Luger pistol

Luger pistol
Wehrmacht P08 ordnance model (Collection Paul Regnier, Lausanne, Switzerland)
Type	Semi-automatic pistol
Place of origin	German Empire
Service history
In service	1904–1953 (Germany) 1900–1970s (other countries)
Used by	See Users
Wars	Boxer Rebellion[1] Philippine-American War Maji-Maji Rebellion 1907 Expedition Against the Cuamato Balkan Wars Contestado War[2] World War I Warlord Era German Revolution Irish War of Independence Russian Civil War Finnish Civil War Irish Civil War Tenente Revolts[3] 1923 Revolution[2] Chinese Civil War Brazilian Revolution of 1930[2] Constitutionalist Revolution[4] Chaco War Spanish Civil War World War II Second Sino-Japanese War 1947–1949 Palestine war Indonesian National Revolution Indochina War[5] Algerian War[5] 1958 Lebanon crisis Vietnam War (limited use) Laotian Civil War Lebanese Civil War Portuguese Colonial War[6] Rhodesian Bush War The Troubles Operation Urgent Fury (limited use)
Production history
Designer	Georg Luger
Designed	1898
Manufacturer	Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken Imperial Arsenals of Erfurt Simson Heinrich Krieghoff Waffenfabrik Mauser Vickers Ltd (final assembly only) Waffenfabrik Bern
Unit cost	35 ℛ︁ℳ︁ (1943) (equivalent to €72 in 2021[7])
Produced	1900–1953
No. built	3,000,000
Specifications
Mass	871 g (1 lb 15 oz)
Length	222 mm (8.7 in)
Barrel length	120 mm (4.7 in) (Pistole 00) 100 mm (3.9 in) (Pistole 08) 200 mm (7.9 in) (Lange Pistole 1908)
Cartridge	7.65×21mm Parabellum 9×19mm Parabellum[8]
Action	Toggle-locked, short recoil
Rate of fire	116 rpm (semi-automatic)[9]
Muzzle velocity	350–400 m/s (1,100–1,300 ft/s) (9mm, 100 mm short barrel)
Effective firing range	50 m (55 yd) (9mm, 100 mm short barrel)
Feed system	8-round detachable box magazine
Sights	Iron sights

The Pistole Parabellum or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), commonly known as just the Luger or Luger P08,^[10] is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The Luger was produced in several models and by several nations from 1898 to 1949.

The design was first patented by Georg Luger. It was meant to be an improvement of the Borchardt C-93 pistol, and was initially produced as the Parabellum Automatic Pistol, Borchardt-Luger System by the German arms manufacturer Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM).^[1] The first production model was known as the Modell 1900 Parabellum.^[1] It was followed by the "Marinepistole 1904" for the Imperial German Navy.

The Luger was officially adopted by the Swiss military in 1900, the Imperial German Navy in 1906 and the German Army in 1908. The Luger was the standard service pistol of Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Brazil, Bolivia, and Bulgaria. It was widely used in other countries as a military service pistol and by police forces.^[11] In the German Army service, it was adopted in a slightly modified form as the Pistole Modell 1908 (Pistole 08) in caliber 9×19mm Parabellum.^[1] The Model 08 was eventually succeeded by the Walther P38.

The Luger is well known for its wide use by Germany during World War I and World War II, along with the interwar Weimar Republic and the postwar East German Volkspolizei.

The name Parabellum, which also featured in DWM's telegraphic address, comes from the Latin phrase Si vis pacem, para bellum; "If you wish for peace, prepare for war."^[12][13]