Few people know that the name of the weapon "Parabellum" is formed from the merger of two other Latin words, torn from the well-known Roman proverb: "Si vis pacem, para bellum" or "If you want peace, prepare for war." So how did it appear and what was perhaps the most elegant pistol of the 19th-20th centuries?
In 1893, the German gun designer Hugo Borchardt introduced the world to his new pistol, the Borchardt C93, which was the first self-loading pistol in the world. Alas, this weapon was not destined to “take off”. Already in 1896, the manufacturing company was taken over by the German company Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken. And in 1898, on the basis of the original design of Hugo Borchardt, a new pistol appeared, created by another gunsmith, the Austrian Georg Johann Luger. And as you might guess, this was our today's hero - Luger Parabellum P.08.
In fact, the brand new Luger was not just made on the basis of the C93. In fact, it was a constructive alteration of the second. There was nothing strange about this: Hugo Borchardt and Johann Luger worked together for a long time. However, in 1896, the Austrian went to work at the Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken and was already developing pistols there alone. At the same time, the brand new Luger lay on the shelf for almost a year until it was allowed to be tested in 1899. The weapon proved to be good, as a result, the designer patented three models at once, and in 1900 an order appeared on the adoption of the first 3 thousand self-loading pistols into service with Switzerland. In 1904, Luger's design also won competition tests in Germany.
The Luger Parabellum P.08 pistol uses a short-travel automatic. The barrel bore is locked using a system of hinged levers. The receiver is made in the form of a tuning fork, inside which an ejector and a moving bolt with a percussion mechanism are placed. The trigger mechanism of the pistol is equipped with a disconnector, which allows the weapon to fire only a single fire. The ejector is located on top in such a way as to also perform the function of having a cartridge in the chamber.
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The weight of the pistol without cartridges is 0.8 kg. The total length of the weapon is 217 mm. Barrel length - 102 mm. The rate of fire of the Luger Parabellum P.08 reaches 32 rounds per minute. At the same time, the standard ammunition load is 8 rounds in a box magazine. In addition, the Luger factory provided for the installation of drum magazines with a volume of 20 and 32 rounds. The ammunition used is 9 × 19 mm Parabellum cartridges with an initial firing speed of 350-380 m / s. The effective range of the weapon is 50 meters.
Like any other weapon, the Luger had specific advantages and disadvantages. Among the first are the perfect design, reliability in difficult conditions, high ergonomics of the handle, excellent control when shooting, low recoil and muzzle rise, high accuracy, durability, high rate of fire, as well as powerful cartridge. However, the Austrian creation also had known shortcomings. Among the most noticeable are the high complexity and cost of production, the threat of delays in shot, the impossibility of using reinforced cartridges, a poor ejection trajectory of the cartridge case when fired (flies in the face). But precisely because of the high cost (and because of this, and inaccessibility), the Luger pistol was a coveted trophy for officers.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about 5 main pistols of the 20th centuryissued by the "gloomy Teutonic" genius.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/250122/61946/