Chris, I think that the damage was occurring at the rear of the receiver where the rear toggle can contact the back of the receiver.

Marc

Chris,

Yes, this is a very good wear (abuse) indicator and should be checked, if possible, before a Luger is purchased.

After disassembly, take a look at the uppermost part of the rear frame. There you will see where the breach block can contact the frame at its uppermost rear position.

The breach block is hardened, but the frame is not. Where the breach block contacts the frame, there may be peen marks. If these marks are deep or disfiguring (something you can catch your fingernail on), you know that the hot stuff has been fired through the pistol.

Normally, if proper ammo is used, these marks will be only shadows in the bluing, if that, nothing more. Again, a proper load will not slam these parts together; causing the aforementioned, deep, disfiguring peen marks.

I hope this helps.


Sieger

This sort... :D

Also note the right toggle ramp... :rolleyes:

(This is the 1900AE at the extreme left in post #10 on preceding page)

Seems my .30 commercial has similar wear, but on BOTH ramps. Is there a difference between the 1900 and 1908 toggle ramps?

Perhaps I should change my spring as well. I have the recoil calibration pack from Wolff Gunsprings, what mainspring should I use? #36, #38, or #40? Is there modifications needed for the appropriate spring?

Start with the standard, the 38#. No modifications necessary. You may notice that they are progressively more difficult to compress.

If you ARE going to shoot this pistol, you owe it to yourself, and all the people that WILL own it after you, to have a fresh set of springs in it. And why not? the springs are rediculously cheap, and the pistol is valuable,...simple logic.

:) I agree danielsand!

I've read that the springs for .30 Luger and for 9MM are different, how can you tell which one is for which?

Tried both #38 and #36 mainsprings, both ended up with cartridges nose up. I don't think the #40 spring will work as the original spring that works feels lighter. Magazines an ammo don't seem to be an issue, as the old spring worked for both.

Any idea's on what to do from here?

Hi,

Please explain ..."both ended up with cartridges nose up".

Were the cartridges jammed between the breach block and feeding ramp? If so, this is your typical "Luger Jam" caused by several factors.


Sieger

.30 is 19 turn 9mm is 22 turn (WWII)

As for your feeding issues, have you tried another mag?

Mainspring does not have much effect on feeding. Correct me if I'm wrong Gents, but the weak mainspring will not absorb the recoil, and the pistol will slam in the back, peening the frame, and/or ramps. Too stiff mainspring will cause the weapon to "short stroke", and the fresh cartrige will not be picked up from the mag. Also,....too strong spring might not allow the breech to travel far enough for the empty case to hit the ejector with sufficient force to be ejected, thus it will stay "hooked" on the extractor, and travel back misaligned, causing the classic "stove pipe".

"Nose up" (if I understand you correctly), is the loaded cartridge jammed between the breech block and the chamber? (failure to chamber)

That's usually caused by the weak mag spring, damaged mag lips, or damaged follower.

Try changing the mag, and forget about the mainspring for now. I would also inspect the frame rails/bolt rails, and check for burrs, damage, being tweaked, and such. Put the upper on the frame (don't hook it), and slide it gently back and forth to feel for binding.

There is a tiny bur in one spot waaaay in the back on the rails. Something to add, changing the striker spring to one of the extra power striker springs improved the function of the gun. However, I still have problems feeding. Using a #36 mainspring I can shoot the gun with its original magazine and a mec-gar magazine, but sometimes it won't activate the hold open latch. Before I changed the striker spring, the gun would't not feed properly during live fire but would chamber if I manually pulled the toggles. I am also using Fiocchi .30 Luger, both FMJ amd semi-jacketed soft points.

As for the feeding issue itself, the the round ends up nose first before entering the chamber; so yes, failure to chamber.

Curss,

I'd stick with the 38 pounder, but would replace or rework the magazine, as the new recoil spring is now outrunning it.

This is a very typical and common problem when a Luger's springs are out of timing.

If you can find one, the older style Mec-Gars were nice.

Search GT, our resident magazine expert, in this forum and he will fix you up nicely.


Sieger

I will contact him when my next pay check comes in. I do have a Mec-gar mag that I purchased a few years ago, but I do think it needs work. The gun came with an original mag of some sort, I'll see if he can't rework that one as well.

So, try to stick with the #38, don't modify it, and get new mag springs. Then retest!

GT has had some special Luger mag springs made up for just him. He installs them and says that they do not lose their power anywhere near like the original/aftermarket mag springs. Many of us on this forum have had GT "tuneup" mags for us with excellent results. When it come to Luger mags, GT is your man hands down!!

Are they extra power springs? And should I have the original mag reworked?

Hi,

Yes, there are extra power springs.

For specific question, your best bet is to contact GT. He will answer your questions and arrange to fix your problem.

Sieger

Update
 

Ok,

Finally got my magazines back from G.T., and so far no improvement. With the original magazine in place, and the #38 mainspring in place, every other shot ends up as a failure to feed. The Mec-Gar had similar results.

With the #40 mainspring, the gun fails to eject I believe because it is not traveling far enough to reach the ejector. Did not matter which magazine was used.

The #36 mainspring gave no improvement as well with either Mec-Gar nor original magazine.

Perhaps I should clip one of the new mainsprings down to 19 coils? Which one should I start with?

Jim Solomon's tool got a good exercise in mainspring changes. With a little practice, I've gotten darn good at the mainspring swap. :D