Lugers

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Does anyone reading this know about Luger pistols? A friend has one that is in great shape but the action does not stay open when the last shot is fired or anytime for that matter.

[johniv]

Have you tried different magazines?

[bouncer50]

Luger were very well made. The weak point has been the mags

[dubber123]

I know when the sear spring is weak, they fire at a very high cyclic rate. Right through the welcome mat on your porch..

[Plastikosmd]

Had one like that, there is a little thingamajig that is actuated by the magazine knurled thumb knob. As the last round is ejected then knurled mag thing rises and actuates the thingamajig. weak mag spring that isn't allowing it to actuate, worn thingamajig, there is also a tiny spring under the thingamajig that can be lost on stripping.

pushing up on the magazine as u fire the last round can help with answer, the bit of wiggle that is there can be compensated for if just weak spring

sorry I don't know the terms...

[GOPHER SLAYER]

My friend has another Luger. Next time I go to his house I will try the other magazine. Thanks guys.

[rintinglen]

Had one like that, there is a little thingamajig that is actuated by the magazine knurled thumb knob. As the last round is ejected then knurled mag thing rises and actuates the thingamajig. weak mag spring that isn't allowing it to actuate, worn thingamajig, there is also a tiny spring under the thingamajig that can be lost on stripping.

pushing up on the magazine as u fire the last round can help with answer, the bit of wiggle that is there can be compensated for if just weak spring

sorry I don't know the terms...
Don't be confused by the technical terms. The bolt hold open latch is pushed up by the loading knob on the right side of the magazine. If it is not latching, either the hold open latch, bolt or magazine loading latch is worn, or the magazine spring is too weak to overcome the Hold Open Latch Spring [which actually pushes the hold open latch down and out of engagement when the magazine is removed and the bolt retracted.] Try the mag first, then check the the hold open latch recess for dirt or crud that is preventing the hold open latch from rising up when pushed by the magazine loading latch.

[44man]

Friend had a Luger brought home from the war. Darn nice gun. Shot super good. We never had a problem, maybe because it was not shot much to wear.

[Scharfschuetze]

The Luger generally does well with the hotter loaded European military 9mm ball ammo, so perhaps your friend's ammo may not be cycling the action in a robust enough manner. As alluded to above, a good cleaning and the use of a good gun grease may solve the issue. If not, RintinGlen described the suspect components well and gives you a clue as to the issue if it isn't the cleanliness of the weapon or the ammo.

[Patrick56]

Don´t use hot loads in the Luger. It is not designed for 9mm Nato or similar loads. The Finnish army used loads with V0=300m/s as long as the Luger P08 was used as a service gun. Automatic fire is usually caused by incompetent gunsmiths trying to do a trigger job. If the action does not stay open after the last round was fired, check the magazine knob.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Around 1959 0r '60 I bought a Luger made by Simson of Shul. I paid a whopping 42 bucks for it. I took it on a vacation trip to Missouri in '62. My brother, father and I were shooting it in the bottom of an abandoned lime quarry. There are a lot of those around Cape Girardeau, Mo. While it was very accurate it kept jamming. I became disgusted with it and traded it off on the way home. Shortly after returning to California I read a question in a gun magazine and the man was asking why his Luger kept failing to cycle. The answer given was that American factory ammo was just too week to work the action and it took much more pressure to make the gun function properly. Of course it made me sick when I read this and I got even sicker this morning when I saw a Simson Luger for sale on one of the auction sites and the guy was asking 10 grand for it. After WWI the Simson company was awarded the contract to supply Lugers to the German Army. They had made 10,000 give or take when Hitler came to power and since they were Jewish Hitler cancelled the contract.i

[Plastikosmd]

Ugh^

wow what a story

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Lugers point and balance well but they were not designed to be target pistols. Front sights aren't target grade and trigger pulls are fairly awful. Moreover the recoil system is conducive to muzzle jump. But nevertheless they are interesting....until a hot spent case comes down behind your head and goes under your collar. I once was given some Spanish ammo that was made to run sub machine pistols for the Guarda Civile. Pretty warm stuff; on the third round the rear toggle pin sheared from the recoil and it was not cheap to replace. Since then I have made it a point not to batter the gun...mv around 900fps...Luger parts are expensive...including that little fragile spring thingy that holds the bolt open after the last shot. They also like to be kept well oiled and clean. LLS

[Scharfschuetze]

This Artillery Model (owned by a friend) is rifle accurate at 200 yards. With European ball ammo, the rounds track with the rifle style sight quite well to way out there. No issues with it when it's clean and lubed and using ammo that is hot enough to produce the required recoil impulse to operate the toggle action. Lugers have always been a favorite of mine and much fun can be had with them. I've often found them to be as accurate as any other service pistol and often more accurate. They just have a "fun factor" built into them that exceeds almost any other military sidearm.

