WE P08 Luger GBB Pistol

If you're after an iconic, retro sidearm, it doesn't get more iconic than a Luger! The WE P08 Luger GBB Pistol is a flawless full-metal replica of the P08 Luger, the iconic sidearm of the German Wehrmacht. This makes the perfect pairing for an MP40 AEG but is also a fantastic collectable for display, thanks to its incredible attention to detail.

The real Luger takes its namesake from its designer, Georg Luger, who designed the pistol as an improvement on the C93 Borchardt pistol of the late 1800s. The Luger design, known initially as the Parabellum-Pistole, was adopted by the Imperial German Army and Navy and served throughout WW1, the Weimar Republic era, and WW2 to be eventually replaced by the Walther P38.

This pistol design pre-dates the earliest of John Moses Browning's tilting-barrel pistols, meaning the modern standard of the  "moving slide" format of automatic pistols was yet to be established. As such, the Luger uses what is known as a "toggle locked action", which makes use of precisely machined locking surfaces to provide enough dwell time to allow the action to open safely after the pistol is fired.

The WE Luger is a superb replica of the real Luger visually and mimics its toggle-locked operation perfectly for some realistic old-school fun on the skirmish field. The full metal construction of the P08 Luger gives it a hefty feel in the hand, and its unique design gives it a feel which is unlike any other GBB pistol. The finish applied to the pistol is consistent throughout and looks great whilst being considerably more practical and economical than the original Luger's blued finish.

Starting at the tip of the outer barrel, we can find the front sight post, a "barleycorn" style front sight with anti-glare checkering on its surface. This sight offers superb accuracy potential in combination with the V-notch rear sight and is also surprisingly fast and easy to align.

It's easy to expect terrible things from an ancient pistol design such as this, but we are pleasantly surprised with the Luger sight arrangement and find it more intuitive and accurate than many modern pistols!

The front sight is moulded as part of the outer barrel and cannot be adjusted, but does include a mock dovetail for realistic details. Following the front sight, we come to the outer barrel, which protrudes ahead of the receiver for that classic Luger silhouette. The outer barrel has a gentle taper towards the tip, but flares out again at the front sight, just like the real thing.

At the tip of the barrel, we're treated to 14mm CCW male barrel threads, allowing a tracer unit or suppressor to be fitted if you add a thread adapter. Naturally, you won't make any friends running a tracer unit at a WWII game, but it's great to see WE has equipped the Luger with what it needs to compete with Hi-Capas and Glocks!

Moving rearwards, we reach the receiver, which comprises the upper receiver and toggle action. The toggle can be found on the top and has a charging handle built in, in the form of a "drum" surrounding the rearmost hinge of the toggle-locked action.

Pulling rearwards on the drum will move the entire upper receiver and barrel rearwards slightly, retract the toggle and open the ejection port, perfectly imitating the operating system of the real P08 Luger. The toggle can be operated easily, even in wet weather, thanks to the textured surface of the drum.

On the top of the front section of the toggle, we can find a detailed mock extractor, which is constructed from steel, showing the attention paid to smaller details by WE when designing this pistol.

Another nice detail is the visible trigger linkage on the left side of the upper receiver, just below the toggle, which you can see working as you pull the trigger. A lot is going on with the Luger design, and we are always happy to see that these details have not been skipped over, despite the design challenges of incorporating these aspects of the original Luger into the Airsoft design.

The controls of the Luger P08 are all located on the left side, as everyone pre-1950 was right-handed, evidently. The safety lever can be found at the rear left of the frame and provides an "S" and "F" position, with an enamel red dot to indicate the more dangerous of the two modes.

With the safety catch in the fire position, the red dot will be visible, and with it in the safe position, we can see an engraved "GESICHERT" marking appear from beneath the safety lever, indicating that the pistol is "SECURED" or in the safe mode. Setting the pistol to safe mode also raises a small flag on the left side, just like a real Luger.

The safety catch is easy to reach from a firing grip and has a textured upper surface to provide the friction necessary to be operated in poor weather conditions.

The magazine release can be found between the grip and the trigger guard, on the left side of the pistol. This is a nice and familiar location for most users for the mag catch, meaning that though the Luger may look weird, it will be easy enough to adapt to.

The catch has a pyramidal textured surface to enhance grip and is designed in such a way that it is protected by the grip panels from inadvertent mag drops. The grip panels themselves are constructed from polymer with a diamond checkering on the surface, making the Luger easy to handle with or without gloves, with minimal chances of it slipping from your grasp.

The trigger is found right where we would expect it and is a heavily curved trigger which matches the real Luger exactly. Ahead of the trigger, we have the disassembly catch, which can be used to remove the upper receiver from the frame of the Luger for maintenance.

At the rear of the frame, the Luger features a lanyard loop which is centrally positioned to allow for either a left or right-handed draw (or more likely, given its era, a hip or shoulder holster draw). This means you can secure the pistol to your belt if you are worried about it flying out during an energetic sprint. This does happen, so we are always happy to see lanyard loops on GBB pistols, especially when they match the real thing!

At the base of the grip, we can find a grooved extension which functions as the stock attachment dovetail for the real P08 Luger. That's right, the real Luger could mount a stock, a full 100 years before "pistol carbine kits" became popular. They were ahead of the times in Germany, clearly! We're unsure whether this stock dovetail accepts reproduction Luger stocks, but if you need a stock, 3D printing or scratch building is always a possibility.

The WE P08 Luger utilises a fixed HOP-up unit due to its unconventional design. This means your HOP-up is not adjustable but is instead set from the factory for 0.2 and 0.25g BBs. This means less messing around setting your pistol up, but less effective range when using BBs heavier than 0.25g.

Everything in Airsoft is a balance, and with some features comes the need to compromise, but for its role as a sidearm, the WE Luger does the job and does it well!

Features

• Full metal construction - Polymer grip panels
• Several length & colour options - Choose sensible black, striking silver or glamorous gold!
• 11mm CW Female-threaded outer barrel - Add a thread adapter to mount a tracer or suppressor
• Authentic Luger shape and action - Iconic looks, realistic toggle-locked action
• Moving toggle/bolt - Rack the toggle to ready for the first shot
• Single-action trigger - Short, crisp trigger pull, comparable to a 1911 or Hi-Capa
• Barleycorn front sight with anti-glare serrations - Authentic German-style sights
• V-notch Rear sight - A fine notch for precision; press the button on the side to adjust elevation
• Safety lever on the left side - Ready to fire when the red dot is shown
• Push-button magazine release - On the left side of the grip, press to release the mag
• Lanyard loop on the rear of the frame - Add a retention lanyard so it never gets lost
• Diamond-textured grip panels - A perfect match for the real Luger grips
• Stock lug on the rear of the grip - MAY fit replica Luger stocks (untested, be prepared to mod)
• Fixed HOP-up system - Optimised for 0.2 and 0.25g BBs
• Compatible with WE Luger Magazines:
  • 15rnd Standard Magazine

Package Includes

• WE P08 Luger GBB Pistol
  • 15rnd Green Gas Magazine

Special Instructions

The magazine of the P08 Luger cannot be inserted if the hammer is not cocked. If you find that the magazine will not go in all the way, rack the toggle and try again. Do NOT slap the magazine in before checking whether the hammer is cocked, as this can damage the internals.