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Tanaka
'Artillery' Luger Review
review by Lyndon
Haywood,
edited by Arnie
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Real-steel history: The so-called "Artillery Luger" was developed in 1913/14 to equip artillery crews, drivers, and pilots in the new Flieger Korps, it was officially called the "Lange Pistole 08" or "LP 08". French aviators were already using forward firing automatic rifles with deflector plates on the propellers of their aircraft, German pilots demanded a weapon with a larger magazine capacity, observers were armed with the Mondragon automatic rifle with a "Trommel", drum, magazine; the magazine was redesigned by the firm of Gebruder Bing of Nuremberg to hold 32 9mm Parabellum cartridges. |
The standard 9mm bullet of the time had a conoidal point, these jammed in the drum magazines, so the rounded, ogival bullet was developed which is now the standard 9mm Parabellum bullet. The drum magazines were mass produced and issued with LP 08 pistols, they were very popular in trench fighting where a high rate of fire and a large magazine capacity made up for the clumsiness of the drum magazine.
The pistol itself was highly thought of, the 8 inch barrel was a perfect combination with the 9mm ballistics. Precise sights were fitted, the earlier ones having micrometer adjustment for zeroing. The rear ramp sight automatically moved to the left as longer ranges were set, this was to offset any rifling drift. During WW2 some selective fire conversions were made, the detail photograph shows mock up selector controls for a future project.
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Now for the Airsoft replicas: The Tanaka Artillery Luger GBB is well made and a very accurate model with all the correct stampings, Waffenpruff and Abnahmen mit Krone stamps. For some reason Tanaka decided to finish the model with a Parkerised appearance and with satin chrome controls, and with black grip plates. |
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The real guns were well polished rust blue with case hardened controls and red-brown wooden grip plates. I repainted the grips, polished the barrel and frame, and darkened the controls. The result can be seen in the comparison photographs (below and to the left) with a real LP 08. |
Comparison with real
Luger
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I thought they leaked? The early Tanaka Lugers gained a reputation for leaking mags, Tanaka have designed a new magazine, (the third for the Luger), with a valve based upon a Western Arms type. This does not leak. The same valve is used in the drum magazine. This mag is made by Tanaka and holds 50 bbs with enough gas to discharge around 100 bbs. The drum mag is an accurate model with a spring tensioned winder, and with the Gebruder Bing logo. |
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The holster stock is not the Tanaka make, it was supplied with the big leather holster, shoulder strap and two stick magazine pouch. The holster contains a cleaning rod and a combination loading/stripping tool.
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