Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн

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Reliable or not, the Borchardt was a clumsy, strange-looking gun. If it were ever to sell, something had to be done. The rights to the Borchardt pistol were owned by Ludwig Loewe of DWM (Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken). Ignoring the original designer, he turned the redesign over to Georg Luger. It was time for the ugly duckling to turn into a beautiful swan, a swan that combined ergonomic and esthetic perfection in a remarkably lightweight all-steel gun of just 30 ounces.

Georg Luger had considered well the needs of a combat shooter: the beautiful new gun had the fastest possible toggle release. The toggle stayed open on the last shot; you changed the magazine and gave the toggle a quick tap with the hand that inserted the magazine and you resumed firing. The bulge at the bottom of the front of the frame was hollowed out to facilitate loading a magazine that might be jammed in at the wrong angle by a soldier under fire with his eyes on the enemy instead of the gun. The lanyard loop is in the perfect position above the hand to steady the gun in firing. In addition, the magazine release was so perfectly designed and positioned that it was copied on the M1911 .45 automatic.