Luger Pistol

Luger Pistol

The Pistole Parabellum 1908 or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum)—popularly known as the Luger—is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The design was patented by Georg J. Luger in 1898 and produced by German arms manufacturer Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) starting in 1900; it was an evolution of the 1893 Hugo Borchardt designed C-93. The first Parabellum pistol was adopted by the Swiss army in May 1900. In German army service it was succeeded and partly replaced by the Walther P38 in caliber 9×19 mm Parabellum.

The Luger is well known from its use by Germans during World War I and World War II, along with the interwar Weimar Republic and the post war East German Volkspolizei. Although the Luger pistol was first introduced in 7.65×21 mm Parabellum, it is notable for being the pistol for which the 9×19 mm Parabellum (also known as the 9 mm Luger) cartridge was developed.