As the standard pistol of the German army in the two world wars, the Ruger P08 pistol can be described as famous, with a unique elbow-joint locking mechanism, beautiful shape and excellent workmanship to capture a large number of fans, in the past battlefield is the most favorite trophy of the soldiers, in today's collection industry is also a precious collection chased by various buyers, and the domestic military fans' love for the Ruger P08 is no less than any pistol. In fact, the well-known Ruger P08 pistol is only a member of the Ruger gun family, it has many close relatives of the version, the barrel length is different, the bullet caliber is different, and now each one is worth a lot, today I will talk to you about the story of the Ruger family.
■ The standard version of the Ruger P08 pistol, which is most familiar to domestic military fans, is also the most productive model in the Ruger series.
The legend of the Ruger family also begins with the Bouchard C93 pistol designed by Hugo Borchart in 1893, which is also famous in the history of firearms development, is the pioneering work of semi-automatic pistols, using an elbow structure, but the design is not mature, the shape is strange, the performance is not good, only 3100 were manufactured, and the sales were dismal. Borchart's owner, DWM, wanted Borchart to improve it, but the latter thought his work was perfect, didn't need to be improved, and had a tough attitude! In desperation, DWM could only find someone to take over, and recruited George Ruger from Steyrman Lixia to improve on the C93 pistol, which eventually created a generation of classics.
■ The skeletal Bochart C93 pistol, its structural layout is very much affecting the feel of shooting.
■ Gun designer Hugo Borchart (left) and his receiver Georgi Ruger (right).
Ruger made a drastic modification to the C93 pistol, while retaining the barrel short recoil automatic mode, the elbow mechanism originally stacked behind the receiver was integrated into the bolt structure, adjusted the grip angle, not only the performance was significantly improved, the value was soared, and it was introduced to the market in 1900, which was the first member of the Ruger family, the Ruger M1900 pistol, firing 7.65 × 21 mm Ruger pistol cartridges, barrel length 120 mm, using 8-round magazine to feed, Compared with the later famous P08 pistol, the Ruger M1900 pistol has a thinner barrel, a safety grip on the back of the grip, and an S-shaped spring for the bolt re-entry spring. The Ruger M1900 pistol was quite popular after its advent, although it was not adopted as a standard equipment by the German army, but many German officers bought it at their own expense as a gun, and were also selected by the Swiss Army as a standard pistol, and the US Ordnance Agency also purchased 1000 pieces, which can be described as a blockbuster.
■ The first member of the Ruger family, the Ruger M1900 pistol, with a thin barrel and a grip safe.
On the basis of the M1900 pistol, DWM also introduced a Ruger Carbine, which has a barrel length of 300 mm, a handguard under the barrel, a detachable wooden stock, and is installed behind the grip, so as to achieve shoulder-to-shoulder shooting, improve range and shooting stability, but this carbine Type Ruger is only used for commercial use, the production is very small, and now it is a rare treasure, and it is quite expensive in the collection market.
■ Ruger carbine type with stock mounted, barrel length 300 mm.
■ Ruger carbine type and its accessories placed in the box, including removable stock.
With the success of the M1900, Ruger continued to work hard and continued to optimize the design, introducing the Ruger M1902 pistol in 1902, the biggest change was to fire 9×19 mm Parra Bellum pistol cartridges, which increased the power, was the first 9 mm caliber model in the Ruger family, the barrel length was shortened to 100 mm, the number of rifling lines increased from 4 to 6, and the grip safety and S-type regress were retained. In 1904, the German Navy purchased the 9 mm Ruger pistol as a standard weapon, but unlike the M1902 type, it used a 150 mm long barrel and two adjustable gauges, corresponding to a range of 100 meters and 200 meters, respectively, firing 9 mm Parabellum pistol cartridges, still holding safety and S-type re-entry springs, this pistol is called the Naval Ruger pistol or Ruger P04 pistol.
■ The first 9 mm caliber model in the Ruger family: the Ruger M1902 pistol.
■ The Ruger P04 Navy pistol has a barrel length of 150 mm and fires 9 mm Parabellum pistol cartridges.
■ The Ruger P04 Navy pistol is issued with a single-sided wooden holster, which is made of wood on one side and leather on the other, and can be used as a stock after connection.
■ German naval sailors armed with naval Ruger pistols during World War I.
