Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

P08 vs P38

BobJudy
I know I am treading on thin ice by posting a gun topic, but here goes. Doing a wipe down of one of the safes and got to comparing a 1918 DWM luger with a CYQ p38. Why are Lugers considered more desirable than P38s. In my opinion the P38 is a much better design. Stronger, better sights, better trigger and so on. The P38 grip angle also points better for me. Curious as to your opinions. Bob
0

Comments

9 comments

Date Votes
  • Sam06
    No idea but Lugers have a cool factor to them. I like a P38 better too for a fighting firearm. If I was in the German army back then I would rather have a P38 too.

    I have had several P38's and all were good shooters with ball ammo. Accurate and reliable. I don't like the heel mag release but other than that they are a well designed handgun.
    0
  • Tcatt
    My Dad had both

    I grew up shooting them both

    The P38 is a better pistol, hands down.

    As far as I know, no other manufacture used/copied the P08 Action, that should say something.

    They do look cool
    0
  • nmyers
    It's the classic duel between "made the old way by craftsmen" vs "cheaply made & utilitarian".

    Lugers were mostly forged & polished parts. Each surface had a different type of polishing. Early guns have beautiful "straw" color on small parts. Final fitting had to be done by hand. And the grip angle makes instinctive shooting a joy. Balance is perfect.

    P38's were mass produced, & all parts could quickly be changed & it would continue to work perfectly. And, they were cheap & they could be produced in huge quantities by semi-skilled laborers. Double action & slide safety made it easy for the dumbest soldier to use. Spreewerke (code cyq) factory produced the most poorly finished P38's.

    Neal
    0
  • chiefr
    When I spent 4 years in Germany, often this subject was discussed. Germans overwhelmingly preferred the P-38 simple because it was a far more reliable weapon.
    0
  • Junkballer
    I owned a Luger, biggest PITA I ever owned, no more for me, y'all can have them.........Owned a P-38 at one time too, great firearm and have regretted selling it many times :(
    0
  • gearheaddad
    My Dad was an Army armor in the early 50's in Germany.
    He said as great of design and such incredible detail and craftsmanship the Luger was, it was an inefficient weapon in wet, dusty, sandy, less than ideal conditions after the first shot.
    It may have been beautiful, comfortable to hold, deadly accurate, but if a speck of dirt or 2 got to it, it would jam.
    Where the early 1911's rattled like a piece of junk and accuracy was an after thought, it always went Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, and the some.........
    Beautiful to look at and admire for sure. But, I'll take the 1911.
    0
  • He Dog
    P-38s are indeed a better design, but they ain't got near the cachet of the P-08.
    0
  • BobJudy
    nmyers wrote:
    It's the classic duel between "made the old way by craftsmen" vs "cheaply made & utilitarian".

    Lugers were mostly forged & polished parts. Each surface had a different type of polishing. Early guns have beautiful "straw" color on small parts. Final fitting had to be done by hand. And the grip angle makes instinctive shooting a joy. Balance is perfect.

    P38's were mass produced, & all parts could quickly be changed & it would continue to work perfectly. And, they were cheap & they could be produced in huge quantities by semi-skilled laborers. Double action & slide safety made it easy for the dumbest soldier to use. Spreewerke (code cyq) factory produced the most poorly finished P38's.

    Neal

    Yeah I know it is a common version and may not be perfectly polished but to me it is priceless. Dad brought it back after the war. Original holster, extra magazine, tool in the pouch in the holster and his name written inside the flap. Bob
    0
  • chiefr
    Junkballer wrote:
    I owned a Luger, biggest PITA I ever owned, no more for me, y'all can have them.........Owned a P-38 at one time too, great firearm and have regretted selling it many times :(

    I brought back a number of Lugers from Germany. Various makes. Every one of them had reliability problems. "Giving the finger" was the most common. Most reliability I could manage with any of them was with 146 gr FMJ loaded to the max. SBP, MilSurp, Geco, would work better than any USA made and 115 gr was the worse. Sold or traded away all and I too don't miss them. I keep only guns that shoot.
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity