[r_t_darc]

Sorry if I missed it somewhere here before, but here goes-

I was playing a video game today that featured the villians carrying Luger pistols with silencers attached to them, so I got to wondering if such an animal was ever produced?

If so, a photo of one would be appreciated!

Rich

 

[maddog350gt]

r t darc

Eugene Bender's book Luger Holsters and Accessories of the 20th century has a picture of a silenced Luger on page 330 but has no information on the set-up. The book "The P08 Luger Pistol" Vol. III (by Special Interest Publicaties BV - The Netherlands - ISBN 90-805583-5-4) shows two different silenced Lugers on page 43. Maybe someone with a scanner can post pictures. Both attributed to post manufacture alterations.

I also remember seeing another reference to a silenced Luger with a screw on front sight and barrel ban that were taken off when the silencer was put on, but I can't find the reference for it at the moment. If someone else recall this or knows where it is please post.

Rare birds at best.

Bob M.

 

[Guest_V]

Rich,

Your choice of a Luger distinguishes you as a connoisseur.
I have always found that the alternative of firing the Luger through a pillow is less expensive and certainly less acrimonious than recourse to the divorce courts.

 

[Dwight Gruber]

Fred Datig mentions an experimental silenced Luger on pp145-147, pictured as a standard model with 12" silencer tube, shoulder stock, and drum magazine. He writes of factory experiments with reduced-power cartridges to make the fired round subsonic, with the corresponding effect that it is too weak to operate the action and the silenced pistol must be used as a single-shot.

--Dwight

 

[Ron Smith]

Patrick, Need we worry? You sound as though you have been doing some research on the subject. A life sentence is a life sentence, be it voluntarilly domestic or Judicially imposed.

Ron

 

[Guest_V]

Too true Ron, but one must encourage others to find an adequate solution.

Walter (The Luger Story p.221) mentions the 9mm (9 gramme bullet) Nahpatrone for silenced Lugers, as well as the Geco Kampfstoff-Patrone 08 (K-Patr. 08) poison bullet containing "an unusual, multi-part projectile in a thin steel envelope. The after-core flew forward when the bullet hit a target, crushing a capsule of potassium cyanate to eject the poison through a channel cut in the front core."

 

[keoki7]

Rich, attached are photos of a receiver with artillery barrel that was modified in order to accomodate a silencer. It is a 1908 first military receiver with an early LP08 barrel attached. This was most likely done by a retailer in the US during the 20s. Silencers were readily available by mail order during that time.

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[r_t_darc]

Thanks for the information, Gentlemen!

Evidently someone somewhere did use a silenced version of a Luger, though how successfully would be debatable.
The game portrays WW2 era Gestapo agents carrying such weapons, their version of OSS gear, I would suppose...

The Luger in standard form has a reputation for being somewhat finicky in its feeding, so using subsonic ammo with a silencer would only complicate matters further.
It would seem a retuned set of springs is in order, at the very least. Once set up that way, standard ammo is no longer a wise choice, either. All in all, silencer use would've probably been more trouble than it's worth.
( Which could explain why such pistols were so scarce ?)

But then I also suppose silenced pistols of any make or model are only common on the TV or movie screen anyway.
( At least when it comes to the majority of us civilians. )
In any event, it was just a case of curiosity on my part!

Rich

 

[dcoffey]

I was owned a 20 commercial Luger set up for a silencer. The barrel was 6 inch. 30 caliber.There was a small button on the back of the front sight base, when pressed you could unscrew the barrel band from the barrell and put on the silencer.It was beautifully done.The gun came with a matching artillery commercial stock that had been cut in half and put back together at a different angle.Attached to the stock was a leather compartment (with a wooden door) for the silencer. It was a realy cool rig. No, there was no silencer when I got it.I have some pictures of it somewhere, I`ll see if I can dig them out.I always thought it was factory but who knows.It was cheap, "out of the woods", and NOBODY would have went to the trouble to make/fake that stock/leather silencer compartment!I traded it off years ago for some BH Mausres. The seriel number was 162i. Doug

 

[dcoffey]

How about, I once owned....

 

[John D]

quote:Originally posted by dcoffey

How about, I once owned....

I can do that...

I once owned this:
Download Attachment: 1.jpg
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The spring detent at the rear of the front sight base would be pushed into the base, and the front sight would then unscrew to attach a silencer. You can make out the ridge where the front sight would unscrew in the attachment above.

John D.

 

[r_t_darc]

Thanks for the photograph!
They must have worked better than I'd imagined.

Rich

 

[rudymarsh]

OK fellow Luger Groupies,
On my last trip to Illinois. I purchased some literature (also P.08)
from Simpson. One book in particular "The German Military Pistol
1904-1930" by Fred A. Datig. Illustrating, on pages 82-83, P.08's
with silencers attached. Probably a design spin-off from an early
Benz exhaust muffler.
Rudy
PS Simpson's prices are too high for a sound mind.

 

[Luke]

Huge. These things need a forearm to support them, and they could never have been concealed in anything smaller than a Volkswagen. Nothing like the silencers you see in the movies.

Simpsons: I have purchased several Lugers there, the last one when I was in Michigan and drove over to visit the store; but I am very discouraged by the dramatic increase in prices over the last several months. Not at all sure what is going on here.

 

[Orv Reichert]

Photos of Doug Coffey's silenced luger as described above.
I took the photos many years ago...eh, Doug?

Orv

 

[dcoffey]

Orv, Thanks for putting the pictures on for me. A few years ago indeed!

 

[rudymarsh]

Hi Orv,
Great pictures, do you have a picture of the silencer (Benz muffler)?
Rudy

 

[dcoffey]

Rudy, It was a 2 liter coke bottle

 

[Luke]

Great pictures, Orv.

Thanks.

 

[Dwight Gruber]

Rich,

Just fyi on the topic of silencers, Lugers (or any firearm, for that matter) which fire a bullet whose speed is greater than the speed of sound cannot be effectively silenced by a muzzle attachment due to the bullet's supersonic shock wave, "sonic boom". Subsonic 9mm ammunition, with smaller powder charge, was developed specifically for the silenced Luger application. These, as you might guess, are not powerful enough to operate the Luger action...

--Dwight