Classic Handguns of the 20th Century. David Arnold

       COLLECTOR INTEREST

      As with the Colt Peacemaker, Lugers have high collector interest and can demand high prices. There is also the familiar question of whether they should be fired at all. This stresses the need to identify what type of Luger one has and its potential worth. Lugers of recent vintage and issue don’t command the very high values of the long-barrel and the older, more exotic models and are candidates for shooting provided they are mechanically sound. On the other hand, I would be hesitant to shoot one that is in pristine condition for fear of marring its finish and reducing its potential future value.

       Georg Luger and Hugo Borchardt

      The two men responsible for creation of the Luger, Georg Luger and Hugo Borchardt, both worked at the company that was closely associated with the manufacture of the pistol, the Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM).

      DWM was the result of the business activities of two brothers, Ludwig and Isidor Lowe. Their company, Ludwig Lowe und Companie, originally specialized in the manufacture of machine tools and sewing machines. After gaining a government contract in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, the company began to manufacture rifle sight assemblies. Lowe und Companie’s skill and precision at this venture soon led to further government contracts, both domestic and foreign. It was not long before sewing machines were traded for weapons as the successful company began making firearms full time.

      In 1886 Ludwig died, and Isidor began a joint venture with Waffenfabrik Mauser, AG to produce rifles for Turkey. As time passed, the activities of these two companies intertwined together around the successful manufacture of firearms. Lowe acquired controlling interest in Waffenfabrik Mauser as well as Deutsche Metallpatronenfabrik Lorenz, a German ammunition factory. The resulting company purchases and corporate shuffling led to the creation of the Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM).

      Georg Luger and Hugo Borchardt worked together at the Lowe firm and both had a serious interest in and no small measure of success with self-loading firearm designs and patents as well as ammunition loads.

      Borchardt, a German-born, naturalized US citizen, worked at several small companies before working for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company of New Haven, Connecticut. His first patent for a machine to cut lubrication grooves into bullets was given while he was with Winchester.

      In 1890, after employment at various companies in the US and Europe, Borchardt joined the Lowe firm and later designed the large toggle-action semi-automatic pistol that bears his name.

      Georg Luger, an Austrian, became involved with firearms as a result of his involvement with Ferdinand von Mannlicher. Luger experimented with rifle designs for bolt actions and self-loaders for twenty years before joining Lowe in 1891.

      Luger used Borchardt’s pistol as a basis for his now famous pistol. His final design was a pistol that was smaller and lighter than the big cumbersome Borchardt. As a result, the new Luger pistol had much more potential as a military sidearm than the Borchardt.

THE COLT 45 GOVERNMENT MODEL OF 1911

       Possibly the Best Combat Handgun of All Time

      The Colt 45 Government Model of 1911 is arguably the most popular handgun ever made. The number of imitations of the 1911 is countless and continues to increase. No other handgun has the dedicated following of the venerable Colt.

      Based on John Drownings patent, the IV11 established a reputation for being an extremely rugged, reliable and hardhitting auto pistol. The US Army, Navy and Marine Corps used it for close to a century. It has also been the first choice of many civilians and law officers.

       HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

      The 1911 was developed from Browning’s first semiautomatic pistol, the Colt 38 pistol of 1900. Colt and Browning had entered into an agreement for the company to distribute his handguns in America as well as using his patents in pistols that Colt decided to manufacture in the future.

      In 1898, the US army was considering replacing the Colt 38 revolver with a self-loading pistol. A board of officers had began trials for a new handgun and was testing a number of auto pistols including the 1896 Mauser and the blow-forward Mannlicher as well as the Colt Browning Model of 1900.

      Some 6000 rounds were fired through the Colt with only minor breakages occurring. In fact, the only thing that stopped the test was the running out of ammunition.

      The pistol was submitted to field-testing by army units. After complaints from some officers about the pistol’s balance and handling procedures, Colt began fine-tuning the pistol. The pistol’s muzzle heaviness was reduced and the grip elongated, allowing space for a larger cartridge to be accommodated in the magazine.

       THE CALIBER QUESTION

      The real problem was deciding on a caliber for an updated Model 1900, which was only a 38 caliber at the time. Complaints about the lack of stopping power of Colt New Model Army and Navy revolvers in the Philippines had brought the realization that a larger caliber was required as well as a new sidearm.

      These days there is a popular myth that the 38 revolver and its cartridge proved to be complete failures in the Philippine campaign. In fact, during the early stages, it performed quite adequately, even holding its own against other weapons.

      This situation changed dramatically when operations moved to the southern island. It was against the tough, fanatical Moro warriors who inhabited the island that the 38 proved to be inconsistent in its fight-stopping abilities. The myth of its ineffectiveness against a fanatical enemy was born. More stopping power was required.

      Thompson and LeGarde, two officers in the US Army, conducted experiments with a variety of projectiles of different weight, diameter and velocity. The tests were conducted using human cadavers, steers and horses.

      Stopping power and wounds were compared and judged. For the military, the best performing round was judged to be one that entered the body and then stopped and delivered all its inherent energy. The 45 caliber (11.43mm) was the bullet judged best to fit the bill.

       In its final configuration, the Colt pistol was chambered for the newly developed 45 ACP cartridge. It was officially designated as the Colt Government Model 45 pistol of 1911. Photo courtesy of Garry James.

      Colt developed a new 45-caliber automatic pistol in 1905 from the Model 1900. Called the Colt 45 Automatic Pistol, it had a 5-inch barrel chambered for the new 45 ACP cartridge and had a seven-shot magazine.

      The pistol and cartridge went through several stages of metamorphosis before it reached this point. The initial cartridge was too heavy to achieve the hoped-for performance so Colt and Winchester combined their efforts to produce an effective cartridge for the new pistol. The case was shortened and bullet weight reduced. The resulting cartridge reached the desired level of 853 fps and retained accuracy up to 147 feet.

      The pistol underwent exhaustive trials during the period of 1907 to 1911. The trials included other arms and continued until the field had been narrowed down to two competitors, the 45 Colt and a pistol in the same caliber from Savage.

      Both were found to have the desirable features required by the army, but with several flaws inherent in each, which would need correction before a final decision could be made.

      Both guns were cited as having insufficient safety mechanisms and each needed some fine-tuning, including wood grips for the Savage and a better trigger for the Colt.

      In 1907, Colt received the list of improvements necessary for the next incarnation of its design—an almost-vertical