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In October 1867, Luger volunteered for military service as a Reserve Officer Cadet with the 78th Infantry Regiment [de]. He was promoted to Cadett-Corporal (Officer Cadet Corporal) on 1 June 1868, and to Faehnrich (Ensign) on 1 October. Luger's good marksmanship brought him to the attention of his superiors; he was sent to the Austro-Hungarian Military Firearms School at Camp Bruckneudorf, where he soon became an instructor. There, his interest in automatic loading systems began. In 1871, Luger was promoted to Leutnant der Reserve (lieutenant) and moved to the military reserve.
Family
Luger married Elisabeth Josefa Dufek in 1873. He moved to Vienna with her and they had three children (in order):
Georg Franz Luger
Julius Wilhelm Bartholomaeus Luger (born 16 March 1880)
Friedrich Alexander Georg Luger (born 26 April 1884)
Luger's first son, Georg Franz, became a civil engineer and joined his father in military weapons development. His second son fell as a Hauptmann d.R. (Reservist Captain) in World War I on the Galician front in 1915.
After the military
After leaving the military, Luger worked as an accountant and later in the management of the Jockey Club, one of the top social meeting points in Vienna.
He met Ferdinand von Mannlicher in about 1875 and the two collaborated on rifle magazine designs, which seemed to awaken a latent talent for design within Luger.
In 1894, he was sent to demonstrate a Hugo Borchardt-designed weapon, manufactured by Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken (DWM) (which had evolved from Loewe after its founder's death), to the US Army. The Army rejected the pistol, but from criticism he received, Luger improved it, creating the Parabellum pistol (commonly called a Luger), and patenting it in 1898. This pistol was a success for both Luger and DWM.
Luger's contract with DWM was cancelled in 1919 and he successfully sued them over patentroyalties. However, Luger had lost all his savings by this time.
