Luger pistols in Russia
Advertising of the Luger pistol in Russia
Who announced this from the beginning, so that we know,
and long before we can say "true"?
But no one said, no one announced, no one heard your words.
Isaiah 41:26
and long before we can say "true"?
But no one said, no one announced, no one heard your words.
Isaiah 41:26
History firearms weapons. We continue our story about the Luger pistol, and the topic of today's material will be "Luger" in Russia.
In the comments to the previous material, they have already written about a lot, and it seems that there is no particular point in repeating it. Moreover, it is enough to open "Wikipedia" to read the following in it:
“At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, Luger pistols were purchased for testing by the Military Department of the Russian Empire. I did not like the pistol and for a very long time unsuccessfully distributed among the officer corps. Such pistols gained popularity in Russia only as a trophy of the First World War. There is a version compiled by Western collectors and without any documentary evidence that similar pistols purchased by Russia had a designation on the upper part of the receiver above the chamber in the form of crossed Mosin rifles, and allegedly for the pistols supplied to Russia, frames of the Bulgarian order were used with inscriptions in Bulgarian. This version does not stand up to criticism and was recognized as erroneous by domestic experts. "
As for the officers of the Russian Imperial Army themselves, they could well buy a Luger on the domestic market in any reputable weapons store.
Advertising of that time reported that "the automatic pistol" Parabellum ", in various configurations, was sold at a price of 40 to 60 rubles, that is, it was expensive, but ..." not more expensive than money. " Browning price fluctuated in the range of 20-60 rubles. For eight rubles, when buying a pistol, another 100 cartridges were sold to it. A holster made of foreign suede leather cost only one ruble and one and a half rubles (the cost of a school student's cap!) - a spare store. As for the Mauser with the butt holster, it was sold in Russia at a price of 40 to 50 rubles.
Another example of advertising this pistol ...
But here's what's interesting: why did Western collectors “compile their version” and put it into circulation?
Once again "rewrite our history" and harm us?
But it is not clear how the presence of the Russian version of the Luger can do this? The version is larger, the version is smaller - what's the difference?
Parabellum in battle. A German cavalryman against a Russian dragoon! " Fig. Johnny Shumeita
However, let's take a better look at these most unusable Western compilers and read their works. And that is, we have such a feature, to generalize without reading ...
So…
Here it is: "Russian Luger" 1906 Photo of the Rockyland Arsenal
The only literature in which you can find information on the Russian parabellum model 1900 is in two books: J. Walters "The Book of Luger" (p. 239) and in the book by K. Kenyon "Luger: a multinational pistol" (p. 110).
We are talking about a Russian "contract" luger of 1906, the existence of which was proved by reference to earlier Russian tests of the 1900 model. There is only an indirect reference in the Walters edition:
“There is no doubt that Parabellums were tested at the test site in Oranienbaum in 1904, because some of the results of these tests were noted by V. G. Fedorov. The German pistol was known in Russia as the "Borchardt-Luger automatic pistol", and in 1904 a pistol of the 1900 model of the 7,65-mm caliber and a 12-centimeter barrel was tested. "
Crossed rifle stamp of 1891. Rockyland Arsenal Photos
Kenyon's book gives similar information:
“Primary documentation indicates that Russia tested the Luger in 1904; however, Luger's promotional material suggests even earlier trials (1902). "
None of the authors writes that there was a special "Russian" parabellum M1900, only serial pistols were tested. What little is known about the trials implies that the Russian military did not like the 1900 pistol and did not place an official "contract" order for it. However, it is possible that several 1900 pistols were given to officers for field trials. A similar practice took place in the armies of other countries.
And this is how the stamp with the rifles and the stamp of the DWM company looked on the pistol itself. Rockyland Arsenal Photo
By the time the M1906 was released, the Luger had reached a higher level of quality and became more acceptable in the eyes of the military. No doubt a number of improved parabellums of the 1902/06 "new model" were also distributed to Russian officers for field trials around 1908, just as they did with the "old model" of 1900 in 1902/04.
Some historians and, in particular, the same Walters, argue that no military tests were carried out, and the contract for the production of the "Russian parabellum" in 1902/06 was intended to arm the police or gendarmerie.
But ... how then to be with the sign on the chamber, which is two crossed Mosin rifles?
