Byf 41 "Black Widow" Sleek, all-black, beautiful. The last version of the Luger (as issued to German military forces). The then-modern and cost-effective to manufacture Bakelite grips that it was issued with add to anachranism that the gun became.
The Third Reich, hampered by it's idealogy that celebrated the guild, and craftsman manufacturing techniques, contradicted the objective needs of a modern military (thus handicapping it). The P38 was a far superior military handgun - double action, cheaper and easier to manufacture and more reliable in war conditions yet the Reich continued to manufacture the expensive, labor-intensive P08. The Luger is more of a high-end target shooter's firearm than a soldier's sidearm. The K98 rifle is another example of the irrational nostalgia for traditional, out-dated weapons the Germans harbored. What a contradiction: the modern blitzkreig coupled with antiquated and expensive small arms. I am so happy that the Nazis with their hateful ideology made enough errors to lose the war and allow us to collect their stuff and not the other way around. My Black Widow is my favorite because it represents so much of this history to me. MM
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mjm
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