Buying a 1918 Luger 9mm

[69daytona]

I am buying a 1918 luger all #s match with only about 50% finish left, got a good deal as I want it for a shooter.
Anyone here have one that they shoot with cast? if so what is a good mold to buy for this and what would be some good loads?

[HeavyMetal]

I have had some shooting experience with two seperate Lugers.

Both fed the Lee 125-2R boolit with out fail and both prefered hot loads to cycle flawlessly.

If you look in the Old Speer manuals you'll find loads for Bluedot under a 125 gain listing.

If your "new" Luger has a 6 inch barrel then Bluedot is a real must have! Not economical but once you try the load you'll never shoot another!

At least not with the same smirk on your face!

[9.3X62AL]

What Heavy Metal said. HIJO LA! Euro-level load intensity, for sure.

[casterofboolits]

I use Blue Dot in all my 380, 9mm and 38 Super ammo. Works well with no pressure signs at all.

Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook also lists Blue Dot loads for the 9mm 356402 boolit which matches the original Parabelum round. I use 6.5 grns of blue Dot with all 125 grn cast boolits. This functions in Lugers, EAA's, Colts, Star's and Glocks.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Cast bullets that work well in the 9mm luger include Lyman 356242, Lyman 356402 and RCBS has several conical designs and truncated ones as well. Saeco also has a couple that work really well. Weights vary from 115 to 125 grains. I found that sizing to ,357 gave the best grouping in my WWII model. As for loading I have used several different powders including Red Dot, 700X and Green Dot. All can be made to work well. I finally settled on 4,7-4,8 grains of 4756; it fills most of the case giving a good loading density and helps prevent bullet seating deeper into the case during feeding. Any of that...even a slight amount sends the pressure up. Use a slight taper crimp. I keep the velocity slightly below 1000fps so as not to batter the gun. Luger parts are expensive no matter where you go. Before I knew better I once took someone's "advice" and cooked up some hot rod loads with the result that the rear toggle pin snapped and I had to have new one machined and hand fitted. So keep an eye on what you are going to use for powder and how much of it you put in the case. Consult a good manual, start with their lower loadings and work up watching the grouping as you go. A moderate load will function the action and give respectable accuracy. The 4756 above loading in my luger groups in the eight/nine ring at 25 yards either on or off the bench; its good enough for me although some folks might demand better. LLS

[Freischütz]

I've had good luck with the NEI truncated bullet. I use 5.1 gr of Unique. I size the bullets .357” and load cartridges to an overall length of 1.14”. At this length, the lube groove is outside of the case. Prior to using the long seating I had lots of feeding problems. Now I only have feeding issues if I limp wrist the gun.

The 9 mm P overall length specification changed, and this can produce problems with P.08s. The old cartridges were longer than the current standard. Based on data from Lugerforum.com the original truncated bullet rounds were 1.14 - 1.15” overall length. Round nosed ammo was 1.15 – 1.17+.

The P.08 was designed for standard velocity loads.

Check your springs. The magazine spring should be very stiff. You should want to use the magazine loading tool. Mainsprings can also become weak and need a replacement.

There's a lot more I could mention, but instead I recommend you join the Luger forum at: http://forum.lugerforum.com/

[GOPHER SLAYER]

My first Luger was made by by the Simson Co. of Shul and I bought it for a whopping forty two dollars. I took it on vacation to Missouri in 1960. I was shooting it in one of the large abandoned lime quarries around Cape Girardeau, Mo. I was using factory ammo and while it was very accurate it jammed every few shots. I was very disappointed. I became so mad at the pistol that I traded it off on the way back home. After I had been home about two weeks I read a question in a gun mag asked by a man that wanted to know why his Luger jammed so often. He said he was using factory ammo. The reply was, American 9MM ammo is loaded too weak to work the action on the Luger. Needless to say, I was sick. I have owned Lugers since then but none as nice as the Simson was. There were 10,000 Lugers made by Simson before Hitler took the contract away from them because they were Jewish.

[MakeMineA10mm]

This is a question I've done some studying on. As far as I can discern, the Germans had two bullet (nose) designs in their early 9mm ammo.

One is replicated these days by the Lyman 356402 - a long-tapered, small-meplat Truncated Cone of 121gr weight (approx. - depending on your alloy)

The other is duplicated by Saeco #115 and an H&G design (can't remember the number off the top of my head), which these days are made by Ballisti-Cast (these are very expensive, but pretty high quality). These are Pointed Round Noses, or Squat Spire Points (however you want to look at it). This is the nose design I based my 9x135 Slippery group buy mould off of, because the nose is so slick-feeding that I've not found a handgun yet that doesn't gobble up rounds loaded with this nose-style... (I did my group buy, because I couldn't pay for Ballisti-Cast moulds, and I wanted a big multi-cavity mould and Saeco only went to three or four cavities.)

As far as loads, yes, Euro ammo is hotter, and Lugers especially need top-end loads. I've found Herco to be an excellent 9mm powder, but I load most of mine with top-end W231 loads, and they work fine as well. Herco is a little safer as it isn't at the ragged edge of max loads to get good functioning.

[69daytona]

Thanks guys for all your help and information. Anyone try a RF design in thier luger?
I got in on the new 125gr HP from MiHec just for this pistol, although I did order it in .359 so it could be used for my 38s and 357s too.