Hope you get that last round hold open issue fixed.

[Patrick56]

Lugers point and balance well but they were not designed to be target pistols. Front sights aren't target grade and trigger pulls are fairly awful. Moreover the recoil system is conducive to muzzle jump. But nevertheless they are interesting....until a hot spent case comes down behind your head and goes under your collar. I once was given some Spanish ammo that was made to run sub machine pistols for the Guarda Civile. Pretty warm stuff; on the third round the rear toggle pin sheared from the recoil and it was not cheap to replace. Since then I have made it a point not to batter the gun...mv around 900fps...Luger parts are expensive...including that little fragile spring thingy that holds the bolt open after the last shot. They also like to be kept well oiled and clean. LLS
The Finnish army had a lot of Spanish made 9mm ammo. The brands were Sevilla and Toledo. I remember that the Toledo was hotter. I think it was surplus ammo bought after the Korean war. We used Sevilla in the Lugers and Toledo could be fired in the Lahti pistol and the Suomi m31 submachine gun. There is a lot of Lugers on the market in Finland for a decent price.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I wish I could buy some of those Lugers. I thought The Finish Army used .30 caliber Lugers. I worked for many years with a man from Latvia who fought in the Finish Army but I never thought to ask him what weapons he used. He was severely wounded and was shipped to a German hospital until he recovered.

[Patrick56]

I wish I could buy some of those Lugers. I thought The Finish Army used .30 caliber Lugers. I worked for many years with a man from Latvia who fought in the Finish Army but I never thought to ask him what weapons he used. He was severely wounded and was shipped to a German hospital until he recovered.
A lot of the Lugers bought was indeed 7,65x21 (m23) but most of the guns was rebarreled to 9mm by Tikkakoski of logistical reasons. Many of the guns on the market has both barrels, some even a 4mm Flobert barrel for practicing.

[Ragnarok]

Really early P08 Lugers did not have a hold-open lever. That feature came along in like 1912 or 1913.

Lugers are also magazine picky and ammo picky...also mainspring strength picky. If the gun is working fine otherwise(and has a hold-open lever)..I would re-spring the mags with Wolff gunspring mag-springs. They have both styles of Luger mag springs.

[Hardcast416taylor]

My brother had a few lugers in his tank as souverirs during the war. When his tank was taken out by an AT gun he lost them all, luckily he only got a few nicks in that happening. The DWM luger and matching holster with service belt that he brought home after the war was over was surrendered to him when his tank column entered a small German town. A Wehrmacht Captain surrendered his men and surrendered his personal pistol to my brother who was a Tech. Sgt and tank commander of a Light "Stuart" scout tank. In 1995 it was appraised as being worth $1500 with all the matching leather included, wonder what it is worth on the market today? It`ll just be passed down in the family till someone wants money more than a memory I guess. It is true that U.S. loaded 9mm ammo is a bit on the enemic side for reliably function a luger, the original issue ammo that was in both clips with the luger sit in a glass cup next to the pistol and leathers.Robert

[Char-Gar]

The first handgun I ever fired (1954) was a Luger. I no longer have it, but have a very good 1913 DWM that was brought back from WWII. While Lugers have some flaws, they are truly classic handguns.

[Patrick56]

My brother had a few lugers in his tank as souverirs during the war. When his tank was taken out by an AT gun he lost them all, luckily he only got a few nicks in that happening. The DWM luger and matching holster with service belt that he brought home after the war was over was surrendered to him when his tank column entered a small German town. A Wehrmacht Captain surrendered his men and surrendered his personal pistol to my brother who was a Tech. Sgt and tank commander of a Light "Stuart" scout tank. In 1995 it was appraised as being worth $1500 with all the matching leather included, wonder what it is worth on the market today? It`ll just be passed down in the family till someone wants money more than a memory I guess. It is true that U.S. loaded 9mm ammo is a bit on the enemic side for reliably function a luger, the original issue ammo that was in both clips with the luger sit in a glass cup next to the pistol and leathers.Robert
Here is a link to a Finnish dealer that sells old Lugers. The euro is almost the same as dollars today.
http://www.lahdeniemi.fi/Sivut/kayt-pist.htm

[Petrol & Powder]

I've always liked the Lugers for their place in history.
They are very attractive to collectors due to the large numbers of variations/manufactures/owners, etc. Unfortunately they are also out of my league to collect.

