Editor’s Note: This is a sample article from Gun Digest Research, where you can search thousands of archived Gun Digest Annual Book archives. To learn more go to. From Gun Digest Book, 11th Edition, 1957. For generations the most famous name in pistols has been Luger. There is no country however small or insignificant in which that name, or its foreign counterpart, Parabellum, is unfamiliar. To make the statement that it is the world’s finest, most accurate, well designed or generally the “best” pistol would merely be expressing an opinion, but what are the reasons for its popularity?

Why has it been accepted as the “best” and what is the story behind its phenomenal success? Future Of Forestry Discography Pink. To relate the tale from the beginning we must go back to a well known arms designer of his day, Hugo Borchardt, a naturalized American citizen. Borchardt was a mechanical genius of some note, for he not only entered the inventing profession at an early age but also developed many diversified types of mechanical devices.

The 1923 Commercial Luger variation are those Lugers in the commercial serial number range of approximately 73,500 to 96,000 (about 18,000 pistols). Sep 27, 2012 Luger serial numbers can be confusing. Each maker started each year with number 1, then went to 9999, then to 1a to 9999a, 1b to 9999b and so on.

The earliest record we have of Borchardt, as applied to the weapons field, is a letter written in his own hand to Mr. Westcott, President and Treasurer of The Sharps Rifle Co. Of Hartford, Conn., dated March 18, 1875, when Borchardt was applying for the position of Superintendent of that company: “I took the superintendency of a shop in the worst condition at Trenton (New Jersey), designed the tools and finished a contract for 5,000 guns to the entire satisfaction of the Co. Meecham, who was treasurer of The Pioneer Breechloading Arms Co., hesitated at first in placing confidence in me, owing very likely to my age, I was 24 years old.

There were about 60 hands employed. I afterwards had a foremanship in Singer (Sewing Machine Co.?) and several other places.” His first patent, for a bullet grooving machine, was issued on July 21, 1874. This was followed by a bullet patching machine in 1875, a breech-loading firearm (Sharps-Borchardt) in 1876, a gun sight in 1877, another breechloading firearm, a shirt neck shaper, a magazine; rock driller; wire straightener; recoil magazine pistol (Borchardt Pistol, 1893), and numerous others. Liteon Wireless Pci-driver.

Borchardt was versatile indeed, but it appears that his many patents added few coins to his coffers, for he was constantly changing jobs and addresses. His part in developing the Sharps-Borchardt rifle was his greatest achievement before forsaking his adopted country for Europe, where he remained for the rest of his life. He did not, however, give up his American citizenship. Georg Luger was born in Steinach in Tirol in 1849.

Originally an officer in the Austrian Army and with a decided liking for mechanical things, he became acquainted with Herr Mannlicher, inventor, among countless other designs, of the Austrian Infantry Ordnance Rifle. Together these two wizards produced an automatic, army rifle, (Luger’s military career was at an end) opening the door to a new vocation, one that was to make Luger world renowned. In 1891 Luger held a position with the firm of Ludwig Loewe of Berlin, from whence he was sent shortly thereafter to exhibit yet another military rifle in the United States, and where he more than likely first met Hugo Borchardt. It is known that Borchardt left the United States and took a position as director of the Hungarian Arms Company, but he soon had a disagreement with the Hungarian War Minister, General Fejervary, and undoubtedly through the influence and persuasion of his new friend, Georg Luger, was offered a job with Loewe, which he accepted. The next we hear of Herr Luger is in the year 1894 when he is once again exhibiting a new weapon before the United States Naval Ordnance Board. That new design was a semi-automatic pistol named after its creator, Borchardt! The Borchardt Pistol was patented in all of the major countries between 1893 and 1896.