Luger History Query

Wonder if any of you folks might be able to help with a bit of historical detail.


I am writing a screenplay that takes place in 1944 Switzerland. An encounter takes place in a hotel between a Swiss businessman and a high ranking Nazi officer (in uniform) during which they make small talk about the German's gun. The businessman is a gun enthusiast and recognizes the officer's gun as unusual. He comments on it and the reply from the Nazi is something like "Yes, it's a personal favorite; I'm a bit of a dinosaur, I'm afraid."


I need to identify a specific gun which might have been known for its accuracy and overall quality to a discerning gun aficionado, but would be somewhat rare and "out-of-style" by 1943-44. If anyone can supply specific detail, I would be much obliged to receive an e-mail.


Thanks very much for your assistance!


Jared

RougeHomme@aol.com

[Dok]

The Mauser C-96 "Broomhandle" (made in 1896) had a loyal following (among them Winston Churhill who choose this as his personal sidearm at one point), however while it may have been accurate, I don't think it's overall quality was one of it's strong points. It would certainly be an oddity in 1943 as both the Luger and the P.38 were the "official" issued sidearm, more numerous and more reliable.


As the Luger was "officially" replaced by the Walther P.38 in 1938, I suppose the Luger could be considered out of date by 1943-1944, however they were sufficiently numerous that it would be hard to think of them as rare, or their users as dinosaurs.


The Luger does qualify as accurate and well made, even to this day an 80 year old pistol can out shoot many modern handguns. Perhaps one of our expert collectors could suggest a variation that even then was considered rare or exotic, and would have been highly sought after.


Dok (Webmaster)

[Thor]

AND.....Jan Still has mentioned that their were MORE Lugers in service with the German Army than the P.38 until 1944. ~Thor~ A K date or perhaps a 41 Dated/42 Coded Luger might be one of the rarer ones. Many thousands of Lugers were made each year. If this was a Luftwaffe Officer a Krieghoff Luger would be a nice touch!! ~Thor~

[Aaron]

Some Nazi officials were known to carry revolvers such as the S&W .38 special. Goering had one when he was taken into custody. This could give your story an interesting twist.

[Marvin]

Jared,


One thing to remember if the German was a high ranking officer, he would probably have not carried a Luger or P.38 as his sidearm unless he was at or near front line combat. The high ranking officers had to purchase/provide their own sidearm (in some cases, officers were issued sidearms)and this will give you a full range of handguns that they could carry. It could be a .32 cal., WWI pistol carried by his father and passed along to him. For a fairly rare WWII pistol, it could be a French Unique Mod. 16.


I would favor one of the WWI type sidearms that was passed along to him. I don't have any of my books with be, but if someone has a copy of Jan Still's first book, this will show all the pistols used by the Germans in WWI and into the twenties. Good Luck and keep us advised of what pistol you decide to use.


Marvin

[Steve Lempitski]

Generally, the higher ranking the officer, the smaller the caliber of pistol.

But just for grins, how about letting him carry a C-96 Broomhandle with the big Red "9" in the grips?

This would have been compatible to all other 9mm parabellum ammo, but was produced starting in 1916, for WW1.

These are interesting looking guns, and there is a detachable wooden box shoulder stock that opened to become a holster. Although they look like Rube Goldberg designed them, (.....and the little cuckoo pops out right *here*,)they were amazingly accurate and well balanced.

It would surely have been a dinosaur, but one that could shoot ammo he could have obtained easily in WW2.

An artillery luger might suffice==A Borchardt would definitely fit the bill except it would seem rather odd to carry around on a daily basis. A Reichsrevolver would not appear high quality. ALmost all lugers and Brooms would not attract attention because they were actually quite common especially among secondary users through WW2. The same goes for all the little 7.65s from WW1. Odd would be a pistol not in the police manuals of WW2--such as a Rast Gasser or Glisenti or a RothSteyr. From what I have seen brought back by WW2 GI's, nearly everything that could shoot from the prior century was in use by Axis troops and the local home guards.

How about a British Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver (I may have the spelling wrong)?

TO ALL WHO HAVE BEEN POSTING ON THIS THREAD:


Really appreciate all your good suggestions! Very useful and informative info. Your knowledge and passion are really impressive and very helpful, indeed!


Though we have access to a great variety of "props" through our German production partners (you can't imagine the experience of walking into a "costume" warehouse and standing amidst thousands of those retired uniforms...!), it's great to have a solid resource to help shore up historical accuracy.


Thanks very much!


Jared

Jared--


I will never be able to sleep again unless and until:


1. You let us know which weapon you ultimately decide to use, and


2. You promise to let us know when and where we can watch the feature based on the screenplay.


Thanks.

[Johnny Peppers]

As the main character is a ranking German officer, I would suggest a presentation PPK. There were any number of engraved and plated PPK's presented to officers of rank, and the engraved and plated versions were more than just a weapon. They were also a piece of art.

Since all German officers had to purchase their own private sidearm, and most would be in 32 or 25 acp, almost anything that was German made (also French, Spanish, Italian, Czech, etc) might be appropriate. You might want to consider the M34 or 35 Beretta for the James Bond connection or one of the WW1 military issued German pistols (M1914 Mauser, M13 Sauer, M4 Walther, M07 Dreyse, Langehan, Beholla, Jager--the strangest, or my favorite and the rarest the 9mm M6 Walther) if he was an old timer and perfered his issue pistol from WW1.

[Steve Lempitski]

[HÃ?Â¥kan Spuhr]

Its a wonderfull pistol.

Well made and good looking...........


Regards HÃ?Â¥kan

How about a mid-west sheriff with a Luger or a Mauser.

[Thor]

Frank Sintra as a cop, killed the murder with a Luger in an old cop movie! First Deadly Sin, I believe, and you have to watch the entire movie to finally see the Luger in the last scences!!!!! ~Thor~

[Ad Yeaman]

would provide a chance to discuss and demonstrate on-screen a weapon that this somewhat eccentric senior officer might carry. But, what is a German officer doing in neutral Switzerland in uniform and under arms?

--"...what is a German officer doing in neutral Switzerland in uniform and under arms?..."

I'm not sure it's entirely clear what ANYBODY was really up to in Switzerland, in 1943 (much the point of my film). In the scene in question, however, the officers cross paths in the shadowy lobby bar of a grand hotel with Swiss/American banking associates (BIS) and have a casual conversation. Are you suggesting that they would not have been in uniform, carrying weapons? (We can claim some "dramatic license," but I'd be very interested in your historical perspective...)


Jared

[Ad Yeaman]