Finding a P-08 Today

johnii · 12-09-2013, 03:24 PM

I was born in 1957 and remember the 1960's and even 1958 and 1959. I was never interested in P-08s although I remember the squirt guns patterned after them filled with water to spray somebody back in 1962. The P-08 was an available squirt gun in 1962 and that was when I first saw a "model" of a P-08 in first grade.

In the 60's there was a killer named the Zodiac in the Bay Area and I lived in the Bay Area (Kentfield, CA) when this was happening. He used the P-08 in a town just off Interstate 80 from Black Point to Reno. Then the P-08 was identified as the weapon used by the Zodiac. The P-08 by this time appeared in a lot of WWII movies and also with Frank Sinatra (and others) in the First Deadly Sin and the Manchurian Candidate. I remember these movies as a youngster. Then the P-08 is all over the movies about the Third Reich and WWII. I still had no fascination for the P-08. Until I finally shot one after shooting Hi Powers and CZ 75s and Beretta M-9s. My first two P-08s were DWM commercials and then I got a real P-08 from WWII (the 1937 S/42 Mauser) recovered from a WWII veteran who used it to buy a new roof over his house with a roofer and the roofer walked into my door with it after roofing our house and he wanted to know if I'd buy it and I took it apart seeing all matching except for the magazine and bought it from him for $900. I told him ahead of time he might get more looking elsewhere to sell it but he decided to sell it to me. That is the Story of the 1937 I've pictured here, Serial number 4068 suffix "b". Not reblued all original and it shoots a foot high at 50 yards but other than that it is deadly accurate when you aim low!

Then I got the 1936 reblued all original without the Mauser Bump but all matching in steel except for the grips. Matching magazine included.

The DWM's I had had mismatched parts and neither one of them shot 100% reliability. These do.

I think matching parts make the difference. Whether reblued or not.

To date I find a working P-08 hard to find without paying for it. To date I know there are reproductions that cost too much to make to be a real success.

I am here to continue the journey to find WWII Military S/42s of other dates with all matching parts. I am not going to do DWM or Erfurt or Swiss or Navy or other. I am concentrating on true WWII Third Reich Soldier P-08s. That is my interest.

I suppose that is also my endorsement for anyone finding an S/42 Military Third Reich P-08. I know there are rarities in the Swiss Luger and the Navy and other things but to me I like the S/42 over the rest and I can buy more of them than one rare Navy or Swiss Luger. Does this make sense?

Edward Tinker · 12-09-2013, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnii

.... Does this make sense?

sure if thats what you like

I remember seeing the ads for lugers from the early 60's and earlier for $65 or so - and I am only 3 yrs younger

Arizona Slim · 12-09-2013, 05:15 PM

I was speaking with a fellow Luger enthusiast from Florida the other day, a gentleman in his early 80's that I had just made a purchase from on ebay, he told me that his first Luger was an Artillery that he paid a whopping $17.00 for, I didn't get the year he made the purchase but I think it was in the early or middle 50's, anyway it made think I may have overpaid for the 1917 Artillery I bought at auction in early 1964 for the princely sum of $56.00, just kidding.

My monthly salary at that time was $350.00.

Lon

johnii · 12-10-2013, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arizona Slim

I was speaking with a fellow Luger enthusiast from Florida the other day, a gentleman in his early 80's that I had just made a purchase from on ebay, he told me that his first Luger was an Artillery that he paid a whopping $17.00 for, I didn't get the year he made the purchase but I think it was in the early or middle 50's, anyway it made think I may have overpaid for the 1917 Artillery I bought at auction in early 1964 for the princely sum of $56.00, just kidding.

My monthly salary at that time was $350.00.

Lon

So what did you pay aside from historical payments paid for P-08s?

I said in the 1960's P-08s were surplus sold at dirt cheap prices. What did you pay for your 1917 Artillery? Okay I get it. You didn't buy it but now you wish you had!

That is my point. P-08s were DIRT CHEAP in the 1960's and today they are very expensive. We pay the expense today because no handgun in the world produced today compares to the P-08. We know recent repros are JUNK compared to what the Third Reich and previous German Luger pistol in WWI. I rest my case.

If you want a real Luger P-08 you buy the original and you avoid Huston TX or whoever to reproduce the real item. I am reinforcing our love for the historical P-08. I had an Erfurt that malfunctioned in .30 Luger and I took it back. It was a WWI P-08. I was reimbursed. I never had a problem with WWII S/42 and that is why I like them to shoot them.

Repros like Mitchell and Huston or Eagle or whoever are not selling the quality of a WWI or WWII P-08. Are we not on the same sheet of music here?

Swiss and Navy and Artillery expensive models are probably faulty to shoot over and over again without devaluing them. Not the S/42 issued military soldier sidearm. I want working guns. Not safe queens.

Arizona Slim · 12-10-2013, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnii

What did you pay for your 1917 Artillery? Okay I get it. You didn't buy it but now you wish you had!

No, I bought the Luger ($56,00) and since then wished I had bought the second Artillery that was offered, but I did win three other guns so I walked away happy.

Lon

johnii · 12-10-2013, 04:11 PM

So you got more than one for a "win" of some sort.

Good for you!

My point is there is no pistol in the world made today that is like the original P-08. It is too expensive to reproduce and it is also very expensive to buy with all matching parts.

Furthermore, the toggle joint the Luger uses is historical in design. All other auto pistols use a tilted barrel like the 1911 or Hi Power or blowback for lesser than 9mm Luger.

The design of the P-08 is historic and reliable. It is a true invention in semi automatic history where we gather together to select our sidearms no matter what price because we believe in them.

johnii · 12-10-2013, 05:17 PM

Okay.

