Home Reviews Luger P08 Tanaka Luger Review

Tanaka Luger Review

by Arnie

Stock
Specifications
FPS
385-405fps
Length: 4
/ 6 / 8 inch
Weight: 530g

Ammo
capacity:

 

12 rounds
(Standard Mag)

50 rounds
(Drum Mag)

Tanaka
‘Artillery’ Luger Review

review by Lyndon
Haywood
,
edited by Arnie


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.

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.


The GBB strips as the real gun

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


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.



With holster stock and drum mag

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.

Tanaka
seem to have worked from a photograph to design the tool they supply
with the GBB, somehow the calculations went wrong, see the comparison
with the full sized real tool.

An
example of Japanese miniaturisation

Conclusion
As
a GBB the Luger performs well, with that impressive toggle action.

The long barrel
with Green gas produces a velocity of between 385 and 405 fps with .20
bbs; outperforming most gas pistols apart from the Prokiller, and out
performing and outranging stock AEGs.

Although the service
life of the LP 08 began 87 years ago making it a minority interest gun,
it is an important piece of firearms history and great fun to use.

Appearance

4/5

Build
Quality

3/5

Performance

4/5

Value
for Money

4/5

Overall
Potential

3/5

External
Links:

TBA



Accurate inspectors’
stamps and DWM eagle stamp

Lyn (the
author) sadly passed away on the 29th of July, you can find a complete article
written by Matthew Dean (aka Mobius Strip) here:
Lyn
Haywood
18th
August 1936 – 29th July 2001
by
Matthew
Dean

Comment
on this review in the forums


Last modified:
Wednesday, May 9, 2001 9:37 AM
Except where noted copyright 2001 ArniesAirsoft




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