WINONA, Minn. – Police continued trying to trace the recent history of a handgun retrieved from a small fire in the street in front of a home near Center and Howard streets five days ago. The home-owner, who called firefighters to the fire, said he was inside and heard popping, and saw the fire out in the street. In the debris from the fire, police found casings from eight shells that exploded, apparently from the heat. No one was injured. Eighteen unexploded live projectiles were with the gun. Plastic components of the 9-millimeter Luger, had melted. Police said there was no reason to believe anyone was being targeted. Unanswered questions: Whose gun was it? Who set the fire? Why? And why on Howard Street?
9mm Luger. The weapon was an 1898 design by Austrian gunsmith Georg Luger. It’s still standard police and military issue sidearm in many countries. The total manufactured: 3 million.The cut-away illustrates bullets in a rack inside the weapon and waiting to be fired. The Luger itself is semiautomatic: Toggle-triggered and, recoil-operated.