Pistol

Towards the end of the 19th century many manufacturers were perfecting self-loading pistols; Mannlicher, Browning, Mauser. Paul Borchardt developed the Parabellum pistol which was first adopted by the Swiss Army as the Luger. The German Army replaced their outdated large, calibre revolvers with the Luger Pistole 08, which was issued with different barrel lengths and sights according to the arm of service. The most developed version, LP08, had a 200mm/7.87in. barrel, wooden butt-stock and snail-shaped magazine holding 32 rounds, anticipating the sub-machineguns appearing towards the war’s end. The 9mm Parabellum round itself became standard for most European sub-machineguns and continues as the ammunition for many modern military handguns.