Howdy,
The Volksheer is long gone. When the Bundeswehr came into existence in 1956, they were armed with American weapons. Too bad we didn't have a forum back then. The P.1 came later. That the Lugers possibly came from the old DDR would have been my guess also. Prior to unification in 1989, there are numerous photos of W. German honor guards wearing the traditional Stahlhelm and carrying 98K's, so they may have had a supply of Lugers as well. All DDR reworks I've observed have had their pattern of plastic grips. The Lugers to which I'm referring apparently had walnut and the finish was of higher quality. Still surprising. It would be amazing to see the German army celebrate 100 years with the P.08! A Luftwaffe officer and his wife will be visiing this summer, so I'll quiz him. Thanks for the input!
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JRW
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