Lugers by Herbert Werle
Craftsman Herbert Werle at work ... Photo waffen-werle.de
You would have called, and I would have given You an answer, and You would have shown favor with the creation of Your hands.
Job 14:15
Job 14:15
Weapon and firms. It is difficult to say that Herbert Werle had a "firm". In fact, it was a store where he sold hunting rifles and cartridges for them, as well as everything related to this. But ... at the store there was a workshop, where he was engaged in a very specific work in his spare time, namely: he converted the pistols of Georg Luger P.08 into something very new, that is, he was engaged in weapon tuning. And why not? Someone, after all, is engaged in car and motorcycle tuning, so why not someone engaged in gun tuning ?!
And this is he with his, probably, the most beloved brainchild! Photo waffen-werle.de
And his shop in Dudenhofen. Photo waffen-werle.de
Who was he and what was his working, so to speak, biography that led him to this business? Werle was born on 23 January 1954 in Kirrlach in northern Baden, lived for a long time in Oberhausen, and arrived in Dudenhofen in 1977, and in the same year began serving in the American armed forces in Germersheim. At first he worked as a quality control inspector, and since 1983 he ran a repair shop, which employed up to ten people, and which the Americans built for $ 1,3 million. At the same time he organized a small workshop privately, and in 1993 he opened a shop in Dudenhofen: "Hunting weapons, pistols, revolvers, sporting rifles, repair and sale". The reason was banal: due to the reduction in the number of personnel of the American armed forces in Europe, he was fired, and he had to start his own business. But performing the routine work of a gunsmith, and repairing other people's guns, he often returned to his favorite pastime, the essence of which was that he made certain changes to these weapons, which, in his opinion, improved them.
Rifle "Garand" M1, improved by Verle - it has a removable magazine, so it no longer needs clips! Photo waffen-werle.de
This is what her new bolt and sight looks like. Photo waffen-werle.de
His favorite pastime was the conversion of a former military weapon for sports shooting.
“I have a complete aversion to military weapons,” Werle said, “and actually I'm a pacifist. And thank God that we were born after the war. But ... I like working with weapons. "
Interestingly, when Mikhail Kalashnikov visited Speyer in the 1990s, one of Werle's friends handed him a pistol from Dudenhofen, restored by his hands.
Luger carbine. Pay attention to the handle. There is a hole on it for the equipment of the store, which on hunting weapons, according to German law, must be integral. Photo waffen-werle.de
Barrel with front sight. Photo waffen-werle.de
New sight. Photo waffen-werle.de
Among his favorite weapons was, as you know, the Luger pistol, and he had his own designs for the production of carbines on its basis, the installation of butts, barrels and mounts for optical sights with the possibility of interchangeability. That is, a person came to him and brought one pistol, and in the end - left, taking away a completely different one! In addition, over time, he had a large collection of P.08 models, which, however, lacked a very interesting sample - the 11,43mm Luger, which was made for the US Army. And here his experience of working with American weapon systems came in handy, and he came to the conclusion that ... in small batches for amateurs this pistol could well have begun to be produced!
R.08 Nedbala-Verle .45 ACP. Photo waffen-werle.de
It is disassembled. Photo waffen-werle.de
And it ended with the fact that in collaboration with the Austrian master Karl Nedbal he produced a small series of "Lugers" in caliber .45 ACP. Quite historical, by the way, an option - for testing in the United States, such pistols were really made at one time.
An original automatic carbine based on 98K and R.08. Photo waffen-werle.de
Box-packing. Photo waffen-werle.de
For the conversion was used "Luger" M1909 and a 32-cartridge magazine "snail". Barrel length 600 mm! Photo waffen-werle.de
But such a bayonet relied on him! Photo waffen-werle.de
Then he made ... a double-barreled Luger, and he had an idea to modify the American Garand rifle and adapt it to modern requirements. The question was, is it possible to mount a magazine on this rifle? Also, make it more convenient? He found that both inner receiver strips could be modified to fit an M14 magazine by replacing the .308 WIN cartridge with a 30-06 cartridge.