I have the Hi Power and the SIG 210 and had the CZ-75s and 85's and the B models of CZ for the 9mm and the SW 59 and 39 and Beretta M9 and the P-38s (I still have them: the P-38s from Spreewerke and Walther). Today I have 6 9mm Lugers:

1. Spreewerke P-38
2. Walther P-38
3. Browning Hi Power
4. Mauser WWII S/42 1936
5. Mauser WWII S/42 1937
6. SIG P210 Swiss Army

I think I know 9mm by now and I won't buy a non-functioning 9mm Luger in any pistol and I've been through a lot of 9mm pistols since 1972.

The above are my remaining and this is a P-08 forum and you will notice I have two reliable P-08s from S/42 Mauser.
I will not ever sell my Mausers to anyone. I like guns that work and I have no safe queens.

johnii · 12-10-2013, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Tinker

sure if thats what you like

I remember seeing the ads for lugers from the early 60's and earlier for $65 or so - and I am only 3 yrs younger

Okay. Does three years younger mean 1954 or 1960?

I'm 1957 birth date.

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12-09-2013, 03:24 PM	#1
johnii User Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 52 Thanks: 13 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	I was born in 1957 and remember the 1960's and even 1958 and 1959. I was never interested in P-08s although I remember the squirt guns patterned after them filled with water to spray somebody back in 1962. The P-08 was an available squirt gun in 1962 and that was when I first saw a "model" of a P-08 in first grade. In the 60's there was a killer named the Zodiac in the Bay Area and I lived in the Bay Area (Kentfield, CA) when this was happening. He used the P-08 in a town just off Interstate 80 from Black Point to Reno. Then the P-08 was identified as the weapon used by the Zodiac. The P-08 by this time appeared in a lot of WWII movies and also with Frank Sinatra (and others) in the First Deadly Sin and the Manchurian Candidate. I remember these movies as a youngster. Then the P-08 is all over the movies about the Third Reich and WWII. I still had no fascination for the P-08. Until I finally shot one after shooting Hi Powers and CZ 75s and Beretta M-9s. My first two P-08s were DWM commercials and then I got a real P-08 from WWII (the 1937 S/42 Mauser) recovered from a WWII veteran who used it to buy a new roof over his house with a roofer and the roofer walked into my door with it after roofing our house and he wanted to know if I'd buy it and I took it apart seeing all matching except for the magazine and bought it from him for $900. I told him ahead of time he might get more looking elsewhere to sell it but he decided to sell it to me. That is the Story of the 1937 I've pictured here, Serial number 4068 suffix "b". Not reblued all original and it shoots a foot high at 50 yards but other than that it is deadly accurate when you aim low! Then I got the 1936 reblued all original without the Mauser Bump but all matching in steel except for the grips. Matching magazine included. The DWM's I had had mismatched parts and neither one of them shot 100% reliability. These do. I think matching parts make the difference. Whether reblued or not. To date I find a working P-08 hard to find without paying for it. To date I know there are reproductions that cost too much to make to be a real success. I am here to continue the journey to find WWII Military S/42s of other dates with all matching parts. I am not going to do DWM or Erfurt or Swiss or Navy or other. I am concentrating on true WWII Third Reich Soldier P-08s. That is my interest. I suppose that is also my endorsement for anyone finding an S/42 Military Third Reich P-08. I know there are rarities in the Swiss Luger and the Navy and other things but to me I like the S/42 over the rest and I can buy more of them than one rare Navy or Swiss Luger. Does this make sense?

12-09-2013, 05:15 PM	#3
Arizona Slim Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Illinois Posts: 706 Thanks: 1,026 Thanked 409 Times in 225 Posts	I was speaking with a fellow Luger enthusiast from Florida the other day, a gentleman in his early 80's that I had just made a purchase from on ebay, he told me that his first Luger was an Artillery that he paid a whopping $17.00 for, I didn't get the year he made the purchase but I think it was in the early or middle 50's, anyway it made think I may have overpaid for the 1917 Artillery I bought at auction in early 1964 for the princely sum of $56.00, just kidding. My monthly salary at that time was $350.00. Lon

12-10-2013, 04:11 PM	#6
johnii User Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 52 Thanks: 13 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	So you got more than one for a "win" of some sort. Good for you! My point is there is no pistol in the world made today that is like the original P-08. It is too expensive to reproduce and it is also very expensive to buy with all matching parts. Furthermore, the toggle joint the Luger uses is historical in design. All other auto pistols use a tilted barrel like the 1911 or Hi Power or blowback for lesser than 9mm Luger. The design of the P-08 is historic and reliable. It is a true invention in semi automatic history where we gather together to select our sidearms no matter what price because we believe in them.

12-10-2013, 05:17 PM	#7
johnii User Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 52 Thanks: 13 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Okay. I have the Hi Power and the SIG 210 and had the CZ-75s and 85's and the B models of CZ for the 9mm and the SW 59 and 39 and Beretta M9 and the P-38s (I still have them: the P-38s from Spreewerke and Walther). Today I have 6 9mm Lugers: 1. Spreewerke P-38 2. Walther P-38 3. Browning Hi Power 4. Mauser WWII S/42 1936 5. Mauser WWII S/42 1937 6. SIG P210 Swiss Army I think I know 9mm by now and I won't buy a non-functioning 9mm Luger in any pistol and I've been through a lot of 9mm pistols since 1972. The above are my remaining and this is a P-08 forum and you will notice I have two reliable P-08s from S/42 Mauser. I will not ever sell my Mausers to anyone. I like guns that work and I have no safe queens.