utm fk

66 G&A February 2020 | dAd’s luGer
The luger has had few
opportunities to slide out of its
swiss-made leather holster in
the 60 years it was held by the
author’s father’s friend, Gordy.
It functioned flawlessly when
recently test-fired.
which allowed the muzzle to protrude from the bottom. This
accounted for the bluing wear at the muzzle.
I asked Gordy if the gun ever had a spare magazine and he
said, “No, only the one in the gun.” I find this very interesting,
as the Panzer commander either acquired the Luger and holster
from someone who didn’t need it anymore or was issued whatever
the quartermaster could scrape together. At this point in the
war, the Germans had not been issuing Lugers as standard equipment
since about 1940 when the P.38 was standardized. It’s also
interesting that there was not even a spare magazine available.
The ad-hoc weapons being thrown together probably reflects the
desperate supply situation the Germans were in by then.
I have fired exactly five rounds from the Luger. During my visit
to the dealer who appraised it for me, he said if I was going to
shoot it to use replacement grips; The original grips crack quite
often if the guns are shot very much.
I fired five rounds of Hornady’s 90-grain XTP factory ammo
through the gun. The rounds chronographed 1,246 feet per sec-