This is a Mauser built Luger P08 in 9mm, serial 35xxq, and it is a Black Widow in the configuration collectors mean by that term. The toggle is marked byf over 41 for Mauser and the year 1941, the grips are black bakelite with no visible cracks, and all numbers match, the small parts carrying the last two digits 53 throughout. The upper has taken on an attractive plum tint, a colour that comes out of the wartime bluing process rather than from wear or a refinish. Waffenamt eagle over 655 acceptance stamps are present on the receiver, and the barrel carries its factory gauge number and eagle proof. Mechanically the pistol is excellent, with a smooth action and tight lockup, and the bore is evenly frosted with visible lands and grooves. It is sold as a complete rig: two correct fxo marked magazines with unmarked black bakelite base plugs, an original loading and disassembly tool stamped 42, and a black leather holster stamped bcb for Otto Graf of Leipzig, dated 1942, carrying a WaA 170 acceptance stamp.
The P08, known everywhere as the Luger, was adopted by the German army in 1908 and stayed in front line service through both world wars. Mauser took the design over from DWM in the early 1930s and marked its pistols in turn S/42, then 42, and from 1941 byf, the three letter ordnance code it used for the rest of the war. Luger production at Mauser wound up late in 1942 as the P38 took its place, which makes the byf marked pistols the last of the line. Black Widow is an American collector’s nickname rather than a German designation. It attached to the byf 41 and byf 42 Lugers that left the factory with black plastic grips and black base plugs on their magazines in place of the brown wood fittings used earlier, a substitution Mauser made as it simplified wartime production. Because the black furniture belongs only to those last two years, a complete Black Widow with its correct black bottomed magazines, a period holster and a loading tool is a good deal harder to put together than the pistol on its own, and a rig in this state is how collectors prefer to find them.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Mauser, ordnance code byf
Model: P08, the Luger
Year: 1941
Caliber: 9mm Luger, 9x19mm
Action: Semi-automatic, toggle lock
Capacity: 8 rounds
Barrel: Approximately 4 inches
Matching: All matching, small parts numbered 53
Grips: Black bakelite, no visible cracks
Finish: Upper carries an attractive plum tint
Markings: byf over 41 and P.08 on the toggle, Waffenamt eagle over 655 acceptance stamps on the receiver
Bore: Evenly frosted with visible lands and grooves
Mechanical condition: Excellent, smooth action with tight lockup
Magazines: Two, fxo marked, with unmarked black bakelite base plugs
Holster: Black leather, stamped bcb for Otto Graf of Leipzig, dated 1942, with a WaA 170 acceptance stamp
Included: Holster, two magazines, original loading and disassembly tool stamped 42
