French LP arti with star
 

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Absolutely nice item.
A rare LP08 made by Mauser under French control (45-47).
I like this gun. Really nice condition. So far I have met three LP08 made under french control. One with the "star" serial number and the other one with the only digits serial number.
Congratulation.
Cheers,
Mauro

P.S. On my web site you can find some more pictures of the P08 and LP08 made under French control.

Patrice,

That is a beautiful Artillery! I wasn't aware that the French produced them. Congratulations!!

Ron

Patrice,

Very nice looking Arty and I like that holster as well.

Forgive my ignorance :

1. Could you provide more history behind the French making such lugers ?

2. The Mauser Banner looks like the larger sized Banner. Wasn't this discontinued in the mid 1930's for the small Banner in the later Mauser lugers ? If yes, this would indicate left-over parts from the early 1930's used in this French production ???

Please make me smarter...:cheers:

Hi,

Well, the French didn't, actually. Mauser did, under French control. In Oberndorf am N.

When the French left, they nicked the inventory and blew the place up. That was in 1953. Not that it mattered much. Mauser was up and running a few years later, most buildings were rebuilt in the early 1960s.

The destruction was documented, examples can be seen here:
http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthre...threadid=14294

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Pat,
That is a wonderful find. Congratulations. It is a very rare piece and in beautiful condition.
Ron

Hello again,
I have published a few months ago an article in an Italian magazine about the Mauser P08/LP08 made inder French control (45-47). Up to now 5 variations have been analysed. A description of these models it is also available on my book at page 91. Unfortunatly in my book are not present pictures.
I suggest to have a look at my web site to see some more photos about these pistols - click on "LP08 made under French control".
In the next days I will provide an English translation of the description of the five variations.
Cheers,
Mauro

I am assuming that "made under French control" meant that these artillery lugers were assembled from already existing (left over) parts and not newly manufactured. Was the star prefix ever used for any other guns? Would that star signify "French" soulement?

Yes, it's most likely that it was merely an assembly job. Mauser had been working mostly on P38's from 1942 onwards, most production equipment would have been set up for these, rather than the P08.

"Very Very nice find"