Looking for resources on the Luger P08

Long story short, my dad found one of these pistols a few years ago when his mom was moving out of the home he grew up in. Apparently, his father brought it back from World War II. I'm told he was an enlisted man in the Army and fought in the Battle of the Bulge but he died before I was born.

Are there any good online resources or texts that discuss the history of this gun? A quick Google search tells me this is pretty special gun but I'd like to learn more. I was hoping a few folks on here might be knowledgeable about pistols from that era. Thanks.

Karl from Inrange runs one a fair bit, and his works great. It was one of the very few semi-auto handguns to pass the infamous mud test.

Then again, he's also done a lot of tinkering and spring replacement as well.

Collector grade publications has a three volume set which will probably go into all the detail you could want. Kinda spendy though.

http://www.lugerforum.com/

My first thought is that if it is in reasonable condition, it may have more value as a collector’s piece than as a shooter. Although they were favored war trophies, they were also replaced by the Walther P-38 as the war was being fought.

Depending on value, it could still be fun to shoot.

Regardless, it is a piece of family history.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RyanM

Long story short, my dad found one of these pistols a few years ago when his mom was moving out of the home he grew up in. Apparently, his father brought it back from World War II. I'm told he was an enlisted man in the Army and fought in the Battle of the Bulge but he died before I was born.

Are there any good online resources or texts that discuss the history of this gun? A quick Google search tells me this is pretty special gun but I'd like to learn more. I was hoping a few folks on here might be knowledgeable about pistols from that era. Thanks.

---

There are multitudes of factual sources about Luger pistols. Most of the books that are worth their salt cost decent money - Still's Luger books were fetching hundreds of dollars last time I checked.

Here is another good forum:

http://luger.gunboards.com/forum.php

Both of the sites mentioned are good; I'd spend some time on them. Lugers (especially later production Mauser ones) are exceptionally well made with high quality steels and are durable, especially compared to other period handguns. I run my John Martz restored 1938 Mauser once a year in an IDPA match, and have a blast. They generally are exceptionally accurate, but have minuscule, counter-intuitive sights (a pyramid front sight with a V-notch rear....).

Spring tuning and magazine spring tuning can be crucial to problem-free running. For ammunition, I recommend either 115 gr or 124 gr factory 9mm; mine runs fine with both brass- and aluminum-cased cartridges. 147gr I found to be a no-go in mine.

Lubrication can be key, too. Original Luger manuals called for Vaseline on reciprocating components; I use Lucas Red "N" Tacky #2 grease on reciprocating components, and Weapon Shield as a general lubricant/anti-corrosive protectant in the other areas. To additionally protect the rust blueing and strawing on mine, before using in a match I'll wipe the exterior surfaces down with Sentry Solutions Tuf-Cloth.

Despite the advantages of a push-button magazine release (an industry first and trend-setter), don't expect magazine speed loads; the gun needs to be twisted to access the release button, and the magazine well is narrow, unbeveled, and at an odd angle. Definitely invest in a magazine reloading tool to progressively push down the button on the magazine side to lower the follower to allow for loading each additional cartridges-magazines, by necessity, due to their angle and the speed of the bolt are pretty heavily sprung to allow for successful chambering.

A handsome and exceptionally well-made flap holster is El Paso Saddlery's reproduction of the U.S. Army Luger test trials holster; I believe it comes lined, but if it doesn't, I recommend ordering it with lining as a finish protectant.

There are some very well-made German military reproduction holsters, but if they're accurately made, they're exceptionally slow to use, involving first unbuckling an exterior strap and then fulling down on a lifter strap (which physically lifts up the Luger in the holster to were it can be grasped and withdrawn from the holster-it's cumbersome properties are why you see in many authentic combat pictures of German troops with the Luger stuffed behind their leather belts for quick combat access).

You've got a great heirloom, and one that you can shoot with reasonable precautions taken. I'd have a competent gunsmith go through it prior to shooting, and I'd stick with standard-pressure quality factory ammunition.

Best, Jon

Thanks for the responses everybody. I need to take some time looking through both of the websites and see what else I can discover about this gun.