M1906 Russian Luger - The Ending of its Identity

Imperial Arms · 10-31-2009, 09:33 PM

Hello Vern,

I do not have an image of the Russian '54th His Majesty the Tsar of Bulgaria's Minsk Infantry Regiment' since it was a Russian regiment containing a number of Bulgarian officers including the Tsar of Bulgaria who was the honoury guard of that regiment.

Based on strong evidence, these Bulgarian Lugers were ordered from DWM by the Tsar of Bulgaria and issued by him and his commanders; not the other way around via Russia because there was no previous large contract(s) to Russia, and the previous information presented by other writers still remain weak. If you comprehend well my article, there is still a Russian link according to the mixture of officers in this Russian regiment, but the primary emphasis still stands on this Luger pistol initially being delivered to Bulgaria. The 'identity' of the 'Russian Luger' was created because authors at the time were 'near-sighted' about many factors and they did not quickly realize that the crossed rifles can have straight-forward ties to an infantry organization. If some authors did not realize this, what's wrong with throwing in a Luger of mysterious nature and give it the grand name 'Russian Luger'?

Based on my strong knowledge and expertise with Imperial Lugers (and Mausers), I can say with a high degree of confidence that there was no Russian contract, but the Russian Army probably 'test-run' a few M1900/02 Commercial model Lugers (without crossed-rifles on the chamber).

Of course, all it takes is a little amount of hope from the critics to keep the 'Russian theory' alive, and these critics probably have other motives and agendas on their mind. Sometimes it is money and followers of these critics who cannot accept common sense or change. I am prepared to challenge any critic and accept defeat if any one can give me a better theory that makes sense/logic - and please, I do not want to hear about those outlines and the position of the triggers on the crossed Mosin-Nagant rifles! That is beating a dead horse.

Only time and further indepth research will give a proper answer which I am willing to undertake. Someday, I plan to go to Bulgaria to do some 'hunting' and see what I discover.

If one reviews sales of German pistols to that region during the period of 1898-1914, the DWM factory was selling Lugers to Bulgaria while the Mauser factory sold a small contract of Mauser C96 pistols to Turkey from whom the Bulgarians gained their independence in 1908. And both factories were owned by the Loewe family! Quite an interesting piece of German arms sales!

Albert

10-31-2009, 09:33 PM	#11
Imperial Arms Banned Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Malta, EU Posts: 579 Thanks: 0 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	Hello Vern, I do not have an image of the Russian '54th His Majesty the Tsar of Bulgaria's Minsk Infantry Regiment' since it was a Russian regiment containing a number of Bulgarian officers including the Tsar of Bulgaria who was the honoury guard of that regiment. Based on strong evidence, these Bulgarian Lugers were ordered from DWM by the Tsar of Bulgaria and issued by him and his commanders; not the other way around via Russia because there was no previous large contract(s) to Russia, and the previous information presented by other writers still remain weak. If you comprehend well my article, there is still a Russian link according to the mixture of officers in this Russian regiment, but the primary emphasis still stands on this Luger pistol initially being delivered to Bulgaria. The 'identity' of the 'Russian Luger' was created because authors at the time were 'near-sighted' about many factors and they did not quickly realize that the crossed rifles can have straight-forward ties to an infantry organization. If some authors did not realize this, what's wrong with throwing in a Luger of mysterious nature and give it the grand name 'Russian Luger'? Based on my strong knowledge and expertise with Imperial Lugers (and Mausers), I can say with a high degree of confidence that there was no Russian contract, but the Russian Army probably 'test-run' a few M1900/02 Commercial model Lugers (without crossed-rifles on the chamber). Of course, all it takes is a little amount of hope from the critics to keep the 'Russian theory' alive, and these critics probably have other motives and agendas on their mind. Sometimes it is money and followers of these critics who cannot accept common sense or change. I am prepared to challenge any critic and accept defeat if any one can give me a better theory that makes sense/logic - and please, I do not want to hear about those outlines and the position of the triggers on the crossed Mosin-Nagant rifles! That is beating a dead horse. Only time and further indepth research will give a proper answer which I am willing to undertake. Someday, I plan to go to Bulgaria to do some 'hunting' and see what I discover. If one reviews sales of German pistols to that region during the period of 1898-1914, the DWM factory was selling Lugers to Bulgaria while the Mauser factory sold a small contract of Mauser C96 pistols to Turkey from whom the Bulgarians gained their independence in 1908. And both factories were owned by the Loewe family! Quite an interesting piece of German arms sales! Albert