LES P18 9mm - The Firearms Forum

Kestral · 10-20-2008, 04:02 PM

Have aquired what appears to be a pre-production LES P18 9mm stainless pistol .The nose cone is not well fitted,but otherwise vg.The r/t hand side is stamped Rogak Inc !!! Morton Grove USA.Does anyone know if they went into production,and if any spares ie nose cone would be available Kestral.

Bindernut · 10-20-2008, 04:39 PM

I've seen a couple of those P-18s. One in private collection and one at a show several years back. Both of them were rather poorly finished too...that poor fitting slide cap is probbly as good as you're gonna find.
If you do some web-crawling for the history of the pistol you'll find that it was made only for a short time back in the late-70s using plans for what would eventually become the Steyr GB.

Is your gun serialed, and how low is the number? There were only about 2500 or so of the Rogak-made P18s made before Steyr shut them down.

Kestral · 10-20-2008, 05:57 PM

Thanks for the info,I wonder if the Steyr parts would fit.Might be worth a try, my s/n is 6138,But I dont know if they started at 6000 or at a much lower No.Out of curiousity where abouts is Morton Grove,any idea. Regards Kestral

Bindernut · 10-21-2008, 08:51 AM

The Steyr parts might fit, but I'd definitely keep that P-18 as stock as possible. It's a very low-production firearm and would be an interesting collector piece to the right person.
I don't have any info on serial numbers for them though...I just have a limited trivia-type interest in the Rogak because of it's relation to the Steyr GB. My uncle has a GB and while I'm not a big fan of the "wonder-nine" type pistol (high-capacity double-action autoloaders that is) I really do enjoy taking his GB out for a few rounds whenever we go shooting together.

One P-18 that I've seen had a 24xx range serial number, the other I don't remember.

Morton Grove, Illinois is a suburb of Chicago...north of metropolitan Chicago and just northeast of Chicago's O'Hare airport.
It gained notoriety in 1981 for it's ban on handgun ownership...which is pretty close to the time that Rogak was forced via lawsuit from Steyr to discontinue production of the P-18 pistol that you've got.

That sort of makes a "hat-trick" (Excuse the hockey pun. 3 points...the lawsuit, the handgun ban, and the low production) to make your P-18 a collectible.

Alpo · 10-21-2008, 12:07 PM

I remember when they came out. Soldier of Fortune did a review on it. One of the few times I've ever seen a magazine article say this about a gun. "Jamamatic". They were not impressed.

10-20-2008, 04:02 PM	#1
Kestral V.I.P. Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Guernsey Channel Islands Posts: 355	LES P18 9mm Have aquired what appears to be a pre-production LES P18 9mm stainless pistol .The nose cone is not well fitted,but otherwise vg.The r/t hand side is stamped Rogak Inc !!! Morton Grove USA.Does anyone know if they went into production,and if any spares ie nose cone would be available Kestral. Attached Images -->

10-20-2008, 04:39 PM	#2
Bindernut Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: ND, USA Posts: 2,453	Re: LES P18 9mm I've seen a couple of those P-18s. One in private collection and one at a show several years back. Both of them were rather poorly finished too...that poor fitting slide cap is probbly as good as you're gonna find. If you do some web-crawling for the history of the pistol you'll find that it was made only for a short time back in the late-70s using plans for what would eventually become the Steyr GB. Is your gun serialed, and how low is the number? There were only about 2500 or so of the Rogak-made P18s made before Steyr shut them down.

10-20-2008, 05:57 PM	#3
Kestral V.I.P. Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Guernsey Channel Islands Posts: 355	Re: LES P18 9mm Thanks for the info,I wonder if the Steyr parts would fit.Might be worth a try, my s/n is 6138,But I dont know if they started at 6000 or at a much lower No.Out of curiousity where abouts is Morton Grove,any idea. Regards Kestral

10-21-2008, 08:51 AM	#4
Bindernut Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: ND, USA Posts: 2,453	Re: LES P18 9mm The Steyr parts might fit, but I'd definitely keep that P-18 as stock as possible. It's a very low-production firearm and would be an interesting collector piece to the right person. I don't have any info on serial numbers for them though...I just have a limited trivia-type interest in the Rogak because of it's relation to the Steyr GB. My uncle has a GB and while I'm not a big fan of the "wonder-nine" type pistol (high-capacity double-action autoloaders that is) I really do enjoy taking his GB out for a few rounds whenever we go shooting together. One P-18 that I've seen had a 24xx range serial number, the other I don't remember. Morton Grove, Illinois is a suburb of Chicago...north of metropolitan Chicago and just northeast of Chicago's O'Hare airport. It gained notoriety in 1981 for it's ban on handgun ownership...which is pretty close to the time that Rogak was forced via lawsuit from Steyr to discontinue production of the P-18 pistol that you've got. That sort of makes a "hat-trick" (Excuse the hockey pun. 3 points...the lawsuit, the handgun ban, and the low production) to make your P-18 a collectible.

10-21-2008, 12:07 PM	#5
Alpo Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: NW Florida Posts: 8,662	Re: LES P18 9mm I remember when they came out. Soldier of Fortune did a review on it. One of the few times I've ever seen a magazine article say this about a gun. "Jamamatic". They were not impressed.