BACKGROUND: The P08 ("Pistole" model 1908), more commonly referred to after the surname of its designer, Georg "Luger," saw service throughout the first world war, during the Reichswehr era, and was adopted as the official pistol of the Wehrmacht prior to WWII. Although popular, its toggle breech was prone to dirt entry, which affected its performance. In 1938 the weapons firm of Carl Walther developed the P38 pistol as its successor. Although the P08 was never fully replaced by the P38, manufacture of the earlier pistol was discontinued in 1943.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A blackened leather, hard shell holster for the standard, 4" barrel P08. Its molded, top fold-over flap is sewn along its reverse to the back of the holster body by a leather hinge, and has a 3/4" wide, 4 1/4" long strap with three buckling holes sewn diagonally to its forward edge. This strap mates with a single-pronged metal buckle, on a short leather tab with a retaining loop, sewn to the lower left of the holster’s molded body. A 5 1/2" tall, 1 1/4" wide, open-topped, molded pocket for a magazine is sewn along the right side of the holster. To the reverse, immediately beneath the aforementioned hinge, are sewn two vertical leather belt loops, each 3/4" wide and approximately 2 3/8" tall. The interior of the fold-over flap features a small, horizontal pocket with its own fold-over flap and stud hole, which mates with a metal stud to its front. This would originally have held the Luger’s take-down tool. There has been an additional flap sewn on this example at some point for an unknown use. Dresden markers mark (hard to read) and well dated for 1916. There are multiple post war repairs, like the replaced belt loops on the back. However, this example would be perfect for a WW1 uniform display where you don’t want to put stress on a real nice example. On a uniform, this one displays perfect.

GRADE **                             PRICE $194.00