Anyone shoot cast in a 9mm German Luger?

[mtgrs737]

I have an itch for a 9mm German Luger pistol. Being a cast boolit shooter I would want to shoot cast in it like I do most everything else. Is there any reason why cast should not be shot in a luger with a like new bore?

Thanks in advance!

mtgrs737

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I have been shooting cast in an S/42 DWM Luger for many years. I've used both the RCBS conical nose- a truncated cone design and the Lyman# 356242- a round nose. Both are in the 115-125 grain range. After trying numerous powders, many of which worked well, I finally settled on 4.7-4.8 grains of IMR 4756 as it pretty much filled the case and gave a good loading density. This precluded any chance of a double charge and also prevented any telescoping of the bullet into the case. It also gave lower pressure. The seating depth in the 9mm is critical and any increase quickly changes the pressure, and that can be bad. Original Lugers and their parts all live in the high rent district so treat them well. The above loading is accurate, burns clean and does not lead. Most important is that it does not batter the gun. Both bullets feed flawlessly and will group consistently in the 8 ring or better at 25 yards. Ejection is good-straight up (and sometimes down the shirt collar). I have striven to keep MV in the 900's; of course one can use Red Dot, Unique, Bullseye and several other powders, but they are faster and hotter than the 4756. WW alloy is sufficient for the casts; no need to quench to obtain harder bullets. The RCBS CN cuts clean holes in the target while the Lyman RN cuts raggedy ones. The Luger sights are not the best for bullseye work and the trigger pull is pretty awful, but you get used to that with practice. Other cast bullet designs can work ok, but the essential shape is basically a round nose or a conical one. A semiwadcutter might work, but I have never tried one. So to sum up, cast works well in the Luger with some careful attention to detail and an eye out for what is good for the gun. I hope that this discussion has helped you. LLS

[got_lead?]

I am shooting the Lee .356-125-2R long ogive round nose seated to 1.100 COL. My Luger is a 6" navy model, and will pattern 1" to 1 1/2" groups at 25 yards with that boolit. My load is 3.2 grains of Titegroup, which just barely tosses the cases clear of the action. 3.0 grains will have the occasional stovepipe. I use NRA in the lube groove and size to .357, there is zero leadding, and velocity is 970 fps.

The Luger, like several other German guns is fussy about its boolit shape. Mine won't feed any kind of truncated cone or short boolit, I called it a jam-o-matic for years, because it would jam almost every time if you loaded more than 2 or 3 rounds in the magazine. However, when I started using the 125-2R, all the jams went away, and now it's 100% even with 8 rounds stuffed in the handle.

I used to read that US made ammo wasn't hot enough to function the Luger, that's a lot of bull, it's the bullet shape that will make or break the functioning of the Luger. Don't heat up the ammo too much, Luger's have a few weak areas, like the ejector, and parts are getting darn expensive. So don't beleive the old story that you need "hot" ammo to function a Luger.

Good luck, they're fun to shoot.

[mtgrs737]

Thanks alot guys for the information, I know little about lugers but to me they are the "Mona Lisa" of pistol designs. I have the Lee boolit you speak of and I think the Lyman also. I have been told that "shooter" Grade Lugers are being dis-assembled and sold for parts so it is getting harder to find shooter grade pistols at a lower price.

Thanks again for the input, I can use all information I can get.

mtgrs737