Info on Mitchell P-08

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redlightrich

New member
Hello all, I have been looking at these replica P-08's from Mitchell Arms. They appeared to be made from 91-94 ( based on what I read) but I only see 1993 come up for sale. The fact that I only see 93's makes me wonder if any other years were even commercially available.
These are all Stainless Steel, and appear to be faithful reproductions. I have read that the mags will interchange with the "real" P-08, but I am not sure about the other parts of the gun.

I do like the look, and I expect to fire the gun as much as my other center-fires. I have searched, and find very little. Blue tube has a few uninspiring videos, but offer little in the way of real insight.

These guns seem to fetch a large amount. Upwards of 1100 dollars or so. I am aware, that if patient and careful, I can find an authentic one for close to the same amount of money, well, within 4-5 hundred anyway.

Does anyone have experience with this gun? Is it reliable? Can it be fired as any other pistol with any degree of accuracy and repeat ability?
Do parts interchange with the original P-08, in case something breaks?

Is there any reason ( besides the expensive price) that I should avoid this pistol?

I have no real Luger experience. I have held an original, and have a lifetime of desire to own one, but never fired a Luger.

Thank you for any insight you can offer

Kind regards

Rich
 
I'd like to be able to help, but I have no personal experience the Mitchell Luger.

All I can say about Michtell is that back when I used to see their ads in magazines, I thought their prices were stupidly high (especially for their Mauser 98s).

I have heard that Michtell was accused of "force matching" guns. I have no idea if they actually did, or not.

Force matching is relatively easy if you have a lot of Lugers to pick from. Luger serial #s are in repeating 4 digit blocks with a suffix letter starting over each January.

(Force matching is using parts from other guns that have the same last 2 digits of the serial# and putting them together so that the gun you have assembled appears to have all original parts, because all the numbers match)

A forced match Luger is a subtle variation of fraud. Because it is, and it isn't, depending on exactly how it is advertised for sale.

if the force matched gun is advertised as "all matching" the seller is not, technically, lying. If the force matched gun is advertised as "all original" then the seller IS lying, sort of. Sort of, because they did use "all original" Luger parts, but lying if they give the impression that all the parts are original to the specific gun being sold.

I'm not a Luger collector, really, but I do have 4 pistols that are, technically "Lugers".

Two of them are Stoeger .22 Lugers. They are blowback operated, and are similar in appearance (they do have a toggle) to the P.08, but are not at all any kind of replica P.08. They ARE "Lugers" though.

Back in the 1920s, Stoeger was the primary (I think eventually the exclusive) US dealer for Lugers. Stoeger bought the US rights to the name "Luger" and, has kept them to date (as far as I know). Since they own the right s to the name, they can put the Luger name on anything they want, from a .22 to a bicycle and its legally a "Luger".

I have a P.08, 1936 s/42 code. Real German Luger, made in 1936, and the s/42 code on the toggle means the gun was made for military, not commercial sale.

My last Luger is another Stoeger. And it IS a P.08 replica, made in the USA, in stainless steel. (don't know the year of mfg, sorry). made in Texas! 9mm Luger.

I have read that the mags will interchange with the "real" P-08, but I am not sure about the other parts of the gun.
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Again, I don't know about the Mitchell guns, sorry. But I CAN tell you that original P.08 magazines DO NOT work in my stainless Luger. My SS Luger is just enough "off" that original mags do NOT lock into the gun. I have tried 4, and none will, though they fit and lock in just fine in my 1936 Luger.

SO, I would take the statement that Mitchells will work with original mags with a grain of salt. They might, I just don't know, for certain. Same goes with other parts interchangeability. Sorry I can't help you there.

These guns seem to fetch a large amount. Upwards of 1100 dollars or so. I am aware, that if patient and careful, I can find an authentic one for close to the same amount of money, well, within 4-5 hundred anyway.
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My stainless 9mm Luger was $1000 when I bought it, close to a decade ago, and the last time I saw one for sale was a few years ago and the asking price was $1500

You can, maybe find a "shooter grade" original Luger today, for that, maybe less, but it will be mismatching #s, and will have poor original finish or will have been refinished, most likely. If you find one under $1000 today, either you're very lucky, or the gun is basically junk, or the seller simply doesn't know what the market brings today.

My 1936 has been refinished, it looks brand new. The seller claimed it had been refinished during the war (yeah, right). Back when I bought it (late 90s) the price was $750. (yes, its not all matching). An all matching gun with the same degree of original finish was $2300 at that time...today, of course, the price would be much more...

