BACKGROUND: 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.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Roughly, 26cm tall, 20cm wide at the top, tapering down to 35mm at the bottom, early, smooth, molded leather construction hard-shell holster for the standard 4" barrel P08 Luger pistol. The holster features a scalloped, fold back, top flap with a horizontal stitched seam/hinge to the reverse and a slightly diagonally angled, stitched on, closure strap to the obverse. The closure strap attaches to a leather reinforced, magnetic, pronged, roller buckle which is stitched to the front of the holster body. The holster has a vertical, extra magazine pocket stitched to the forward edge with a semi-circular cut-out to the top edge for ease of accessing the extra magazine. The standard internal, quick release, pull strap, inserted through a small, horizontal, slash on the front body. The reverse of the holster has dual, slightly diagonally angled, belt loops stitched in place. The interior of the top flap has a small, leather pocket with a steel stud closure for the quick loading tool. Maker marked & dated for 1938. Waffen-amt marked. Nicely marked Eagle over "M", indicating Kriegsmarine issue. Nice!