This is a DWM (Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken)) chamber dated 1915 DWM 8" (200mm) model with the 800 meter adjustable rear sight mounted on the barrel. The 1915 Chamber Date is one of the most difficult of the Artillery models in this pristine condition.  This is an outstanding complete rig with an all-matching Parabellum, a dated holster, matching stock, magazine pouch with two matching magazines, cleaning rod and loading tool   (1718)

NOTE: Photographs taken today with the high mega-pixel camera show more than we sometimes can see with the human eye. Magnified close-ups show us tool marks and natural surface conditions that one normally doesn't see in the ordinary handling of the weapon.  Photographs are copyrighted, all rights reserved, any extraction, reproduction or display of gun pictures without the express consent of the Phoenix Investment Arms is strictly prohibited. Thank you for your cooperation.  Please visit Legal (tabbed) for Conditions of Sale.

In WWI the machine guns and artillery were up front and exposed to enemy fire. Moving the weapon was manual and with a rapid fire weapon ammunition was a task. Old black powder pistols and obsolete calibers were in need of replacement. The long barrel Pistole was designed to be an alternative to the full length Mauser K98 in 1912.

This is a 9mm weapon with all the matching parts marked in the military manner (exposed). The barrel is 200mm and it has an adjustable front site. The frame has the stock lug and the thumb safety.  The imposition of the Treaty of Versailles (1923) which denied Germany the ability to build or possess any 9mm barreled gun in excess of 99mm took these 'artillery models' out of the inventory.

The thumb safety is marked "Gesichert" and extractor "Geladen".  The barrel is numbered and proofed to the weapon. The inside of the gun is clean and well cared for. 

The Imperial proofs are well struck and tell the story of the gun.  The barrel inside is shiny with distinctive lands and grooves.  The magazine is clean and matching; the grips match the gun. The original intent was to issue the 8" weapon to gun boat crews but it then became standard issue to machine gun crews and artillery units.

Authors Sturgess & Görtz wrote in Vol I Pistole Parabellum that the probability of mass production was launched after the beginning of WWI in August 1914. DWM had already produced (known by surviving guns) the 4" P08's and was into the 'c' suffix range indicating that it was approaching 40,000 guns when the LP-08 was introduced. It should therefore be disingenuous to suppose, as has been the received wisdom, that DWM LP.08s, which could only have been made in the latter half of 1914, should have had their no suffix serial numbers interspersed amongst those of the no suffix of the P08s, which were made in the first month of 1914.  "The inevitable conclusion is the DWM's 1914 production of was numbered in a separate range than their P.08's." [¶421]. The year 1915 saw the full production of the Lange Pistole by DWM.

The serial numbers are marked in the "military manner" meaning they are exposed on the parts. This Luger has all matching parts with the serial number and gauge marking on the barrel and the matching serial number on the frame. The serial number with a no suffix is representative of the relatively early numbers of "artillery" model produced in 1915 with no suffix.

Acknowledging a requirement to protect the crew served weapons the German army was in search of a shorter, more lightweight weapon than the G98.  The Luger Carbine was well known (the Kaiser hunted with one), so the idea for a long barreled pistol with a stock was an easy jump to make.  In 1914 DWM did not receive the contract for the LP.08 until August and allowing for re-tooling and only produced an estimated output of 2000. The Royal Arsenal at Erfurt to produced the 8" Parabellum and with the greater capacity of 22,000 into the 'b' suffix; the only dated year Erfurt produced the LP.08,

While the nomenclature of "artillery" model is an assignment of US collectors it was originally sought by aircraft personnel who needed protection aloft before machine guns were mounted. It was quickly learned that the firepower of this weapon was best used in the assault and in defense.  It became the favorite of the Stoßtruppe  (thrust troops) or assault troops due to the trommel 32 round magazine.

Here is a posed machine gun crew wearing the Lange Pistole 08 on both their belts and the left soldier with the carrying strap.  In 1912, two years before WWI the Prussian military was testing a replacement for the carbine (Gew.91) and test trials were being conducted on the Lange Pistole (long barrel Parabellum).

This pre-1916 Army picture, (1916 German metal helmets were being issued), shows two soldiers with the issued leather holster and shoulder boards. The center soldier appears to be wearing a Reich's Revolver.

The inside of the gun is clean and well cared for. (A) shows the long sear disabling the gun being 'cocked' with the safety on; (B) the Imperial acceptance stamp; (C)  and the trigger serial numbered to the gun.  The exterior shows honest wear on the muzzle, barrel and high points on the sides. The barrel is shiny and shows distinct lands and grooves. This Luger shows characteristic holster wear on the side plate and front exposed edges of the rails and end of the barrel.

Above Left is the leaf sight that is adjustable for elevation up to 800 meters and also windage. Along with the adjustable front sight produced up through part of 1917 the LP.08 was was designed as a precision weapon and with the extended barrel and 800m rear sight making it formidable as a hand held weapon. 

Above Left: The firing pin has '34' the last two digits of the serial number. Above Right: The breach block has the '34' and Imperial acceptance stamp .

This above "W" feature shown to several advanced collectors could not produce any explanation as to what or when. There are no import marks on the gun; it wasn't brought in between the world wars.  The general condition of the gun doesn't lend itself to field use so it was speculated to be a presentation or a production sample.  The only "W" associated with the order for the LP.08 was General von Wad el who served as Deputy War Minister of the Kriegsministerium as recorded by the Secret Memorandum dated Dec. 5, 1912. There is no known documentation to support this connection.

Rarely do we come across a 1915 Artillery in such good condition.  Even the magazines had the ability to clean up to match the 101 years of aging. Our research over the years, tracing back the acquisition of these Lange Pistole is that they were captured from WWI Veterans that had become part of the Volksturm or the last ditch home guard. These old soldiers brought their weapons from home since at the end of the war new guns were only found on the dead. 

The  above pictures illustrates how the straps are woven through the slots in the stock, through the stock block and back through the stock and through the keepers (rarely found on any artillery rig) to the brass connector knob.

Jan Still, the noted Luger author, writes in Imperial Lugers, that the 1914 model was a limited production of 5000 weapons between the serial numbers 161-1995a. Serial numbers ordinarily went from 1 to 10,000 and then the started with 1a ("a" being the suffix) which suggest closer to 20,000. Authors Sturgess & Görtz write that LP08 numbers were separately numbered from the 4" models.  Without production records to verify serial numbers and reliance on 'observed' examples creates this dichotomy to attempt limit the collector to antidotal speculation. Sometimes it becomes a case of "is what it is" or Occam's Razor can be applied.