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Andyd · 11-17-2012, 12:52 AM

I asked a German Vopo gun collector that lived in the DDR. I was told that the replacement barrels came from Czechoslovakia (at the time), most likely from CZ who had also produced P38 barrels for the Wehrmacht.
The ammo used in WWII had corrosive primers and those were hard on the barrels. Many of the P.08s were disassembled, blued and reassembled from the stash of parts, worn or bad parts replaced. East Germany made many parts for the 08, my Vopo has the disassembly lever made in the GDR, the 2/1001 mags were made at in the GDR.

I was told, that the Volkspolizei had the guns reblued every few years as long as they were in police service. When the police could replace them with the Makarov or Hungarian FEG pistols, the p.08 were given to the workers brigades and other units. They most likely did not have qualified armourers, as the police had.

I have three Vopo Lugers and they are all decent shooters and personally feel that they deserve the increasing collector's interest that is just starting.

I can complement my small collection of Vopo Lugers with a Zeiss 7x40 EDF binocular and a Zeiss 8x30 with MDI stamps that had been used on the infamous watch towers.

11-17-2012, 12:52 AM	#6
Andyd User Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Kaufman County, Texas Posts: 48 Thanks: 3 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I asked a German Vopo gun collector that lived in the DDR. I was told that the replacement barrels came from Czechoslovakia (at the time), most likely from CZ who had also produced P38 barrels for the Wehrmacht. The ammo used in WWII had corrosive primers and those were hard on the barrels. Many of the P.08s were disassembled, blued and reassembled from the stash of parts, worn or bad parts replaced. East Germany made many parts for the 08, my Vopo has the disassembly lever made in the GDR, the 2/1001 mags were made at in the GDR. I was told, that the Volkspolizei had the guns reblued every few years as long as they were in police service. When the police could replace them with the Makarov or Hungarian FEG pistols, the p.08 were given to the workers brigades and other units. They most likely did not have qualified armourers, as the police had. I have three Vopo Lugers and they are all decent shooters and personally feel that they deserve the increasing collector's interest that is just starting. I can complement my small collection of Vopo Lugers with a Zeiss 7x40 EDF binocular and a Zeiss 8x30 with MDI stamps that had been used on the infamous watch towers.