Pistolentaschen P08 (Holster pistol P08)

The P08 Luger pistol was developed by George Luger who has served in the Austro-Hungarian army before gaining employment with the Ludwig Löwe & Cie armaments factory in Berlin in 1891. While employed with the Löwe firm Luger examined the Borchardt pistol they manufactured which had proven to be troublesome due to its awkward recoil and bolt return system. Luger redesigned the Borchardt pistol with a cleaner design and systems and in 1899 the first Borchardt-Luger pistol was tested. The Borchardt-Luger pistol underwent minor modifications and was accepted by the Swiss army in 1900. Further modifications in 1902 resulted in the Luger being re-calibered from 7.65mm to the standard 9mm Parabellum cartridge. The new Luger pistol was adopted by the Imperial German Navy in 1904 and by the German army in 1908, which led to its official designation, "P08". The P08 Luger pistol saw service through-out WWI, during the Weimar, Reichswehr era, (National Defence Force, Circa 1919-1933), and on into the Third Reich. When issued the P08 came with a specific holster to be worn on the left side of the load carrying waist belt. Although popular, the pistol was expensive to produce and the design of the toggle breech made it prone to dirt entry after firing which affected its performance. In 1938 the weapons firm of Carl Walther developed the P38 pistol as a replacement for the P08. Although the P38 never fully replaced the P08, manufacture of the Luger was discontinued in 1943. Of Note: The HwaA ,Heereswaffenamt, (Army Ordnance Office), or the H.Fzm, Heeresfeldzeugmeisterei, (Army Ordnance Department), both designations were used, was a subsection of the OKH, Oberkommando des Heeres, (High Command of the Army), that was responsible for testing, evaluation and eventual issue of all ordnance including the P08 holsters. The HwaA/H.Fzm would issue all ordnance to a units Quartiermeister, (Supply HQ unit/Quartermaster), which contained the units Administration, Medical, Veterinarian, and Transport officers and its main responsibility was the control of all supplies to the forward troops including all vehicle fuel, and lubricant requirements as well as animal feed and rations and ammunition and accessories.