[Guymullins]

I own a Luger P08, which was designed just three years before the Colt 1911 and also had a long and distinguished history in the German and other forces.
The Luger was replaced by the Walther P38 mainly because the Luger was just too expensive to make. The engineering is complex and the "Breaking Knee" action elaborate. It never fed wonderfully , mainly because of the angle of the butt to the barrel was too acute. This made it perhaps the most pointable handgun ever made, but feed from the magazine to chamber suffered. Loading the long magazine was also very difficult, especially if one did not use the special tool supplied for this purpose. The Colt 1911 on the other hand was simpler to manufacture, fed like a dream, packed a bigger wallop and because it outclassed the Luger everywhere, except in looks and weight, had a much longer service life. This latest order from the Marines just confirms that some of the older designs are superior to all the modern slickness that is often sold to us as technological advances, but is in fact cost saving shortcuts.