Erma Conversion Kit Nomenclature
 

Gents,

I have a "small box" pre-war wooden box Erma .22 Caliber conversion kit for the P.08 luger. I have seen these kits called by all sorts of names such as SE/08, Small Box Kit, etc. What is the actual German nomenclature for this kit?

Thanks...

George, I do not know about the early and WWII kits, but the post-war kits were first the SE 08, and later the SE 08/2--which was the last produced. The SE 08 kits were imported by Interarms and came in a green cardboard box. The SE 08/2 kits were contained in a wooden box, like the early ones. I am hoping the details of these will be covered in the book about Erma-Werke history that Holger Schlemier is writing, and promised in English translation likely before this coming Christmas.

There is a little information here: http://stevespages.com/pdf/erma_se08-2_interarmco.pdf

Thank you for the information gentlemen!

It seems that the postwar kit was called the SE-08 indicating the Selbstlade-Einstecklauf fur Pistole 08. This is basically the same verbal designation that the wartime German Police used but their abbreviation was different.

My small box kit is a Police marked kit (Eagle/F) so I looked it up in the 1943 police manual by Karl Fischer. The "Waffentechnischer Leitfaden fur die Ordnungspolizei" talks about the kit on pages 342-345. Fischer titles it "Der Selbstlade-Einstecklauf (SEL.) fur Pistole 08." There are pictures of the parts but not of the wooden box or magazine. The kit is repeatedly called the "SEL." with no other designation or description of the "small box" or the "large box" wooden kits. These seem to be collector designations.

I don't know if the military designation was different but "SEL." was seemingly the official wartime Polizei designation with no distinction between the different boxed kits.

George

Hi,

The large box included a cleaning rod, this rod was phased out when the new RG34 and a separate RG34 set for .22lr conversion kits were introduced. As the cleaning rod was no longer required, the size of the boxes could be reduced.

Erma themselves marketed the set under the name
'Erma-Selbstlade-Einstecklauf Modell 30'

They offered them for commercial sales at RM 22.50 for the version with a fixed rear sight and RM 24.50 for the version with an adjustable rear sight.

Thank you Vlim. The Modell 30a this one is then if that is what Erma marketed it as. Interesting that the Polizei called their version of the kit the SEL. The Polizei did call the kit for the Karabiner "Der Einstecklauf 24 (EL.24)" in the same book.