Ciao!
here is the explanation!
In fact the guy informing that the 9mm Para is forbidden in Italy was me (starting the thread, I mean, and then setting off a brisk debate!...) in a previous post.
In short situation is this.
9mm PARA is currently forbidden in Italy for commercial sales/civilian use of BOTH firearms and ammo.
All firearms which were originally 9mm PARABELUM , before going on the civilian market MUST be converted as per the following 2 options:
A) - retaining the 9mm caliber , but modified to accept 9x21 ammo (like the Luger I am now talking about)
B) - having the gun sleeved in order to use 7.65 PARA ammo (in fact my other P08 - a 1918 DWM - is a 7.65 PARA, who in its "previous life was a 9mm PARA.
Incidentally I have been told that until 15-20 years ago option B was the only one legally allowed, so only relatively recently we in Italy have been allowed civilian use of the 9mm calibre.
As to Lugers, clearly either modifications will results in a decrease Ciao to all the Forum Luger Experts!!
Eventually I got myself a new luger!
I did not manage to get the HK, sice someone else arrived before...
In any case I am quite pleased with what I got.
It is a 9mm 1921 DWM (all matching apart from magazine, which has a metal bottom plug instead of the correct brown wood)
Condition is very nice overall including walnut grips & metal parts (I will post photos when I get myself a decent digital camera), with still a good portion of strawing.
Barrel is in superb condition, showing virtually no signs of use.
The best thing is that works like a marvel, and it's very accurate too!!
I took it to the range on Sunday firing 100 rounds (SELLIER, MFS, and DYNAMIT NOBEL) with not one sigle problem!
The has German proof marks, that thanks to the info on the Forum Website I have been able to identify.
These include the German Eagle with Swastika and an eagle with 63 below it.
In adition, however, there are a couple of markings that I have not been able to trace:
One is the inscription in capital letters: VOH and the other is an NP mark , where the P and the N have one "leg" in common....Hope I can make myself understood!!
Can anybody help?
Thanks and Ciao to Everybody!!
Ciao!
Yes, It was probably me starting the debate about Italian regulations in a previous post!
Please let me clarify:
9mm PARABELLUM is still forbidden for commercial sales / civilian use of both firearms and Ammo (ie: its use is only restricted to the Army and Law Enforcement Units).
This situation has led to 2 options as far as 9 para Lugers are concerned:
A) - guns modified to accept 9X21 ammo (like the P08 I am now talking about)
B) - guns modified by sleeving of barrel in order to fire the 7.65 para ammo (like my other Luger, a 1918 DWM , thet in its "previous life" was also a 9 para).
- Incidentally, recently, I was informed that until aprox. 15 years ago ALL 9mm ammo was forbidden for civilian use!
As things stands, in either case the value of one's weapon is somewhat decreased anyway, and, a result, there are now 2 different schools of thougts:
There are collectors who mantain (a minority in fact) that option 2 is the best (or the lesser evil!) since still allows use of an ammo that was specifically devised for the Luger pistol.
On the other hand, qther collectors (perhaps the majority) believe that keeping the original calibre is a preferable option, even if one will end up firing a type of ammo that was never originally fired in any Lugers.
One other Italian peculiarty is that we are only allowed to own 3 "common" (ie: non sporting and post 1890) firearms, (unless you manage to obtain a special collector's licence - but then you would not be allowed to fire the weapons you have in the collectors list, I believe).
On top of the 3 common weapons (in practice all modern pistols), we are allowed to keep 6 Sporting weapons (ie weapons listed in the Official Firearms Catalogue as firearms devised for use as competition weapons) and 8 antique (ie pre 1890) guns.
So over here one must be particularly careful about what one buys.
For example, in addition to the 2 Lugers I also have a WWII Webley, so at the moment I can not buy anything more if not selling something......The only positive thing about this is that one is effectively prevented from spending too much money about the hobby!!!
Ciao to everybody!
Marco
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