Luger P08 pistol

he Pistole Parabellum 1908 or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), popularly known as the Luger, is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The design was patented by Georg J. Luger in 1898 and produced by Germanarms manufacturer Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) starting in 1900; it was an evolution of the 1893 Hugo Borchardt designed C-93. It would be succeeded and partly replaced by the Walther P38.

The Luger was made popular by its use by Germany during World War I and World War II. Although the Luger pistol was first introduced in 7.65x22mm Parabellum, it is notable for being the pistol for which the 9x19mm Parabellum (also known as the 9mm Luger) cartridge was developed.

Luger P08 (Parabellum)
P08 of the German Reichsmarine
Type	Semi-automatic pistol
Place of origin	German Empire
Service history
In service	Germany (1908 – 1945) Switzerland (1908 – 1945) Other countries(1908-present)
Used by	See Users
Wars	World War I, Spanish Civil War, World War II, Second Sino-Japanese War,Chinese Civil War,Others
Production history
Designer	Georg J. Luger
Manufacturer	Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken, Imperial Arsenals of Erfurt and Spandau, Simson, Krieghoff, Mauser, Vickers, Waffenfabrick Bern
Produced	1908 – 1945
Specifications
Weight	1.92 lbs. (871 grams)
Length	8.75 in. (222 mm)
Barrel length	98 mm–203 mm (3.9 in–8.02 in.)
Cartridge	7.65x22mm Parabellum 9x19mm Parabellum
Action	Toggle-locked, short recoil
Rate of fire	Semi-automatic
Muzzle velocity	350-400 m/s or 1148-1312 f/s (9mm, 4 inch barrel)
Effective range	50 m (9mm, 4 inch barrel; short barrel)
Feed system	8-round detachable box magazine, 32-round detachable drum
Sights	Iron sights

Design details

The Luger uses a toggle-lock action, which uses a jointed arm to lock, as opposed to the slide actions of almost every other semi-automatic pistol. After a round is fired, the barrel and toggle assembly (both locked together at this point) travel rearward due to recoil. After moving roughly one-half inch (13 mm) rearward, the toggle strikes a cam built into the frame, causing the knee joint to hinge and the toggle and breech assembly to unlock. At this point the barrel stops its rearward movement (it impacts the frame), but the toggle and breech assembly continue moving (bending the knee joint) due to momentum, extracting the spent casing from the chamber and ejecting it. The toggle and breech assembly subsequently travel forward (under spring tension) and the next round from the magazine is loaded into the chamber. The entire sequence occurs in a fraction of a second. This mechanism worked well for higher pressure cartridges, but cartridges loaded to a lower pressure could cause the pistol to malfunction because they did not generate enough recoil to work the action fully. This resulted in either the breechblock not clearing the top cartridge of the magazine, or becoming jammed open on the cartridge's base.

In World War I, as submachine guns were found to be effective in trench warfare, experiments with converting various types of pistols to machine pistols(Reihenfeuerpistolen, literally "row-fire pistols" or "consecutive fire pistols") were conducted. Among those the Luger pistol (German Army designation Pistole 08) was examined; however, unlike the Mauser C96, which was converted in great numbers to Reihenfeuerpistolen, the Luger proved to have an excessive rate of fire in full-automatic mode.

The Luger pistol was manufactured to exacting standards and has a long service life.William "Bill" Ruger praised the Luger's 55 degree grip angle and duplicated it in his.22 LR pistol.