Luger P08 BYF

**H.E. Pennypacker** · March 4th, 2010, 04:33 PM

Wanted to share this. I finally got around to taking decent pictures of it.

Click for photo album.

**normanvin** · March 4th, 2010, 08:45 PM

Is that an original holster? Nice gun. I also want one.

**levib** · March 4th, 2010, 08:51 PM

Nifty! Looks like it's in good condition too.

**brian** · March 4th, 2010, 09:50 PM

pretty neat to see one of those "newer" ones with the toggle hold open and buttstock attachment thingy.

**H.E. Pennypacker** · March 4th, 2010, 10:24 PM

Thanks for the comments. It is in pretty good shape...looks like a little pitting on some parts, but nothing major. Just cleaned out the barrel yesterday - it had some 60-year-old gunk in there from the looks of it.

Originally Posted by normanvin

Is that an original holster? Nice gun. I also want one.

I posted over at LugerForums.com and someone seems to think it's a homemade holster. All I know is when my dad's uncle got it from a friend many decades ago, it came with the holster - I wonder if a Nazi soldier made it for himself?

Does anyone know if any special ammo should be used if I were to shoot this thing? I.E. would I be better off with lead bullets as opposed to FMJs?

**PA Rifleman** · March 4th, 2010, 11:23 PM

Originally Posted by H.E. Pennypacker

...
I posted over at LugerForums.com and someone seems to think it's a homemade holster. All I know is when my dad's uncle got it from a friend many decades ago, it came with the holster - I wonder if a Nazi soldier made it for himself?

I'm inclined to agree, I saw a wartime bring-back P-38 with a field-made leather holster. Best guess it was made from a leather car seat, as it was very supple. It's been years since I reviewed Axis small arms, however I recall P08 holsters were a little more form-fitting to the pistol than your example.

Originally Posted by H.E. Pennypacker

Does anyone know if any special ammo should be used if I were to shoot this thing? I.E. would I be better off with lead bullets as opposed to FMJs?

Can't say in your case, here's what I did: I formed a data matrix with all my wartime 9mms which included my P08. I tested each pistol with each type of 9mm I could find, including modern hollow points. The P38 ingested everything, the P08 seemed to short cycle unless I used hot 9mmx19 loads or Sellier & Bellot 9mmx19. With S&B 9mm, it ran like a Swiss watch and made one ragged hole at 25 yards. I don't recall how well it handled hollow points. The accuracy was stunning, even by today's standards.

I vaguely recall having a discussion with someone on a Luger forum about overall length and feeding reliability, Dwight Gruber as I recall. We discussed ammunition testing with P08s and I gave him my test results.

**brian** · March 7th, 2010, 09:34 AM

i was trying(still am sorta) to shot lead in mine....figured that would be less "wear" on stuff.
getting them hot enough to cycle the action is no problem. however barrel leading starts coming into play, and then accuracy falls off.
i've taken a break from the lead and am going to try 124gr fmj's, and start loading them down...last thing i want to do is break the extractor.