New Project! For shooters!

Ron Wood · 07-19-2015, 01:47 PM

That is a super looking barrel and a great project you have undertaken for the Luger community! (If I ever get out from under a bunch of other projects, not likely

, I would love to tackle a target Luger with one of those barrels.

To get off topic a bit, with regard to the sights and trigger, there are some neat old articles in gun magazines from the 60s and 70s. "Skeeter" Skelton wrote and article "For love of a long-barreled Luger" or something like that that featured a specially made MMC sight adapted to the Luger toggle that appeared to be a viable option. I have a couple of MMC sights that I got from Hugh Clark that might be modified to fit (the adjustment screws are too wide to fit between the receiver rails).

I have posted an article from May 1974 "Shooting Times" a couple of times in the past that shows how to tune a Luger trigger and add set screws for trigger pull and over-travel adjustment.

The Luger is has potential for a really fine target pistol, and I hope your project encourages Luger aficionados to "go for it"!
Ron

G.T. · 07-19-2015, 03:04 PM

Always good to hear from you Ron! ... As mentioned, we are going to wring out any and all possible avenues that will enhance our sport / target effort.... The sport part dictates cost effective and affordable, and the target part as much precision as we can afford, or as required? My original plan would include barrel, mainspring, and hopefully a magazine... Labor options would be barrel install, and rear sight mod, range test...... I'd like to offer trigger work down the road, but fear liability in this area would nullify the whole effort?.... I have an idea on how to make a drop in improvement on the Luger trigger, but that's still a "workshop secret" at this point, and besides, right now, "my plate is really full and my fork is pretty small!" ....

... Again, good to hear from you Ron, til...lat'r...GT...

Olle · 07-27-2015, 12:02 PM

Ok, time to wrap it up, and I would like to thank Sheepherder for the moral and technical support he provided for this part.

The ramp cut was pretty straightforward, I set up the barrel for a cut 50 degrees off the centerline and cut it with a 10mm end mill. It's fresh out of the mill in the picture, so it still needs a little blending to break the sharp edges.

One thing that puzzles me is the width of the original ramp. The drawing shows a straight ramp with a 5mm radius, but making that cut with a straight 10mm end mill creates a ramp that's more like an ellipse where it intersects the end. After eyeballing and gauging several original barrels I realized that these cuts are not cylindrical. They actually taper a bit, thus creating a wider throat at the bottom. I have seen similar ramps on barrels made for rapid fire with double stack mags (the M4 ramp comes to mind), but I can't see that it would be of any benefit on a single stack semi-auto.

I guess the original shape is just a result of anal German engineers trying to follow a drawing that wasn't fully thought out, and a straight, cylindrical cut should actually work better IMO.

The extractor cut was a bit more challenging due to its shape. You can cut this with straight cutters and then use needle files to round it off, but after a few hours on the internet I found a corner rounding end mill that could do the job without any hand adjustment. The dimensions are slightly different than on the original drawing, but the objective is a nice cut with ample clearance for the extractor so the actual dimensions are not extremely critical. I checked for clearance by holding a breech block against the finished cut, and it fit nicely.

This concludes my part of the project, so the barrel is boxed up and will be heading for AZ today. Just some finishing work and installation left to do, then it's ready for the range.

07-19-2015, 01:47 PM	#1
Ron Wood Moderator 2010 LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Santa Teresa New Mexico just outside of the West Texas town of El Paso Posts: 7,054 Thanks: 1,125 Thanked 5,293 Times in 1,731 Posts	That is a super looking barrel and a great project you have undertaken for the Luger community! (If I ever get out from under a bunch of other projects, not likely , I would love to tackle a target Luger with one of those barrels. To get off topic a bit, with regard to the sights and trigger, there are some neat old articles in gun magazines from the 60s and 70s. "Skeeter" Skelton wrote and article "For love of a long-barreled Luger" or something like that that featured a specially made MMC sight adapted to the Luger toggle that appeared to be a viable option. I have a couple of MMC sights that I got from Hugh Clark that might be modified to fit (the adjustment screws are too wide to fit between the receiver rails). I have posted an article from May 1974 "Shooting Times" a couple of times in the past that shows how to tune a Luger trigger and add set screws for trigger pull and over-travel adjustment. The Luger is has potential for a really fine target pistol, and I hope your project encourages Luger aficionados to "go for it"! Ron __________________ If it's made after 1918...it's a reproduction

07-19-2015, 03:04 PM	#2
G.T. Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Chandler Arizona Posts: 3,548 Thanks: 1,345 Thanked 3,771 Times in 1,026 Posts	Hi Ron! Always good to hear from you Ron! ... As mentioned, we are going to wring out any and all possible avenues that will enhance our sport / target effort.... The sport part dictates cost effective and affordable, and the target part as much precision as we can afford, or as required? My original plan would include barrel, mainspring, and hopefully a magazine... Labor options would be barrel install, and rear sight mod, range test...... I'd like to offer trigger work down the road, but fear liability in this area would nullify the whole effort?.... I have an idea on how to make a drop in improvement on the Luger trigger, but that's still a "workshop secret" at this point, and besides, right now, "my plate is really full and my fork is pretty small!" ....... Again, good to hear from you Ron, til...lat'r...GT...

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07-27-2015, 12:02 PM	#3
Olle User Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Tennessee Posts: 1,149 Thanks: 159 Thanked 664 Times in 318 Posts	Ok, time to wrap it up, and I would like to thank Sheepherder for the moral and technical support he provided for this part. The ramp cut was pretty straightforward, I set up the barrel for a cut 50 degrees off the centerline and cut it with a 10mm end mill. It's fresh out of the mill in the picture, so it still needs a little blending to break the sharp edges. One thing that puzzles me is the width of the original ramp. The drawing shows a straight ramp with a 5mm radius, but making that cut with a straight 10mm end mill creates a ramp that's more like an ellipse where it intersects the end. After eyeballing and gauging several original barrels I realized that these cuts are not cylindrical. They actually taper a bit, thus creating a wider throat at the bottom. I have seen similar ramps on barrels made for rapid fire with double stack mags (the M4 ramp comes to mind), but I can't see that it would be of any benefit on a single stack semi-auto. I guess the original shape is just a result of anal German engineers trying to follow a drawing that wasn't fully thought out, and a straight, cylindrical cut should actually work better IMO. The extractor cut was a bit more challenging due to its shape. You can cut this with straight cutters and then use needle files to round it off, but after a few hours on the internet I found a corner rounding end mill that could do the job without any hand adjustment. The dimensions are slightly different than on the original drawing, but the objective is a nice cut with ample clearance for the extractor so the actual dimensions are not extremely critical. I checked for clearance by holding a breech block against the finished cut, and it fit nicely. This concludes my part of the project, so the barrel is boxed up and will be heading for AZ today. Just some finishing work and installation left to do, then it's ready for the range.