Not satisfying the Navy order, Ruger continued to improve, introducing a new variant in 1906, the Ruger M1906 pistol, which improved by changing the re-entry spring from a weaker, easily aging S-shaped leaf spring to a more reliable and durable coil spring. This improvement was so influential that the Ruger M1906 was also known as the "new Ruger", and subsequent Ruger pistols also followed this design, and many of the previously produced Ruger pistols were modified and replaced with re-entry springs. The Ruger M1906 was available in 7.65 mm and 9 mm versions, of which the 7.65 mm model was again selected by the Swiss Army as a standard pistol, named the M1900/06 pistol, and later further improved into the M06/29 pistol in 1929, which remained in service until 1949.
■ The Ruger M1906 pistol equipped by the Swiss Army fires 7.65 mm bullets.
Between 1906 and 1907, the U.S. military began to tender for the selection of new standard pistols, based on the experience of the U.S.-Philippines War, the U.S. Military set the caliber of the new gun at 11.43 mm to obtain a more effective stopping effect. DMW and the Ruger team actively participated in the bidding, and specially modified two 11.43 mm caliber prototype guns based on the M1906 and sent them to the United States for testing in 1907. Due to defects in the test cartridges provided by the United States, Ruger made his own modifications to the ammunition. The Ruger pistol passed the firing test and performed well, and the Us side also admitted that it had advantages in some aspects, but believed that Ruger's modification of the ammunition did not conform to the rules. Although the United States hoped that DMW would build 200 11.43mm Ruger pistols to continue to compete, the arrogant Germans refused and simply withdrew. Two sample guns were not returned to the Germans, of which sample 1 was unaccounted for and may have been damaged during testing, and sample 2 was in private collection. Later, a small number of 11.43 mm Ruger pistols were manufactured for commercial use.
■ The Colt M1905 pistol and the Ruger 1907 pistol participated in the 1907 U.S. Army Pistol Selection.
■ A replica of the 11.43 mm Ruger 1907 pistol, only one of the original test sample guns remains.
In 1908, after years of improvement and waiting, the Ruger pistol finally gained the favor of the German Army, the largest user, and was listed as a German standard pistol, which is the Ruger P08 pistol that we are most familiar with. It combines improvements to previous Ruger pistols, using a 100 mm barrel and a 9 mm caliber, with the most significant change being the elimination of grip safety. The Ruger P08 pistol had excellent performance and aesthetic appearance, and earned a reputation for excellence in the battlefield of World War I, producing 2 million units from 1914 to 1918 alone, and serving until The Second World War, even after the advent of the Walter P38 pistol, it did not completely replace its position, and production continued until 1943.
■ The standard version of the Ruger P08 barrel is 100 mm long, the full gun is 220 mm long, the gun weighs 890 grams, and the magazine capacity is 8 rounds.
■ During World War II, the German army's two major standard pistols, the Ruger P08 and walter P38.
■ Luftwaffe officers who used the Ruger P08 pistol for shooting training during World War II.
In 1913, an extended version of the Ruger P08 pistol was adopted by the German army, because it was mainly used by artillery units as a self-defense weapon, so it was called the "artillery type", its barrel length reached 200 mm, after the installation of a detachable stock (combined as a holster) can be used as a carbine, its gauge is divided into 8 positions, the longest aiming distance is 800 meters, the actual effective range is 200 meters. The artillery-type Ruger pistol is lighter than a rifle, and the semi-automatic firing method is faster than the bolt-action rifle, so it was a very good close-range self-defense weapon before the advent of submachine guns. In order to further enhance the melee firepower, the artillery-type Ruger pistol was also specially equipped with 32 volute drums, which were later used on the MP18 submachine gun.
■ Comparison of the Ruger P08 artillery pistol with the standard P08 pistol.
■ The Ruger P08 artillery pistol with a single-sided wooden holster as the stock was fitted with 32 volute drums.
■ A group of German soldiers during World War I holding an artillery-type Ruger pistol is photographed, paying attention to its snail-shaped drum.
Only the more important and unique models of the Ruger family are listed above, in fact, even the same model of Ruger pistols will have subtle differences and changes in production processes. In addition, in addition to Germany and Switzerland, Ruger pistols are also widely exported to many countries around the world, and these export types of Ruger will also change to a greater or lesser extent. From 1900 to 1943, the total production of Ruger pistols was as high as 3 million, the number is not small, but due to its excellent workmanship and charming charm, the high output did not affect the collection value of the Ruger pistol, the current standard version of the Ruger P08 pistol is sold for between 3000 and 4000 US dollars, and the small number of early Ruger or special variants are more than tens of thousands of dollars. And that unique 1907 11.43mm Ruger pistol is estimated to be worth $1 million!
■ A Ruger P04 naval pistol priced at $90,000, equivalent to about 570,000 yuan.
■ A Ruger carbine with a price of $22,500, equivalent to about 140,000 yuan.