What it is?
 

Scratching around on the web and found this photo: What it is?

Google for Luger night pistol.

And then you can draw your own conclusions.

wasn't the holster huge?

and were there more than one? I know that Doug Smith had one he brought to Chattanooga, TN one year.

And that's only half of it. There is an umbilical battery pack.

Search TBLAP for "Automatischer Zielscheinwerfer fur Mehrladepistolen"

Also several threads on this on this forum.

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It might be amusing to make a modern adaptation of this. A laser light housed in a copy of the German 'flashlight', or an actual flashlight [mini-maglight?] with wires going to the grip. House a battery where the Germans have the bulb [vertical housing] and the bulb in the under-barrel housing. Copper/bronze grip panels. You might have to spit in your palm before using it... :p

It is a pistol. from Doug Smith's collection documented to have been an SA body guard pistol from the early Nazi era. It had a wonderful Akah break-flap holster.

I took these photos when Doug had them at Chattanooga in 2007.

Did he have the battery pack, or pictures of it??? TBLAP had this to say about it -

"The light switching is controlled by gripping of the contacts let into the right grip (the separate battery pack required is not shown)".

And -

"This incorporates a triggering switch for the projector bulb in the right pistol grip, but uses a separate battery pack, presumably carried on the belt".

I've only seen the pics here & in the DVD. Were you able to see where & how the battery pack attached??? :confused:

Doug did not have a battery pack and I do not think there is a surviving example of the battery pack. I have seen only one other of these "bodyguard" Lugers that was on the Hermann Historica auction site a few years back and it had neither the holster or battery pack.

The Germans also had an infra-red light & sight combination they called "Vampir" (which was later copied by the US and mounted on an M1 Carbine). "Vampir" used a backpack battery and umbilical leads for the light/sight. I used to have pics of that setup but that was decades ago. :(

The battery pack for the Luger would have been interesting. The bulb is huge (there is a separate picture of it in TBLAP under Dead Ends & Curiosa) and there is no description of whether the 'barrel' of the light uses a mirror or prism or direct impingement to direct the bulb's light out.

Another idea ahead of its time. :rolleyes:

(Pic is of captured "Vampir" not showing huge backpack-battery)

The workmanship is beautiful and the design quite complicated;
I believe the Germans could have done a much better job on a practical flashlight for a pistol.

Ron, as a WAG I would think that allied/US interest in these items was more in the battery development than the sights/lights themselves. If the Germans were looking at exotic metal batteries (common now) they would have had widespread military applications. I'm guessing the battery packs were 'classified' and now only exist as notes and bits & pieces in some dusty laboratory... :(

(Natick Labs perhaps...) :D

I like your WAG...works for me.
Ron

This image of the complete M3 setup will give you an idea of the size of the battery pack for the Infrared night vision. This was the state of the technology in the Korean War era.

It's interesting that you chose that picture, as it looks like a direct contemporary copy of the Vampir...The attached pic is the one that seems to be the most popular for those writing about the M1/M3 w/IR scope...But more advanced...

The battery is clearly labeled 'battery'... :p

And looking at the three fluid inspection ports at the top, it looks like a lead/acid battery...

Yes, the IR illuminator could be installed either above the scope or below the barrel. Above the scope was the preferred mode for the Man From U.N.C.L.E. THRUSH Rifles, which were a direct takeoff from the M3.

Uh, Doug - You know The Man From UNCLE wasn't real, right??? :eek: Robert Vaughn wasn't really a secret agent. :rolleyes:

No, Robert Vaughn was a gunslinger who was killed defending a Mexican village from bandits. :thumbup:

The man from U.N.C.L.E. wasn't real!!!??

NOOOOO!!!!! :crying:

Next you gonna tell me there's no Santa. :grr:

Santa is real, but Playboy bunnies have been airbrushed...eat your heart out.

:cheers: Ilya Kuryakin got out of the spy game and is now the top medical examiner for NCIS! I suppose you are going to tell us that isn't real either! :burnout:

Of course it is real. When someone asked Gibbs what Ducky looked like when he was young, his reply was that he looked like Ilya Kuryakin. :D