Editing Luger pistol (section)

== Production ==
[[File:Luger_carbine_new_noBG.jpg|thumb|Luger Model 1900 pistol carbine]]
Luger pistols were manufactured in Germany and Switzerland to very close tolerances and exacting standards using the highest quality materials of the day, and original pistols were known for having a long service life.<ref name="KEIT">Keith, Elmer, ''Sixguns'', Ravenio Books (1961)</ref> The design requires hand fitting of certain parts for proper operation. Assembling the gun using a sideplate from another pistol, for example, may prevent the [[Sear (firearm)|sear]] from working, making the pistol inoperable. The Luger barrel, which was rigidly fixed to the barrel extension and carried the front sight, provided excellent accuracy.<ref name="KEIT" /> [[William B. Ruger|William B. "Bill" Ruger]] praised the Luger's 145° (55° for Americans) grip angle and duplicated it in his [[Ruger Standard|.22 LR pistol]].<ref name="KEIT" /> Handgun author and enthusiast [[Elmer Keith]] observed that the Luger design had been unfairly criticized by gun writers over the years as unreliable, partly due to poor experiences with Lugers constructed from salvaged parts.<ref name="KEIT" /> Keith noted that the Luger was a "natural pointer", one of the most accurate of all autoloading pistols—particularly at long ranges—and reminded critics that the Luger was the choice of more nations as their military sidearm than any other contemporary pistol or revolver.<ref name="KEIT" />

=== Interwar period ===
From 1919 onwards, DWM rebuilt P08 frames with new parts or existing parts (including barrels) into complete pistols for sale to the civilian and export markets. These sales helped restore DWM to solvency after the Armistice.<ref>Davis, Aaron, ''Standard Catalog of Luger'', p. 25: In 1922 DWM became part of a holding company, Berlin-Karlsruher Industrie-Werke (BKIW).</ref> Most of these commercial pistols were in 7.65 Parabellum (.30 Luger) caliber, although a number of pistols were also re-barrelled to 9mm Parabellum (9×19mm). The new component parts were stamped with serial numbers to match the frame to ensure that all the fitted parts stayed together. Many thousands of these pistols were thought to have been assembled and sold between 1919 and 1923. Some of these pistols were fitted with new barrels of different lengths by the importer upon customer request. Many so-called 1919 and 1920 Commercial Lugers were imported to the United States by such firms as Abercrombie & Fitch, Pacific Arms Co., and A.F. Stoeger Inc. The latter importer sought and registered the name ''Luger'' in 1929, in the United States.<ref name="DAV" />

In 1923, A.F. Stoeger Inc., the predecessor to [[Stoeger Industries|Stoeger, Inc.]] began importing commercial pistols from DWM stamped ''A.F.Stoeger Inc. – New York.'' and "Germany". These pistols were exported to the United States in both 7.65 Parabellum (.30 Luger) and 9mm calibers, with barrel lengths from 75&nbsp; mm to 600&nbsp; mm. These imported Parabellums were also the first pistols to bear the name "Luger", roll stamped on the right side of the receiver. That same year, DWM also signed contracts to supply small numbers of P08 pistols to the armed forces of Finland (8,000 pistols, designated ''m/23''),<ref name="Finland">{{cite book|last1=Jowett|first1=Philip|url=https://archive.org/details/finlandatwar00jowe|title=Finland at War 1939–45|last2=Snodgrass|first2=Brent|date=5 Jul 2006|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=9781841769691|series=Elite 141|page=[https://archive.org/details/finlandatwar00jowe/page/n46 46]|url-access=limited}}</ref> the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Until 1930, DWM continued to export both P08 and commercial Parabellum pistols to nations in Europe and to overseas markets, including the United States and the Far East. Although never officially adopted by Nationalist forces, all variants of the Parabellum or Luger pistol were highly sought after by both Chinese Nationalist officers and irregular guerrilla forces. In 1924, just before the outbreak of the [[Chinese Civil War]], a review of Chinese Nationalist small arms reported that "Among officers, bodyguards, and police, the German Parabellum (Luger) 9-mm automatic pistol was the weapon of choice...".<ref>Waldron, Arthur, ''From War to Nationalism: China's Turning Point, 1924–25'', Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0521472385}} (1995), p. 57</ref>

In 1930, [[Mauser]] took over the manufacture of P.08 from DWM.<ref name="Fitzsimons" /> Additional P08s were produced by Simson and later Krieghoff. Many P04 and P08 pistols would continue in service with German army and navy personnel throughout World War II. Towards the end of 1937 (beginning with 't' & 'u' block pistols), Mauser phased out the rust blue process and "straw finishing" small parts and levers on the P08, choosing to salt blue all parts of the weapon at one time. In 1941, some of these pistols were fitted with inexpensive black [[Bakelite]] grip panels to cut production time and expense. Years after the war, these pistols would be given the name "Black Widow" by a postwar US arms dealer as a marketing ploy.