Sound like you want a shooter Luger, one to have and to hold, to shoot and enjoy, and the price is more important than having an all original for collector's purposes. I totally understand this, I'm there, too.

Lugers are evolutionary dead end in handgun design, but they are freakin NEAT!!! and like nothing else. They have a reputation for being quirky, not working well (if at all) with some ammo, being dirt sensitive, and other things. But there is nothing quite like them, and they are one of the great icons of handguns flaws and all.

Get one if you can afford it, though personally I wouldn't get a Mitchell, but that's just because I don't like the company. ;)
 
If I wanted a Luger to shoot, whether it be a real Pistole Parabellum 1900-1945, a Mauser Parabellum ca 1970, or the Aimco/Mitchell/Stoeger stainless ca 1990; I would insist on testfiring it.

There is just too much variation in the guns and their tolerance for "modern" ammunition to buy a pig in a poke. You can find a lot about the Mitchell stainless on the www. Some are fine, some are duds.

I once had a 1936 S/42 that shot Canadian surplus like a champ, but when that ran out, it was useless with Remington. So I sold it to a collector. That was a long time ago, now I could choose from many brands of ammo and unlimited reload "recipes."
Frex, a friend's 1923 Finn DWM/Tikka does better with my 145 gr subsonic IDPA load than anything he has loaded or bought.
 
Is there a reason you won't consider a 'shooter' grade P08? I have heard mixed reviews on the Mitchell Lugers.

I bought a "shooter" grade DWM from a member of the Luger Forum when I wanted one I could shoot and not worry about the value if something broke. I have my dad's all matching S/42 (with capture papers) he took off a German prisoner during WWII. I don't want to shoot it for fear of breaking something.

Be patient they become available. I started looking for a Mitchell Luger but the bad reviews changed my mind.
 
Thank you all for your input. It is very helpful. I am a bit afraid to buy one of these sight unseen, due to variances.

I guess the search continues!

Thank you

Rich
 
The first centerfire handgun that I owned was a Mauser Parabellum. It was made in 1973, and had the American Eagle crest engraved over its chamber. It was patterned after the 1929 Swiss model, with a straight frontstrap and grip safety. I bought it from Ralph Shattuck, who was one of the legendary Luger collectors and experts in this country. It was brand new, and I paid $250 for it at the time.

It's also the gun that got me into reloading. One of the few 9mm bullets that was available for loading in the early '70's was the Speer 125 grain soft point. It didn't work well in the Luger. The soft lead nose would dig into the feed ramp and hang up.

I see the Mauser P08's pop up for sale at irregular intervals, so I know that they are still out there. Ultimately, I traded the Mauser even up for a new 6" Colt Trooper MKIII. The rest, as they say, is history...

This isn't my gun, but here's a pic of the same model of Mauser P08 that I owned:

35596290666_a9a9fb648b_c.jpg
 
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I too lusted over the stainless Lugers in the mid 90's, especially after Stoeger began marketing them. They marketed the Navy 6" as well as the 4" and later, blackened stainless versions of both.

Here is a PDF of the 94 brochure - https://document.li/LcU5
 
I looked at one of those Mauser Parabellum guns from the 1970s.
It was a variation I am not sure DWM ever made, 6" barrel and fixed sight, but it looked good. The grips were rather slabsided, and the grip safety stiff. So I passed. I went back later with thoughts of proper grips and a grip safety delete, but it had already sold.
 
All stainless steel means they're clones, not replicas. Pretty much like everything else Mitchell's Mausers sells.
Mind you, there's Mitchell Arms and Mitchell's Mausers. Different places. Mitchell Mausers P08's start at 5 grand. No Lugers at Mitchell's Arms.
 
I looked at one of those Mauser Parabellum guns from the 1970s.
It was a variation I am not sure DWM ever made, 6" barrel and fixed sight,
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Those guns are called "Swiss Pattern", and DWM never made them. Back in the day, DWM sold the tooling to the Swiss and the Swiss made them. Which is why, back in the 70s, the Swiss still had to tooling, and sold it "back" to Mauser. The original German tooling was long gone.

I didn't mind the grip safety but never thought the straight frontstrap looked "right" on a Luger. Just personal preference.

I'm happy with my 36 s/42 P.08 and my Stoeger SS Luger "clone".
 
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