Does anyone know if there are any other 9mms that use the same rifling as the P.08? Does the Walther P.38?? I know Colt is 1-16", S&W is 1in 10, etc.,
The reason this came up was a question from a friend. There have been a number of shooting incidents (mostly drive by shootings) in the Seattle area lately. Police have stated they have evidence that appears to link a single gun to several of them (possibly 9).
A reporter for a Seattle paper said, (based on what the police told him) that the gun is a 9mm Luger. The reporter went on to say how the Luger is a Nazi gun, long out of production, etc., and how someone is running around doing the shootings with this antique weapon.
So, my friend asked what was the rifling in a Luger, and does anything else use the same rifling?? His thought was perhaps the police have some bullets, and if the Luger rifling is unique, they might be IDing the gun as a luger, based on that.
We discussed markings on the fired cases, and I checked, my Lugers do not leave any clear distinctive markings to say "this was fired in a Luger", unlike Glocks, or Sigs, which do have easily visible, distinctive marks from firing.
What I think the reporter did was ask the police, who told him the gun they were looking for was a 9mm Luger, meaning the caliber, and the bright soul google/Wiki'd "9mm Luger pistol". When you do that, the first thing you get is the P.08 Luger.
Personally, I think the idea of some street punk doing drive by's with a Luger is a bit far fetched. My friend thinks it would be a miracle if the punk got the Luger to run, and keep running.
With the 9mm Luger caliber being about the most common centerfire pistol round on the planet today, I think the odds of the 9mm in question actually being a P.08 Luger are slim, and the reporter is a clueless idiot. But that's just my opinion.
Could the police have evidence the gun is a Luger, without having to gun itself? I think its very doubtful. Possible, but doubtful.