Such a sign is intended to be used for military purposes, but not for police purposes. Anyway, there is an M1902 / 06 pistol, discovered by collectors at least back in 1958.
German pistol P08 1917, artillery model, produced with a holster-butt manufactured by DWM. National Museum of World War I, Kansas City
However, today it is impossible to know whether the tested models of the 1900 Luger were indeed marked with crossed Mosin rifles on the chamber and in Cyrillic letters with the inscription: "Fire", under the safety lever.
Again, according to J. Walters, at least one M1900 was tested at the Oranienbaum test site in 1904. But there is no evidence that these same crossed Mosin rifles were depicted on his chamber.
For a long time it was believed that Bulgaria was the only country to receive pistols with such an inscription. However, their chambers bore the coat of arms of Bulgaria.
And here, for some reason, the DWM brand is designed differently ... Photo of the Rockyland Arsenal
In any case, Luger pistols with crossed rifles in the chamber have been around since the 1950s. That is, yes, there are no documents for these pistols. But the pistols themselves are available, although there are not very many of them.
Consider them fakes?
For example, Serbian Lugers consider it to be a fake, although not everyone thinks so.
But if the first pistols were discovered back in the 50s of the last century, then the question arises, how could they even get to the West because of the Iron Curtain?
So, “the work is local,” since it is profitable to trade in rarities?
But everyone understands that in this case there cannot be many such rare pistols, and if so, then ... there is no benefit to forge just a couple of pistols. After all, there not only rifles have to be stuffed into the chamber, but also the numbers on the details must be interrupted, and this is very difficult. After all, you need to take into account all the serial numbers of the pistols that were produced then and "squeeze" into their line in such a way that the new numbers of suspicion would not be aroused by specialists. In addition, it is difficult to remove old numbers from the surface of parts. Their presence can be easily determined by any specialist with the help of a microscope, that is, to reveal the fact of a fake would not be difficult.
Brave security officers, photo of the 20s of the twentieth century. And with what kind of pistols they did not arm themselves. For example, in the film "Lenin in 1918" all the Cheka employees are running around with the Browning of 1900! Nagant - only one!
But we know that Luger pistols were delivered to Russia twice: in 1902 and 1907.
It is also known that the pistol was not officially adopted by the Russian Imperial Army, but most likely received a very high rating after the tests of 1902, since in February 1907 officers were allowed to have it as a service weapon. Let us emphasize - a service, and not a weapon "out of order".
“To allow officers to have in the ranks and in general on duty, when it is installed to be with revolvers, revolvers and automatic pistols of the following systems: 3 lin. revolvers mod. 1895, Browning pistols, caliber 9 mm, and Bohardt-Luger pistols (Parabellum). "
After this imperial command, apparently, another purchase of Parabellum pistols of a "new model" with barrels of 100 mm and a caliber of 9 mm, similar to the M1906 pistols, was made. They did not have grooves for attaching the butt to the grip, but had an automatic fuse on it.
The chamber was stamped for some reason in the form of intersecting rifles, and on the front bolt lever - the traditional DWM stamp. On the left side of the ejector of the 1906 pistol was the inscription: "ZARYAD". The inscription "ОГЪН", as on the Bulgarian lugers, apparently appeared on them by accident, since it does not correspond to the word "fire" in Russian. Apparently, DWM took the stamps for the Bulgarian pistols without making out the difference between them.
In total, it is believed that about 1 pistols of the “new model” were delivered to Russia with serial numbers from 000 to 1. But Russians were reluctant to buy them because of their complexity and high price.
This is all that today is at least approximately known about the "Russian luger" ...
List of used literature:
1. Kenyon Jr., Charles, Luger: The Multi-National Pistol. Richard Ellis Publications, Inc., Moline, Ill., 1991
2. Walter, John, The Luger Book. Arms and Armor Press, 1986
3. Jones, Harry, Luger variations. Clark Litograph, INC., 1959
4. Görtz, Joachim, Dr. Sturgess, Geoffrey, The Borchardt & Luger Automatic Pistols: A Technical History for Collectors from C93 to P.08. Brad Simpson Pub. & J. Gortz Estate, 2012, ISBN: 978-0-9727815-8-9
5. Neil Grant, Alan Gilliland, Johnny Shumate, The Luger. Osprey Publishing (Osprey Weapon 64), 2018, ISBN: 9781472819734
To be continued ...
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