Luger LP 08 Artillery
Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken · Pistol · Discontinued · 1913
Also known as: Lange Pistole 08, LP 08, LP.08, Artillery Luger, Artillerie-Luger, Artillerie-Parabellum, Parabellum 1914
Overview
The Luger LP 08 'Artillery' (Lange Pistole 08, literally 'Long Pistol 08') is a long-barreled variant of the standard Pistole 08 adopted by the Imperial German Army in 1913 for issue to artillery crews, aviators, machine gunners, NCOs, and cavalrymen who needed a more capable personal defense weapon than the standard P08 but who could not carry a full rifle. Designed by Georg Luger and built on the same toggle-locked, short-recoil action as the standard P08, the LP 08 features a 200mm (7.9 inch) barrel, an 8-position tangent rear sight graduated to 800 meters, a blade front sight with drift-adjustable dovetail, and a wooden board-type detachable shoulder stock that attaches to the grip frame via a lug. When fitted with the shoulder stock and the iconic 32-round TM 08 Trommelmagazin (snail drum magazine) developed by Friedrich Blum in 1916, the Artillery Luger effectively transformed into a semi-automatic carbine and served as the world's first man-portable, high-capacity semi-auto shoulder weapon. Issued alongside a leather holster, wooden stock board, and spare magazines, the LP 08 saw extensive use throughout the First World War with artillery detachments, Fliegertruppe aviators (as a pre-synchronizer aircraft self-defense arm), and especially the elite Sturmtruppen, who prized its controllable fire and drum-magazine firepower for trench-clearing before dedicated submachine guns like the MP 18 became available. Approximately 200,000 LP 08 Artillery pistols were produced between 1914 and 1918, with surviving examples retained through the Weimar period and briefly pressed back into reserve and paramilitary service under the Third Reich.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 1070 g (37.7 oz) |
| Weight (loaded) | 1220 g (43.0 oz) |
| Overall Length | 317 mm (12.48") |
| Barrel Length | 200 mm (7.87") |
| Height | 135 mm (5.31") |
| Width | 38 mm (1.50") |
| Sight Radius | 294 mm (11.57") |
| Action Type | Short Recoil |
| Firing Mechanism | Striker Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Trigger Pull | 27 N (6.1 lbf) |
| Magazine Capacity | 8 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 370 m/s (1214 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 550 J (406 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 100 m (109 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 1800 m (1968 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 250 mm (9.84") |
| Number of Grooves | 6 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 9x19mm Parabellum · primary · 9mm NATO — also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO, 9x19mm
Features
- Firing modes: Semi Automatic
- Feed systems: Detachable Box Magazine 8 Round, Trommelmagazin 08 32 Round Snail Drum
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety, Grip Safety
- Features: Toggle Lock Action, Long Barrel, Tangent Rear Sight 800m, Blade Front Sight, Detachable Board Shoulder Stock, Checkered Wood Grips, Single Action Trigger
Variants
- Luger P08 (standard) — Standard
- Luger Model 1904 Navy (150mm barrel) — Military
- Luger P08 Carbine — Carbine
Base model
Service history
Operators
- Imperial German Army (Feldartillerie) · adopted 1913 · as Lange Pistole 08
- Imperial German Army (Fussartillerie) · adopted 1913 · as Lange Pistole 08
- Imperial German Fliegertruppe · adopted 1914 · as Lange Pistole 08
- Imperial German Sturmtruppen · adopted 1915 · as Lange Pistole 08
- Imperial German Cavalry · adopted 1914 · as Lange Pistole 08
- Reichswehr (Weimar Republic) · adopted 1919 · as LP.08
- Wehrmacht (reserve and second-line use) · adopted 1935 · as LP.08
- NSDAP Sturmabteilung (SA)
Conflicts
- World War I (1914-1918)
- German Revolution of 1918-1919 (1918-1919)
- Weimar Republic political violence (1919-1933)
- World War II (1939-1945)
Production
Estimated total produced: 200,000 · Production years: 1914-1918
Approximately 200,000 LP 08 Artillery pistols produced by DWM and Erfurt Arsenal between 1914 and 1918. Production was halted by the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which banned military pistol barrels longer than 100mm.
Origin
Country of origin: Germany
Designer: Georg Luger
Discontinued: 1918
Notes
The LP 08 Artillery is mechanically identical to the standard P08 -- same toggle-lock short-recoil action, same striker-fired mechanism, same 8-round detachable box magazine, and same 9x19mm Parabellum chambering -- but its 200mm barrel nearly doubles the sight radius to approximately 294mm, yielding noticeably better practical accuracy and a muzzle velocity of roughly 370 m/s versus 350 m/s from the standard 102mm barrel. The tangent rear sight was optimistically graduated to 800 meters despite the 9mm Parabellum cartridge being effective at a fraction of that distance; in practice the calibrated range was a holdover from pre-war doctrine that treated pistols as secondary rifles for artillery and cavalry. The iconic 32-round TM 08 'Trommelmagazin' (snail drum) was introduced in 1916 and was also used on the MP 18 submachine gun; the drum required its own loading tool and a specific magazine body extension. The detachable board-type wooden shoulder stock features a leather holster on its reverse side. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, barrels longer than 100mm were prohibited, which ended LP 08 production; existing stocks were retained, modified, or destroyed. The LP 08 should not be confused with the separate, much rarer Luger P08 Carbine (Modell 1902 Karabiner), which used a 300mm or longer barrel and a permanently attached forend.
Background
Paired with its 32-round snail drum magazine and wooden shoulder stock, the Artillery Luger was effectively the world's first semi-automatic carbine -- and German Sturmtruppen loved it for clearing trenches before the MP 18 arrived in 1918. Its tangent rear sight was famously graduated to 800 meters, a beautifully optimistic figure for a 9mm pistol cartridge that was really only deadly out to a hundred. When Versailles banned the long barrels in 1919, thousands of LP 08s were cut down to standard P08 length, making surviving originals among the most prized Luger variants in the collector market.