Luger

The Pistole Parabellum—or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), commonly known as just Luger—is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol that was produced in several models and by several nations from 1898 to 1948.

The design was first patented by Georg Luger as an improvement upon the Borchardt Automatic Pistol and was produced as the Parabellum Automatic Pistol, Borchardt-Luger System by the German arms manufacturer Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM). The first production model was known as the Modell 1900 Parabellum. It was followed by the "Marinepistole 1904" for the Imperial German Navy.

The Luger was officially adopted by the Swiss military in 1901, the Imperial German Navy in 1906 and the German Army in 1908, The Luger was also the standard service pistol of Switzerland, Portugal, Holland, Chile, Brazil and Bulgaria. It was widely used in other countries as a military service pistol and by police forces. In the German Army service, it was adopted in a slightly modified form as the Pistole Modell 1908 (Pistole 08) in caliber 9×19mm Parabellum. The Model 08 was eventually succeeded by the Walther P38.