My New 1939 VOPO
 

In my recent quest to find suitable spare magazines for my 1916 DWM P08, I visited an antique gun dealer on Friday PM who sold me 2 Swiss magazines.

As I was about to leave the shop, the owner mentioned that he had that morning received a 1939 P08 VOPO and would I like to have a look?
I took it apart and bought it in under 10 minutes!

Condition is good, with all matching numbers & 2 matching magazines, except for the barrel which is differently numbered.
The bore is in excellent condition.
The trigger feels slightly spongy/lazy, not as crisp as my 1916, I suspect that a new trigger spring will sort that out.

I've been looking for a shooter and this seems to fit the bill perfectly! I'll try it out during this coming week.

Please excuse the crappy iPhone pics the light in the shop wasn't great.

Best,
Mike

Very nice

forgive my ignorance but what does VOPO stand for?

VoPo is short for Volkspolizei, or 'People's Police'.

It was the paramilitary police organization of the GDR, former Eastern Germany.

I am a fan of RC/VoPo Lugers (and P38's) as IMO they have a longer provenance than those that were brought back or imported after WW II. And were rebuilt to almost-new condition. :)

But it is somewhat unusual to find one with a 'substituted' mis-matched barrel. In general, the post-war armorers fitted new barrels to their refurbs. One would think, with their penchant for X-ing out serial numbers, they would have X-ed the mis-match number out too...

Is the bore bright & shiny, with sharp grooves & lands, no frost, no pitting, etc??? :confused:

Nice catch, I like them too!
Don't expect miracles from a trigger spring, it is much more likely that you just have a "mushy" trigger train. After all there are at least 3 or 4 moving parts and 4 or 5 contact points!

It is rather difficult to tune a Luger trigger. It requires quite a bit of knowledge and practical experience to get it right and keep the gun safe.

Be very careful before making any changes. Start with a good cleaning and correct lubrication.

I'm fully with you on the provenance of these guns. I'm going to get my hands on the gun on Wednesday & will check what the number on the barrel shows.
I never really checked the serial number on the barrel, I just went on what the shop owner mentioned to me. I was excited at this find and more interested in checking the condition & innards.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that barrels on some of these Lugers were replaced with barrels manufactured in Czechoslovakia?
Anyway I'll get to the bottom of the barrel numbering in the next few days....

As for the condition of the bore, it's bright shiny with sharp grooves & lands, no frost, no pitting etc.

With regards the trigger- advice taken, thanks! I'll clean, lubricate and check the spring FWIW.

Thanks & best,
Mike

Congrats on your SECOND Luger.....it appears as though the "Luger bug" has bit you like it has so many of us on this forum!!! Enjoy :rockon:

Looks nice. Enjoy your new shooter. Keep us posted regarding your first range trip.

Nice looking shooter.

Nice looking VOPO. Wish I hadn't past on so many when they were in the $400.00 range back in the late 80's!