By Jim Dickson | Contributing Writer
Images by Jim Dickson and Eugene Golubstov
Back around 1904-1905 Georg Luger cut down one of his Luger pistols to make it more easily concealable for his personal carry pistol.
Many years ago I got to handle that pistol when Ralph Shattuck exhibited it on his table at a gun show. I wanted it. Didn’t have enough money to buy it though.
Now anyone can have one because Eugene Golubstov, AKA Lugerman, is making them the same way the original was made, by cutting down a full size pistol. One-half inch is taken off the grip and a new 3-inch barrel is installed.
If you want a gun identical to Georg’s original carry pistol, start with a Model 1906 Luger with the grip safety. You can also start with a P08 Luger and dispense with the grip safety. If you furnish the gun Eugene will make the conversion and restore the gun to new condition inside and out for $4,000. If Eugene furnishes the gun the price of the pistol is added to the conversion and restoration price.
While some of these are destined to fill out collections a lot of them are being bought for personal carry pistols. When your life and the lives of your family are at stake money becomes an issue of far less importance.
What Makes It Special?
Why would anyone spend this kind of money on a carry pistol when so many cheaper alternatives abound?
Simple. The Luger is the most accurate military pistol ever fielded and that is going to matter when your life is on the line. The ease of hitting what you’re shooting at is the expert’s edge in a gun battle and the only hope of those less capable with a sidearm. The Baby Luger is not shortened enough to affect its accuracy or the Luger’s legendary ease of hitting.
As one German crack shot once commented, “Hitting with the Luger is as easy as pointing your finger.”
That’s what you want when the stakes are life and death. Handicap yourself with a more difficult-to-aim pistol and it will slow you down enough to get you killed or simply make you miss under the stress of combat.
The Germans knew that and the rest of the world followed their lead in the first part of the 20th Century when the Luger became the most widely adopted pistol in history. Despite what some gun writers would have you believe, there were no reliability problems. As long as a Luger has the proper springs and ammunition, it is one of the 10 most reliable pistols ever made. In WWI the Luger earned a reputation as the most reliable pistol of the war as it withstood the mud of trench warfare best. When artillery shells threw globs of mud on the pistols, the Luger threw the mud off as it fired and it kept on firing. If the bore was blocked the barrel bulged but again the Luger kept on firing. Pistols with exposed hammers had mud enter and jam them. Pistols with slides over the barrel were instantly jammed if a barrel bulged as the slide could no longer cycle over the bulge.
Proper Components
The Luger is dependent on proper spring tension and proper ammunition. If the magazine spring is too weak it cannot feed cartridges into position for the bolt to chamber them before the incredibly fast moving bolt closes over them, causing a jam. Due to the steep angle of the magazine it has a lot of drag from internal friction and it is also limited to cartridges of the proper length. As many Lugers are well over 100 years old, some of the other springs may also have weakened. This is where a master Luger gunmaker comes in.
Golubstovis already famous for making the .45 ACP Model 1907 U.S. Army Test Trials Luger from scratch to original DWM standards. His guns are tested for total reliability and accuracy before leaving his shop. Eugene knows that a lot of his customers are buying his guns for protection and he makes sure that none will ever fail.
I have shot most of the models of Luger pistols that Eugene has turned out and they were all masterpieces. DWM would not be able to tell them from their own pistols without looking at the markings. They are that good.
The Baby Luger I tested for this review was made from a 1938 S/42 Mauser made P08 and was a joy to fire. When I first picked it up at Reeves Ace Hardware in Clayton, Georgia, I gave it a through examination. There was no way to tell by careful examination that this was not a brand new condition German Mauser factory original gun. That’s as good as it gets.
A pistol needs a holster and Eugene will custom make whatever type you require. Personally I prefer the pancake design for all concealed carry. This design also works perfectly for open carry and is immensely fast to draw.
Eugene is also famous for his meticulous restoration of worn, damaged, or abused guns back to factory new condition. Pits are welded over, parts are re-heat treated as needed. A lot of the pistols Eugene works with are guns that have been through a fire. All sharp edges are put back and all lettering is recut. Original finishes are exactingly duplicated. The gun may have been an unusable junker when it arrived, but when it leaves Eugene it will be indistinguishable from a factory new example.
There aren’t many places where you can get this level of restoration and it is never cheap but you get a new gun back at the end of it for all practical and esthetic purposes. For rare and historic guns as well as family heirlooms the true value of that result is often beyond monetary price.
When Eugene finishes a Baby Luger you can be sure that it has the same quality of work and the same reliability as Georg Luger’s personal carry Baby Luger when it was first finished. You now have a Luger that is easier to carry concealed but is just as accurate and reliable as a full size version.
If you want a .45 ACP instead of a 9MM Eugene can craft a Model 1907 .45 ACP U.S. Army Test Trials Luger into a Baby Luger. Having shot one of these, I can tell you that it was love at first shot.
Whether it is a 9MM or .45 ACP there is no easier pistol to hit with than a Luger and that reliability is your lifesaver in a tight spot. That’s why so many people are willing to pay the price for one of these masterpieces, but remember, there is no price high enough for your life and the lives of your family.
Eugene Golubstov
Lugerman Inc.
1872 East Old Lincoln Hwy
Langhorne, PA. 19047
267-603-6116
Email: Eugene@Lugerman.com
Website: Lugerman.com
