1906 Letter from George Luger

[Hugo Borchardt]

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, it is a pity that Georg Luger isn't alive today to interact with this forum. Would be great to hear his feedback on one of our favorite topics, "Russian Lugers", for example.

I stumbled upon the attached document during a recent research trip at the National Archives in Washington D.C. while researching the luger US test trials. While I am saving a treasure trove of new information until my research is complete, I thought the forum members might appreciate this particular document as it may be about as close to hearing from Georg Luger as we can ever expect to get (perhaps at least until the afterlife?) I do not know if this letter or others have surfaced before, at least in English. If others of interest exist in German, perhaps one of our German forum members could throw us a bone!

The letter was originally written in German by Georg Luger in Berlin on January 14, 1906. The US Ordnance department had received the initial two 9mm pistols after rejection of the 7.65 luger pistol and requesting a larger caliber. Hans Tauscher, the US sales representative and receipient of the letter, translated it into English and provided it to the Ordnance Department about 30 days later.

In the letter, Georg describes detailed modifications to the 9mm round and the resulting improvements. He emphasizes the necessity of great skill required to successfully use the Luger pistol versus traditional revolvers, and that the pistol is recommended primarily for officers.

The closing is my favorite part of the letter, as Luger's tone changes from Engineer to Salesman, so I will quote it here:

"Now then, my dear Mr. Tauscher, I wish you luck, for you have the most perfect and powerful weapon, which, in fair competition with, no matter what arms, will prove its absolute superiority!"

Apologies for the poor quality of the attached PDF. I use my iPad 2 to quickly photograph documents at the National Archives much faster than scanning. That way I get many more pages per visit. I make clear copies of key documents on subsequent visits. On my next DC visit I will make a clear copy of this one and also will transcribe the text to make it searchable at some point.

I'm posting this in both forums and hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I do.

Clark in Nashville

[Douglas Jr.]

Clark,

Many thanks for provide us this fabulous piece of history.
To me, as a researcher of the Brazilian Contract, it was also exciting because the mention to the Brazil connection at the end of its letter.

Once more, thanks for your willing to share your discover.

Douglas