Self Introducing and Pilosophy
I love it, but I don't know why....
I am a licensed German gunsmith, who previously worked for the
U.S. Army here in Germany, from 1977 until 1993. First as a quality
control Armament specialist, foreman of a small arms repair unit, and
finally as Chief of the Small Arms Repair Division. During my many
years with the Army I gained a fairly deep insight, into the various
weapons systems employed by the U.S. Forces.
In 1993, due to the drawdown, my position was eliminated, and I
opened my own business. Doing routine gunsmith work, I would
often go back to my roots, and make
modifications to different weapons.
One of my favourites is the "Luger", using my
own designs, to produce carbines, forearms,
stocks, barrels and scope mounts with
interchangeability. So I have a big collection
of "Luger" models (see enclosed photos). As
I was making the double barreled "Luger", I
had the idea to work with U.S. weapons.
I decided to try to modify the U.S. Garand
and attempt to adapt this weapon to a
modern design. The question is, is it possible
to install a magazine in the "Garand"? Also,
make it more handy ? I found that both
interior ribs of the receiver could be designed
or modified to fit the "M-14" magazine,
substituting .308 WIN for the 30-06 round.
The operating rod with the rotating bolt was
extracting the shell, but sometimes the
hammer was not in a cocked position. A softer recoil spring and a
bigger gasport-hole did not really solve the problem.
The idea to shorten the barrel and obtain more gas pressure was
born and also this would make the "Garand" more handy. All the
beautifull stocks were also easy to cut, and last but not least on such
modified "Garand" a Springfield Armory scope mount is installed very
quickly in the middle and not to the side.
Yours sincerely, Herbert Werle
© Waffen Werle 2016
Awareness of history!
... a name, which left deep marks
on nothern Germanys history.
Well, it certainly does look
eccentric and out of the ordinary.
But then again it is very easy to
recognize the Luger Parabellum
Pistol. Even when I was still a
child, I learnt to treat the words
"Parabellum Pistol", "Luger" and above all, the Imperial German
Army classification "Null-Acht" ("Zero-Eight") with respect.
Later, when I was an apprentice gunsmith, it often saved me from
heaving to file endless, monotonous surfaces onto a series of
different objects: gun sights, telescopic sight mounts and above
all, on the mandatory steel cubes that all German apprentices
have to practice on.
It was just these cubes that led to my first doubts as to whether I
had chosen the right profession. These simple pieces of ferrous
metal would always get smaller and smallerwithout ever
conforming to the exacting standards of a precise cube. And then
one day, a "Zero Eight" appeared on my work-bench. Even though
it was badly rust-pitted, I spent the next few weeks on a
complete restoration project...
Apart from achieving my gunsmith's Master Craftsman title, I also
gained extensive insight into all aspects of military weapons
maintenance as Inspector, Quality Control Armaments, as
Foreman, Small Arms Repair and as Chief, Small Arms Repair with
the United States Forces in Germany (U.S. Army).
And it was due to my experience with American weapons systems
that I came to realize that various adaptions of Hiram Maxim's
toggle action breech-block are still much in use in today's light
machine guns. Thus, it can hardly be denied that the toggle
action can also be subjected to an evolutionary process.
Technological innovation and improvements have always rightly
been founded on the basis of previously proven systems. What
could be more conclusive than to revive the Parabellum Pistol in
accordance with its conception as a "universal weapon", utilizing
modern military technology?
Would Herr Luger have approved of this? I sincerely believe that
he would have recognized that this method was identical to his
own approach. And it is much easier for us today to provide an
affirmative answer to this question. Georg Luger re-designed and
improved the unwieldy and awkward Borchardt C/93 Pistol to
make it serviceable and practical for military use. He never
regarded his adaption of the Borchardt Pistol as a sacrilege and
Luger would have been the first to approve the application of
further improvements.
The toggle action may well be obsolete and many would regard
the Luger Pistol as a part of history. But it is often of great value
to learn from and to revive history. John Martz in U.S.A., Nedbal
in Vienna, Hakan Spuhr in Sweden, Böddecker & Wagner, KTS and
many others have followed this path.
Where can we possess our own genuine piece of history and
participate in this adventure in technology? The many
mismatched "VoPo 08 Lugers" present us with a creative
opportunity. And maybe even an opportunity to measure our own
skills against a masterpiece!
I believe that I unintentionally achieved this aim with my design
of a new "Baby Luger" the "Toggle Release" and the "Gasoperated
Luger Carbine". Mr. Georg Luger made his own pistol for personal
use with a magazine capacity of seven munds. To achive this, he
adapted the grip-safety design. But to achieve six rounds this was
only possible by utilizing a grip-frame with a stock lug...
These experiments with the original design lead to a great
respect for the ingenuity and the achievements of original
craftsmen and designers who made the Luger Pistol with the
machinery and the equipment of that day and age. We can keep
history in museums or we can keep it alive.
I believe that we owe it to our predecessors to keep their
traditions alive.