New member with a question on a 1937 P08

[Deputywood]

First Post, so I'll introduce myself. I'm a 70 yoa retired 1SG, US Army, and a retired LEO. Now I'm just retired. My main interest is not the P08 though. I normally can be found on the Silhouette range shooting BPCR. I've always been interested in the Luger and finally bit the bullet and purchased a two/fer several years ago. I kept the 1937 Mauser and sold the 1920 Commercial. No regrets as the sale almost covered the cost I paid for the two. The Mauser is 100% matching including one matching mag. It also came with a 1936 dated holster and tool. I'll post pictures. Thise is my first Luger.

The question relates to the holster. In the bottom of the holster, I see a patch of cloth. I have been told not to remove it and so have not. Is there any significance to this cloth? Look closely at photo number five. This is the inside of the holster.

Woody

[Norme]

Hi Woody,
You have a fine looking gun there, in my opinion too good to use as a shooter. If a numbered part breaks the guns value will be significantly reduced.
As to the cloth wedged in the bottom of the holster, I've been collecting Lugers for over 50 years and it's a new one for me. In any event it's not a good idea to store the gun in the holster.
Regards, Norm

[Deputywood]

Norm, I don't store it in the holster. I'm sure it was stored for unknown number of years in this holster, but I agree with you.

Woody

[Deputywood]

As a pistol shooter, I was never enamored to the 9MM. I was always a 45ACP guy. Carried a 1911 as a LEO for 21 years. In the last few years I have become interested in German semi-auto military pistols. I found an excellent condition C-96,Red Nine with Holster Stock, a LP08 with stock and holster, and a excellent AC43 to round out my 9MM's. Kind of looking for a High Power next. Who knows what the next one will be.

[wlyon]

I can see no purpose for the cloth. However I did have a friend who kept a small oiled cloth in the bottom of all his holsters. Said it might help the bore from picking up moisture? Who knows? If it was mine I would remove it. Oil and leather do not like each other. Nice looking luger! Bill

[Yakman]

Woody,

You'll probably be hard pressed for folks that go back far enough to answer your question as the answer is not written in any reference I've ever seen.

When I began collecting Lugers in 1957, I noticed the holsters that came with many of them had what appeared to be cleaning patches stuffed in the toe (P.38 holsters, too). It didn't take much imagination to guess what that was for. It was for the muzzle to rest on. Helps keep foreign matter from migrating into the bore and puts the weight of the pistol on the muzzle lifting it off the interior contours of the box holster. Without the patch, the sight scraping around in the toe is enough to create debris.

In the Fall of 1958, I was sworn in as an Indiana State Trooper and was issued a brand-new S&W K-38, Combat Masterpiece. I used this same patch-in-the-toe thing in my holster for it.

I would say by far most of the Lugers we are talking about here were brought back from WW2 by veterans as there were not a lot of foreign countries surplusing stores of this stuff in the 50's and early 60's. Therefore, much of it came off the battlefield, so to speak. Vets have told me of filing through buildings with this stuff being handed out as souvenirs.

When cleaning holsters that had patches in the toe I, and others, naively discarded them. It is very rare today to find a holster that still has patches undisturbed in the toe. For those who like their collectables to show signs of originality and use, how much better can it be?

Jack

[Deputywood]

Thank you for the reply Jack. From the hints in your post, I assume you are the Jack that advised me on this very Luger and about leaving the patch in the holster. If so, we miss seeing you in Friendship each month.

Woody

[lugercollector]

I buy and sell many Lugers here in Canada......I have seen quite a few original rigs also with a piece of cloth at the bottom of the Holster where the muzzle rests......my take on it is that it makes the gun sit a little higher up making it more accessible for a faster draw.......I would say at least 20% of original,untouched WW2 rigs have this.....mostly the combat carried weapons with signs of use....

[MikeP]

I have had holsters with bits of cloth in them
just figured they were left over or stored patches and no big deal.
I have an Artillery holster that the muzzle and sight wore a hole on the bottom.
Somebody might have considered this and put it in for protection.
Lots of things can happen along the way in 80 plus years.

[Yakman]

It's me, Woody. Glad to see you on this forum. I'd like to see those new acquisitions. My icon you see is my wife behind our Luger display at a Beinfeld show in Las Vegas a number of years ago.

You should mention that the tool you got with this rig is a marked G Date tool. Maybe you could show a little better photo of it.

It's not too much of an extreme stretch of the imagination to think that because of the closeness of the dates of all the components of this rig; 1935 tool, 1936 holster, and 1937 pistol, and especially the undisturbed patch in the toe, that this could be as found during the war. Even to the extent of the one mismatched mag. There is no real evidence to indicate that it isn't as found, leaving one to think there is a more than slight chance that it is.

I think that patch adds a layer of provenance. No doubt that at some point, a German soldier, some mother's son, placed it there as long as eighty years ago. Seems disrespectful to remove and discard it now. He has probably long turned to dust, but his equipment, some eighty years later, is still hard and good.

Jack

[Deputywood]

I really want to thank those that responded and especially thank those that responded previously to build this forum and the wealth of knowledge stored here. I have a LP08 from 1915 that had a loose safety. After searching and reading many posts, I discovered what the issue was and the correct method to correct. The safety now clicks positively into the detents as it was designed.

I am spending way too much time reading and digesting all the info here. Again thanks.

Woody

Jack - I will give you a call in a couple of days.

[Heinz]

Woody, nice Luger. Welcome to the original Luger forum.

A hint, up at the top of the web page, in the banner, there is a FAQ section that has a ton of useful information for new Luger collectors. I go back to it myself for some questions and I hav had the addiction for a while.

[RockinWR]

* I was once told the cotton patch in the bottom of the holster, as has been shown, was placed there to soak up excess oil from the barrel so that it would not darken/affect the leather.
* Always made pretty good sense to me; so, that's my story & I'm sticking to it. )

[Yakman]

Starting in the 1950s I've seen a lot of them. Once I began to notice the patches in the toe, I deliberately made a habit of looking for them which I still do today. I deliberately looked into the OP's holster when he showed it to me and saw the one still in the toe of his.

I do not remember ever finding one oil soaked from anything, let alone excess oil running from a barrel.

In basic training in the early 1950s I was taught to put nothing more than a light coat (with emphasis on light) of oil on a weapon. Excess oil can freeze in the winter, and it always attracts dirt and sand. I can't think the German's didn't follow this simple logic.

Jack