The Lugers encompass everything German; Complicated engineering, high quality fit and finish and good materials. Of course there is that joke about German vs. Japanese engineering - The German engineer will try to add a hundred parts to make something 5% better and the Japanese engineer will try remove 100 parts if it only makes it 5% worse.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

That is certainly true of the 1934 Nambu. The Luger and the Nambu shared one design feature. Part of the link from the trigger to the sear ran outside the receiver on both pistols. While the Luger's linkage operated inside a milled slot the Nambu's was unprotected and if you were not carful in reaching for your pistol you might just shoot yourself in the foot. I had one of those pistols in my position for a few days and I must say, you would have to search far and wide to find an uglier weapon.

[Plastikosmd]

here are mine, prefer the artillery
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j5/plastikosmd/luger/f39dce5f99b9822edf619246b9e6a506_zps14698dea.png

[RG1911]

here are mine, prefer the artillery


Okay, I'm drooling.

Many moons ago I went to a gun show in Portland, Oregon. At that time, Luger Carbines were in the $3,000 range. (I said it was many moons ago.) For reasons I cannot remember, I actually had that much cash on me. I saw four carbines; none were for sale. There is no justice in the world.

Currently I'm down to one of the Mauser Lugers made in the 1970s (Swiss style, 9mm, 6-inch barrel) and a 1923 model in .30 Luger.

BTW, one of the magazines I have is a pretty beat-up original (looks like the one in the above post, but after a tank ran over it). It functions just fine and holds the bolt back after the last round.

Both require pretty stiff loads to cycle the action. One of the best loads in the 9mm was the Lyman 356402 and Alcan AL-7 powder (which is no longer available). According to a couple burn rate charts that include old powders, AL-7 is next to HS-6 and W-540. One of the charts is here: http://home.hiwaay.net/~almtnman/powder/powder.htm

Richard

[Plastikosmd]

thx!
top is all original and matching including stock/mag etc (drum is not, nor should it be)
bottom is all match except stock/leather etc. cant remember if mag matches, that one is my shooter grade

[GOPHER SLAYER]

In the 1950s you could buy a nice Luger with the 3 inch barrel for $40 but the artillery model would set you back $70.

[MtGun44]

Wow! The top one is just like the rig a friend had when I was in the 6th
grade. I moved away but saw him again in college and asked about the
Luger (with the snail mag, holster, stock, all of it in top condition) and he
said that they sold it for a pretty low price some years before.

Does anyone know if there is any sensible way to get one of those 400-450 Euro Lugers
from Finland to the USA?

[Patrick56]

Wow! The top one is just like the rig a friend had when I was in the 6th
grade. I moved away but saw him again in college and asked about the
Luger (with the snail mag, holster, stock, all of it in top condition) and he
said that they sold it for a pretty low price some years before.

Does anyone know if there is any sensible way to get one of those 400-450 Euro Lugers
from Finland to the USA?

Of some strange reason I could not find an email-address to the company. You could start with sending a telefax to this number: +358-3-260 9685
and ask what they require today. I have been out of the business for over twenty years now so I don´t know what paperwork they need today.

[rintinglen]

Back in the 90's there were a bunch imported from one of the Baltic countries, (Latvia? Estonia?) they went for 329-359 dollars in my neck of the woods. I have a nice arsenal refinish 1938 Mauser with matching numbers, except for the extractor. I wish I had bought a couple more on the come. The sights and safety stink, but the balance and feel are excellent.

[Multigunner]

Only messed with Lugers a few times long ago.
From what I could find back then the major cause of luger jams was the switch over from the original truncated cone bullet to the ogived round tip bullet coupled with wear to the opening in the mag body for the magazine catch.
If the mag dropped a tiny amount the nose of the bullet didn't hit the feed ramp at the proper angle.
A bit of wear to that opening had little effect on feeding when the truncated cone bullet was in use.

A safety concern was how well the external sear plate was fitted and if it was worn. If loose contact of the plate could cause the pistol to fire.