=== World War II ===
The P08 was technically replaced in service in 1938 by the [[Walther P38]], but ever-growing wartime demands for handguns resulted in continued P08 production by Mauser until December 1943.<ref name="Fitzsimons" /><ref name="JAN" /> Mauser production was supplemented by a small contract for Luger pistols given to Heinrich Krieghoff & Son of Suhl in 1935 to produce a Luger variant for the Luftwaffe; a second contract for 15,000 pistols was only partially completed when Krieghoff ceased Luger production in 1944.<ref name="JAN" /> The German Army took their last delivery of 1,000 Mauser-made pistols in November 1943.<ref name="JAN" /> A further 4,000 pistols assembled by Mauser in December of that same year were sold to Portugal, which renamed them the Model 943.<ref name="JAN" /> German military authorities refused to take any more Luger pistols, leaving a large stock of parts at the factory in Oberndorf.<ref name="JAN" />

Captured Lugers were much prized by Allied soldiers during both of the world wars as war trophies.<ref name="bishop2002">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MuGsf0psjvcC&pg=PA228|title=The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II|publisher=Metrobooks|year=2002|isbn=1-58663-762-2|editor1-last=Bishop|editor1-first=Chris|page=228|access-date=2 March 2010}}</ref> However, during World War II, German soldiers were known to sometimes use a discarded Luger pistol to lure unsuspecting trophy hunters, rigging it to detonate land mines or hidden booby traps when disturbed.<ref>Rottman p.49</ref> Word also spread of accidental discharges and deaths of Allied troops by users unfamiliar with the P08 and its safety mechanisms, as well as stories circulating that American soldiers were being executed if captured in possession of German weapons.<ref name="DAV" /><ref>Rottman p.32</ref>

Soviet forces captured tens of thousands of Lugers but they were never issued to their own troops, only kept in storage.{{sfn|Grant|2018|p=59}}

=== Post-World War II ===
[[File:Stainless Stoeger Luger, Wikipedia.jpg|thumb|150px|Post-war, stainless steel Luger, 9mm Parabellum.]]
[[File:Erma .380 Luger, Wikipedia.jpg|thumb|150px|Post-war, [[Erma Werke|Erma]] manufactured, 9mm Kurz.]]
Although Mauser P08 production terminated in 1943, the P08 re-appeared in postwar form because of the continuing demand for handguns for military and police requirements. In 1945, Mauser restarted Luger production under the control of the French occupation authority to supply the French military and occupation police forces. Assembly commenced under French control from June 1945 until mid-1946. In the second half of 1946, tooling and some Mauser personnel moved from Oberndorf to Châtellerault in France, the location of MAC (Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault) to continue assembly from existing parts stocks. About 4,000 Luger 'parts' pistols, including a few LP 08 models, are thought to have been assembled for French forces, a sufficient number to justify the production of new-manufacture Luger magazines in France for several years.<ref name="WAL" /><ref name="JAN" /> Surviving examples of Lugers assembled under French supervision are sometimes found with a distinct, gray [[Parkerizing|parkerized]] finish.{{sfn|Grant|2018|p=58}} A few early French control pistols bear a five-pointed star proof mark known to have been used by French Occupation authorities. Later pistols assembled in France often carry a French arsenal/manufacturer name, such as ''Manufacture Française d'Armes & Cycles de St. Etienne'' (Manufrance).{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}} Surviving French Control Lugers were retained in French storage depots of the paramilitary [[National Gendarmerie]] as late as 1970.{{sfn|Grant|2018|p=58}}

Pistols were also assembled under the direction of Soviet (and later, East German) authorities to arm military and MP units, as well as the [[Volkspolizei]].<ref name="JAN" /> During the immediate postwar period, complete Luger pistols were also assembled from rejected or salvaged parts with different serial numbers, then sold as souvenirs to occupation forces in Germany. Thousands of original Luger pistols were taken home by returning Allied soldiers after both world wars. Other Luger pistols were later assembled in the United States by gunsmiths of varying aptitude using secondhand, rejected, or salvaged parts imported from Germany and other countries. These pistols and their construction quality (or lack of it) would contribute to criticism of the Luger as a finicky and unreliable weapon. However, a well-maintained Luger with new springs and suitable cartridges is a very reliable weapon.<ref>{{Citation|last=InRangeTV|title=Mud Test: WW1 & WW2 P08 Luger|date=2016-04-18|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_IeAaR5AmU|access-date=2019-02-12}}</ref>

The Swiss Parabellum 06/29 continued in production until 1946. In 1969, after purchasing the Swiss 06/29 tooling, Mauser Werke in Oberndorf restarted Parabellum production, which ceased in 1986 when the last commemorative model was produced.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II|publisher=Orbis Publishing Ltd.|year=1998|isbn=0-7607-1022-8|editor1-last=Bishop|editor1-first=Chris|location=New York}}.</ref> While new Mauser Luger production ended at this time, pistols continued to be assembled and sold from parts on hand until the 1990s.

Aaron Davis, writing in ''The Standard Catalog of the Luger'', claimed that "From its adoption, the Luger was synonymous with the German military through the end of World War II" and "Ask any World War II vet of the [European Theater of Operations] what the most prized war souvenir was and the answer will invariably come back, 'a Luger'."<ref name=":1" /> Colonel [[David Hackworth]] mentioned in his autobiography that it was still a sought-after sidearm in the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="hackworth1990">{{cite book|last=Hackworth|first=David H.|url=https://archive.org/details/aboutface00hack|title=About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1990|isbn=978-0-67169-534-7|location=New York|author-link=David Hackworth|url-access=registration}}</ref> Vietnamese gunsmiths even copied the basic Luger design, producing a few crude "Luger" pistols with which to arm Viet Cong and other irregular forces.<ref name=":3">{{cite news|last=McCollum|first=Ian|date=27 January 2016|title=Viet Cong Handmade Luger Lookalike|url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/viet-cong-handmade-luger-lookalike|access-date=12 December 2017|work=ForgottenWeapons.com}}</ref>