1906 Luger Rifle

The rifle is one of the few surviving prototypes of Georg Luger’s automatic repeating rifle which used an improved version of the toggle lock system made famous by his pistol. The rifle was chambered in the standard German 7.92mm Mauser rifle cartridge and has a charger guide bridge to allow the rifle to be loaded with stripper clips. The stock and furniture is very reminiscent of a standard Mauser Gew.98's although the Luger rifle has a distinct birds-head style semi-pistol grip.

There is a thumb safety on the rifle’s tang and what looks like a hinged magazine floor (see image #2). The rifle does not have a charging handle and the rifle was made ready to fire much as the Luger Pistol is by pulling the toggle link to the rear. The rifle operated along much the same lines as Luger’s pistol using a short recoil toggle linked action. However, the rifle’s action was substantially strengthened to cope with the high pressure rifle ammunition and was also improved by the addition of a toggle spring which kept the toggle in the closed position preventing the bolt from slipping out of battery.

Patent Diagram showing the Luger Rifle’s toggle lock and recoil spring (source)

On the side of the receiver the rifle is stamped with the words ‘System Luger’, and is elsewhere marked with the serial number #4. It is thought that at least five prototype Luger Rifles were made. The rifle design was patented in Britain in July, 1906 but little is known of its development or how well it performed.

Interestingly the rifle may have been mentioned in a letter written to Brigadier General William Crozier, Chief of Ordnance, from Georg Luger in January 1907. The letter was sent from Luger’s New York hotel as he awaited a ship back to Germany, it mentions his hopes that “…in the near future I shall have the honor to submit to you an automatic repeating military rifle.” From this we can assume that Luger intended to offer the rifle to the World’s militaries. However, little is known about why the rifle was never offered up to any major military trials or why more were not produced.

It is probable that the cost of the rifle’s production was a major prohibiting factor preventing it from being produced in larger numbers, the complex Luger action would have been difficult, although certainly not impossible, to mass produced. Another factor may be military conservatism - the concept of a semi-automatic repeating rifle was alien, indeed Luger’s design came only 25 years after many countries had adopted magazine-fed bolt action rifles. Regardless of the reasons, there is little doubt that the rifle would have worked successfully and was well ahead of its time, the German army would not adopt a semi-automatic rifle, the G43, for almost another forty years.

Sources:

Images 1-3 Source

'George Luger’s Secret Rifle', thefirearmblog.com (source)

'German Luger rifle', ForgottenWeapons.com (source)

Georg Luger’s Letter to General Crozier (source)

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