The pistol is a common sight in fiction, especially in works set during World War II, but it has made appearances elsewhere. The Luger is well known from its wide use by Germany during World War I and World War II, along with the interwar Weimar Republic and the postwar East German Volkspolizei. The Model 08 was eventually succeeded by the Walther P38. In the German Army service, it was adopted in a slightly modified form as the Pistole Modell 1908 (Pistole 08) in caliber 9×19mm Parabellum.

It was widely used in other countries as a military service pistol and by police forces. The Luger was also the standard service pistol of Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Brazil, Bolivia, and Bulgaria. The Luger was officially adopted by the Swiss military in 1901, the Imperial German Navy in 1906 and the German Army in 1908. It was followed by the 'Marinepistole 1904' for the Imperial German Navy. The first production model was known as the Modell 1900 Parabellum. It was meant to be an improvement of the Borchardt C-93 pistol, and was initially produced as the Parabellum Automatic Pistol, Borchardt-Luger System by the German arms manufacturer Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM).

The design was first patented by Georg Luger. The Luger was produced in several models and by several nations from 1898 to 1948. The Pistole Parabellum-or Parabellum-Pistole ( Pistol Parabellum), commonly known as just Luger or Luger P08 -is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. 350–400 m/s (1148–1312 f/s) (9mm, 100 mm short barrel)Ĩ-round detachable box magazine, 32-round detachable drum

Luger serial numbers dwm properties