If a given gun is referred to in a contemporary news article, novel, or whatever as a Parabellum, does that imply that it's specifically an old P08, or a reproduction, or does the name ever get used to refer to more modern guns using the Parabellum ammo (i.e., a parabellum = a gun using parabellum ammo)?

Wikipedia also mentions (and yes, I know that might be my problem right there) the Parabellum MG14 machine gun, also manufactured by DWM, which did not use the same ammo (7.92×57mm Mauser, if I'm reading that right?). Is this just DWM reusing a popular name, or is there some other connection?

Thanks for letting me pick your brain,
dbrandon

Yes. That is basically the size of it.

>If a given gun is referred to in a contemporary news article, novel,
>or whatever as a Parabellum, does that imply that it's specifically an
>old P08, or a reproduction, or does the name ever get used to refer to
>more modern guns using the Parabellum ammo (i.e., a parabellum = a gun
>using parabellum ammo)?

Well, context is king, of course, but I'd say most of the time, what it implies is that the writer doesn't know much about guns. Calling a modern firearm (such as, say, a Glock Model 17) chambered for 9mm Parabellum a "Parabellum" - or even a Luger! - is a common mistake among non-gun-savvy journalists, for instance, but linguistically it's like calling a Corvette a "gasoline". :)

(In a similar vein, characters in old detective novels are forever being described as wielding "revolvers" when subsequent descriptions make it plain that the author had in mind a small automatic, but didn't know how firearms worked and assumed that "revolver" is synonymous with "handgun".)

>Wikipedia also mentions (and yes, I know that might be my problem
>right there) the Parabellum MG14 machine gun, also manufactured by
>DWM, which did not use the same ammo (7.92×57mm Mauser, if I'm
>reading that right?). Is this just DWM reusing a popular name, or is
>there some other connection?

I think DWM just had a thing for that word. Germany was a very militaristic place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (the country was essentially born in an international war, the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, and its foreign policy went on to contribute mightily to the origins of the First World War and outright start the Second), and advertising its weapons as being built "for war" (as opposed to hunting, policing, or what have you) was a big part of DWM's identity. It was sort of their equivalent of "Built Ford Tough". The implication, by connecting it with the well-known Latin phrase, that Germany's war preparations were in pursuit of peace was probably also a canny bit of marketing, albeit one that looks a bit threadbare in the light of the above. At the time, that was some subtle and sophisticated classical-referencin'.

If you're curious, 7.92x57mm Mauser is so called because it was the standard rifle cartridge of the German armed forces in both World Wars, and the most common weapon chambered for it was thus the German standard-issue infantry rifle, the Gewehr 98 ("Rifle, model 1898"), and all its many variants. The G98 and its shorter, wieldier brother, the Karabiner ("Carbine") 98K, were made by practically any outfit in Germany that had the capacity to drill holes in metal by the end of WWII, but they were originally developed by the Mauser company, and so people assumed they'd also developed the cartridge. They didn't, the German government did (which is why, for instance, the MG14 also used it - standardization simplifies supply), but the name stuck. You might also see references around to "8mm Mauser", which is the same cartridge with slightly sloppier math. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Hugo Schmeisser did design the MP43/MP44/Sturmgewehr 44 (they kept changing the designation), the world's first operational assault rifle, and the weapon which, because of its profile and distinctive curved magazine, is why people sometimes think they're seeing German soldiers anachronistically using AK-47s in some war movies. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.