luger in 30 luger

[milltownhunter]

i just pick up a 1920 p08 30 luger and tryed some of fiocchi ammo and heard it would no cycle the gun relible out of 10 rounds i only got 1 round to cycle the gun i plan to reload as soon as i get some dies i would like any idea's on bullets and powder and starting loads to cycle a luger

[MtGun44]

No direct knowledge, but I have always read that the Luger required hot ammo to
function reliably. I imagine you will need to work up loads by checking them as you
slowly increase the powder charge until they cycle the gun.

Here is a link to Hodgdon's online load data site:
http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

They only list two loads, 93 gr FMJ and 93 gr cast. Win231/HP38 (same powder) starts
at 3.4 and max at 4.2gr.

Good luck.

Bill

[9.3X62AL]

Luger 30s tend to require FMJ bullets, and sometimes FMJ bullets with relatively sharp round noses and tangent ogives. Hornady made limited-run bullets of 93 grain weights (both soft-point and FMJ), and their FMJ 93 grainer had a good rep for feeding in the Lugers.

My 30 Luger is a Ruger--a P-89X with swap barrels in 9mm and 30. Using the 30 Luger barrel and the 9mm recoil spring,some Rated "R" loads are possible that give a hot-loaded 32 Magnum a race. The P-89 will feed anything of proper OAL--cast, jacketed, or HP. The pistol is accurate with both barrels, and both barrels shoot pretty close to the fixed sights. SOMEONE engineered this variant pretty darn well. The 9mm barrel shoots on par with my SIG P-226.

The 30 Luger is an excellent small game and varmint pistol caliber. It has been accurate enough to take small critters at 50 yards+, and shoots flat enough to push that envelope if its driver can steer it that well at distance. The P-89 has been a TON OF FUN.

[Freischütz]

I have a P.08 like the one you just purchased. The Fiocchi 7.65 P ammo is notorious for being underpowered.

Here's some data from my gun. I use NEI 85.308GC, a 94 gr bullet, sized to .311 diameter. Overall cartridge length is 30.0 mm. The data lists powder, charge weight in grains, velocity in fps, and std deviation in fps.

Unique/4.5 /1112/11 – lightest reliable load in my gun
Unique/5.0/1195/11
HS-6/6.0/1222/6

P.08s in 7.65 P have a history of messed with springs. Start low in case someone cut a couple of coils off to “help” functioning.

[theperfessor]

I recall that Mike Venturino did an article in a gun mag about the .30 Luger with cast in an original P08 a couple years ago. I don't have that issue any more but maybe somebody else does or maybe email him.