The idea was born to shorten the barrel, to obtain a stronger gas pressure in the system, and also, due to this, to make the Garand more convenient. Not less important was the fact that on such a renewed "Garand" the sniper scope of the Springfield arsenal could be installed from above, and not from the side, as before.
Shortened "Garand" with a sniper scope. Photo waffen-werle.de
Sight and magazine from the M14 rifle. Photo waffen-werle.de
Shop and shop mine. Photo waffen-werle.de
And then a rather strange idea occurred to him to use parabellum in accordance with his concept of "universal weapon" and the use of the most modern military technologies.
Rifle "Garand", converted by Verle into a sample M1A with an installed sniper scope. Photo waffen-werle.de
The M1 carbine was also converted by Verle and this is what happened. Very original, isn't it? Photo waffen-werle.de
As a result of its implementation, a weapon was obtained that resembles a Kalashnikov assault rifle both in front and in the back, but in the middle it is a P.08.
“The challenge was to preserve the AK47's appearance as much as possible because of its recognizability,” Verle told reporters later, “and I succeeded and I was satisfied with the result!”
In addition, for individual copies of such weapons, he received up to 7500 euros, which once again confirms that anything can be sold on the market.
A hybrid of AK47 and "parabellum". Left view. Photo waffen-werle.de
Another hybrid of AK47 and Parabellum. Photo waffen-werle.de
The most interesting thing about this design is that the barrel of the "parabellum" in this hybrid of AK and R.08 passed through the gas outlet pipe of our machine gun and ... it would have rested on the front sight if Verlet had not welded into it a special ring that serves to pass bullets through it ... The front sight served for aiming, and it serves, and the "machine gun" thanks to the snail magazine can shoot like an "machine gun". Moreover, outwardly, the weapon is well recognizable and looks completely finished.
You can't say the same about the hybrid R.08 with the American M4 carbine, it somehow came out ... "clumsy", but, nevertheless, it is a real find for collectors of unusual small arms! Photo waffen-werle.de
The sight had to be mounted on the stock, there was nowhere else! Photo waffen-werle.de
Would Herr Luger approve of such "creativity"? Verle stated that he sincerely believes that he would admit that this method is identical to his own approach. After all, Georg Luger himself reworked and improved Borchard's bulky and inconvenient pistol C. 93 to make it convenient and practical for military use. True, many consider the Luger pistol a part of history, and it, they say, cannot be changed. But on the other hand, it is very valuable to learn from history and revive it. John Martz in the USA, Nedbal in Vienna, Hakan Shpur in Sweden, Boddecker and Wagner, and many other gunsmiths followed this path. And Herbert Werle himself followed it, creating the "Baby Luger", "Luger Carbine", and a number of original samples based on the same pistol.
"Baby Luger" is a mini-version of a pistol in 7,65 mm caliber. The total length of the standard "Luger" is reduced to 17 cm with a halved barrel (52 mm). Photo waffen-werle.de
Exploded view of Baby Luger. Photo waffen-werle.de
"Baby Luger" with the bolt cocked. Photo waffen-werle.de
Another very curious hybrid: the Luger plus a .22 pistol. For target shooting and hunting! Photo waffen-werle.de
The first Parabellum pistol has a standard 9 mm caliber and is equipped with a wooden stock and a long barrel with a muzzle brake. The second pistol, which is attached to the first .22 LR caliber, has a bipod, as well as a piece of wood stock borrowed from a Thompson submachine gun and a pistol grip. But the magazine is not in the handle, but in front of the trigger. Verle himself noted that once this weapon was held in his hands by M.T. Kalashnikov.
Exhibition of designs created by Herbert Werle. Photo waffen-werle.de
But he will no longer give us new original designs - he died on January 20, 2021, three days before his birthday.
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