol took place in England. There, the Small Arms Committee (SAC) in October 1900 received from DWM six pistols with 3 rounds of ammunition, in fact, a copy of the Swiss Ordonnanzpistole 000, with flag and handle fuses.
British reactions to the pistol have been very positive. The commission noted that the pistol is well made, has a good design, it is comfortable to hold in the hand ...
Nevertheless, it was not adopted for service.
Why?
The fact is that the Victorian colonial wars led the British army to meet with opponents "addicted to drugs or religion", which often led to the fact that, already being, in fact, killed, they did not fall off their feet and something else tried to do.
1917 Parabellum with holster. Photo by LugerMan
This led the British to adopt the very powerful .455 Vebley cartridge and distrust the small bore 7,65mm rounds that the Luger fired.
P08 release of 1918. Royal Arsenal, Leeds
During testing, pine planks were used, which were placed at a distance of 1 inch (25 mm) from each other, after which they were fired from a Luger and a Webley revolver.
War is war, but no one canceled the gift samples of weapons! P08 1918 with engravings on the case and ivory grips! Royal Arsenal, Leeds
The Luger's bullets pierced 14-15 coniferous planks on average, which was significantly better than the .455 bullets, which pierced only nine. However, Luger's bullets deformed relatively little on impact and thus lost less of their energy than the softer Webley revolver bullet. Then bullets were fired at two live sheep and a pork carcass, while a doctor from the Royal Army Medical Corps examined the wounds received.
The war for the Germans, even armed with the world's best semi-automatic pistol, ended sadly, namely, like this. Their pistols became trophies of the winners, and they made them eat potatoes right from the garden!
In the end, the committee decided that the German pistol was a more accurate weapon than the British revolver, at a distance of 20 yards (18 m) and had a better rate of fire.
It turned out that a shooter with a "Luger" can fire 16 bullets, while a shooter with a revolver will have time to make only six, and that the rate of fire from a pistol may well compensate for its lower stopping power. But ... even the proposal to test new 9-mm pistols, received in January 1903, did not shake the conservatism of the British military, who still believed that the main thing for a bullet was to knock a man off his feet, throwing him into a state of shock.
And ... this is where the story of the Luger pistol in England, in fact, ended!
To be continued ...
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