9mm Luger

[wch]

I own an artillery model Luger pistol (with the long barrel) which I have shot a bit with commercial ammunition; these loads seem to work the pistol pretty hard and I think that I'd be better off with some cast bullet loads.
I 'd appreciate any input you folks might have.

[canyon-ghost]

I load 3.2 grains of Bullseye for a 125 grain bullet. That's pretty soft but, they make 50 yards just fine. I originally made them up for a Contender single shot with a really tight twist rate. When I tried these in my S&W and Springfield pistols, they were just the thing for light practice loads.

Just be careful reloading the little case, builds pressure rapidly (I pulled bullets more than I liked).

Ron

[GBertolet]

I read an article some time ago on loading for the Luger. After testing numerous powders, the author recommended Red Dot as the prefered powder. Not because of the accuracy, but rather, the recoil impulse and pressure curve, giving best overall reliability with the Luger's unique mechanism. There may be better suited powders introduced since the article, but Red Dot may still be a good place to start.

[Gee_Wizz01]

I have a mismatch Luger that I shoot fairly often, and it works well with cast boolit loads. I have loaded for several other Lugers in the past and have found they can be finicky about ammo. A friend had one several years ago that required fairly hot ammo to function properly, it liked the old Lyman 356402 TC boolit with fairly stiff load of Unique. Once we found the sweet spot it was 100% reliable. My mismatch Luger doesn't like Federal 124 gr round nose ammo but will run like a clock with Win White Box ammo. My Luger doesn't particularly like the Lyman 356402 but will run well the Lee 356=120TC boolit and mid to high end loads with Bullseye, 231 or Unique. I have found that some times you have to play with the OAL to get good reliable feeding. I had always heard that the P08 doesn't like low power loads and I have found this to be true based on the Lugers I have worked with. My old Luger has a pitted barrel but it is a tack driver with my cast boolits, I actually think it is the most accurate pistol I own. Let us know how your loads work out.

G