The Mauser Parabellum

                                                     Extracted from the book : “The Parabellum is back! 1945 - 2000”

                                                                                                                                                       Mauro Baudino & Gerben van Vlimmeren The   announcement   that   the   Mauser   Parabellum   would   be   back   in   production   again   was   made   on   the   21st   and   22nd   of   February   1967.   It   had   taken   5 years of decision making, planning and calculating before Mauser finally committed itself to this new production adventure. When   the   Mauser   engineers   started   analyzing   the   project,   they   were   quite   confident   in   a   quick   solution   to   the   technical   issues   mainly   because   they had   access   to   the   original   P08   blueprint   drawings,   saved   from   destruction   20   years   earlier   by   August   Weiss .   August   Weiss   started   his   career   under the   supervision   of   Georg   Luger    at   DWM   in   Berlin.   He   was   promoted   to   foreman   of   Parabellum   pistol   production   and   remained   there   until   a   move from   Berlin   to   Oberndorf   in   1930.   August   Weiss   relocated   to   Oberndorf,   initially   to   assist   in   setting   up   the   Parabellum   pistol   production   line,   as   the Mauser   employees   had   difficulty   getting   a   grip   on   the   complexities   of   the   Parabellum   production.   Weiss   personally   worked   on   the   first   batches   of pistols   himself.   He   took   on   the   role   of   foreman   of   handgun   production   at   Mauser   in   Oberndorf   and   he   kept   that   role   until   the   liquidation   of   the company   in   1948.   Several   design   improvements   on   the   1930s   C/96   and   the   Model   1934   Mauser   pocket   pistols   also   bear   his   signature.   Fortunately   for us,   August   Weiss   wrote   a   resume   which   was   found   in   his   papers   by   his   daughter   after   he   passed   away.   A   copy   of   this   resume   was   given   to   Dr. Gminder    by   the   daughter   of   August   Weiss,   so   that   Gminder   could   prepare   a   proper   funeral   speech.   Joachim   Görtz    published   a   large   part   of   this resume in his excellent book Die Pistole 08. Parabellum manufacturing The   manufacturing   of   the   Parabellum   pistol   should   be   viewed   in   two   parts.   Production   of   the   major   parts,   from   which   guns   were   assembled   and   sold, lasted   from   1969   until   1986.   After   1986   no   new   major   parts   were   made,   but   assembly   of   parts   into   guns   and   the   sale   of   guns   from   supplies   at   hand lasted   until   1999.   The   first   Parabellum   type   that   was   produced   was   very   close   in   shape   to   the   Swiss   06/29    and   is   referred   to   as   the   Mauser Parabellum   model   29/70 .   In   fact   most   parts,   including   the   grips,   can   be   exchanged   between   the   Mauser   Parabellum   and   the   Swiss   06/29   without many   problems.   The   buying   public,   however,   favored   the   old   DWM/Mauser   style   above   the   Swiss   06/29   style.   Relatively   early   in   the   process, INTERARMS   objected   to   the   design   that   was   presented   to   them   and   demanded   a   number   of   changes   in   order   to   make   the   Mauser   Parabellum   look more like the P08 model. Samuel Cummings (founder and manager of INTERARMS) personally wrote the following remarks on the Mauser design drawings : Barrel: Wrong barrel and wrong sight for 9mm Para. Use original P08 form and sight. Toggle buttons: Checkered as P08. Safety lever, takedown lever and magazine release button: Checkered as P08. Grips: Fully checkered as P08. Barrel and frame markings: See INTERARMS letters for correct markings. Caliber designations: the designation .38 Luger crossed out (as the US also referred to it as 9mm Luger and not .38 Luger). Since   the   production   of   parts   had   already   commenced   and   tooling   was   already   in   place,   Mauser   had   a   serious   problem   with   the   grip   shape.   Changing the grip shape, for example, meant that a new set of milling tools needed to be ordered, with a delivery time of at least 3 months. Furthermore,   the   production   of   barrels,   side   plates   and   other   assorted   parts   was   already   in   full   swing.   Changing   the   design   at   that   point   meant   a considerable   amount   of   parts   would   become   useless,   also   creating   a   shortage   of   new   parts.   In   order   to   get   out   of   this   impasse,   Mauser   and INTERARMS   reached   an   agreement   in   1970.   Mauser   agreed   to   change   the   design   and   INTERARMS   agreed   to   accept   the   first   batches   of   Mauser Parabellums   in   the   29/70   pattern,   as   long   as   the   changes   to   smaller   parts   were   done   as   written   on   the   blueprint.   Since   the   changes   to   the   frame   and the   addition   of   the   grip   safety   were   accepted   by   INTERARMS,   no   comments   were   written   about   these   on   the   blueprint.   The   changeover   to   the   new model   took   place   at   the   end   of   1972,   this   time   with   the   help   of   August   Weiss’s   P08   drawings.   The   grip   shape   of   the   Mauser   Parabellum   was redesigned   and   the   shape   of   the   safety   lever   was   modified   to   resemble   the   P08   style   safety   lever.   This   new   model   was   very   similar   to   the   DWM   1906 model   (with   grip   safety)   and   thus   became   known   as   the   Mauser   Parabellum   model   06/73 .   In   the   timeframe   1972-73   Mauser   assembled Parabellum   pistols   using   a   combination   of   29/70   and   06/73   parts.   The   authors   have   decided   to   refer   to   this   transitional   pistols   the   06/72.   The   29/70, 06/72 and the 06/73 were offered for sale on the market as long as they were available from stock... Readers   interested   in   a   complete   description   of   the   Mauser   Parabellum   production   from   the   Mauser   Company   archive   can   refer   to   the book “ The Parabellum is back! 1945 - 2000 ”. A description of the book and the purchase modality can be found in the web site: www.theparabellumisback.com