The Luger, more correctly known as the Parabellum-Pistole, is a semi-automatic pistol design patented by Georg Luger in 1898 and manufactured by DWM (Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktien-Gesellschaft) in 1900. Originally designed for 7.65x22mm Parabellum cartridges, US Army trials in 1906 demanded a semi-automatic pistol with a larger caliber. DWM’s submission, a Luger adapted to .45 ACP rounds, has since become the most expensive handgun in the world.
The .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge, one of the most successful cartridges ever, was designed only a year earlier by American firearms designer John Browning. It has been used in a wide variety of firearms since, owing part of its success to the fact that it isn’t prone to overpenetration and is, therefore, less likely to injure anyone standing behind the original target. Additionally, due to its inherent subsonic nature when fired from handguns or short-barreled submachine guns, it is one of the most powerful pistol calibers able to be suppressed.
Of the two .45 ACP Lugers submitted to the US Army, only one, marked serial number 2, is known to have survived. Serial number 1 is assumed to have been discarded, possibly damaged after the initial trial. For unknown reasons, DWM withdrew from the trials after the first round of tests. At least three more of the .45 ACP Lugers were made, one a carbine bearing serial number 21.
Most recently, the world’s most expensive handguns have been valued in excess of $1 million.
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