"No more Lugers"

[Patrick]

I agree, the pistol is a pretty useless infantry weapon and was / is hardly ever fired in anger. Russians who regularly come to Berlin to celebrate their victory have all told the same story. They all used captured weapons. These had to be handed in after the end of hostilities. Weapons discarded by the Germans were left lying in the open and were mainly destroyed. This was also done by U.S. and British forces.The main source of stockpiled weapons was from captured German stores. East German VoPo armourers (there�´s one in my pistol club) tell me that they took over stocks of Lugers from the Russians directly from untouched Wehrmacht stores and sent them to Suhl to be reworked. The Wehrmacht maintained stores in all the occupied territories. These are a more likely source for recent exports than any other.Most experts are of the opinion that there are no genuine SS-marked weapons. Some concentration camp guards may have individually marked their Lugers with the "Totenkopf" (death�´s head).G�¶rtz believes that all Totenkopf Lugers are forgeries.I have yet to meet a German ex-serviceman who would not much prefer a P 38.During WWII the P 08 was always considered to be second rate.Most people here think that foreigners like me are who prefer the Luger are peculiar.