THE GUN ROOM Before World War II, EM-GE was owned by Moritz & Gerstenberger based in Zella-Mehlis, Thuringia, a prominent gunmaking region in Germany, and it was there that the distinctive Zenit pistol originated. Post-war, Gerstenberger & Eberwein owned the EM-GE trademark with the factory now in Gerstetten-Gussenstadt in West, rather than East, Germany.
From the 1950s, the air pistol produced was a very different design. Instead of an all-steel and walnut product, the LP3 adopted a modern approach with zinc alloy die castings in evidence. The shaped grips were plastic mouldings. The barrel comprised a rifled steel tube threaded into an alloy casing. Even the piston was made of zinc alloy. That said, as long as it was handled and maintained with mechanical sympathy, it was a capable and…