4 Scale,

Truly showing how individual these guns can be, my shooter eats up any ammo that I’ve put in it so far without issue.

Decided to shoot
 

I know I mentioned that I was not going to use my P08 as a shooter but my curiosity got the better of me so I went to the range yesterday to give it a try. I only shot 10 rounds with the following results:
8 - fired w/o problem
1 - stovepipe
1 - jam
I was using the Remington shells I bought earlier so it might just be them. I'll try Winchesters next.
The shooting went well except for what I mentioned above and hitting the target above where I was aiming. I also did some shooting with a SW 38 Special and a SW 380Auto EZ. They went OK so I think I need to spend more time learning to aim the P08.

meadowlark, it could well be that the cartridges have marginal power for your Luger. Other considerations are the magazine (I use Mec-Gar mags) and if you provided adequate resistance to recoil for the action to work properly. IMO and experience, the Luger is more sensitive to "limp wristing" than newer designs.

WRT the POI being high, that's not unusual although the cartridges you use can effect POI; e.g., a 115 grain load may shoot lower than a 124 grain bullet. Depending upon how high, you may want to contact Lugerdoc (Tom Heller) and see if he has a higher front sight blade that will lower the POI.

Keep at it and you'll get your Luger working like you want.

Shooting Performance
 

Doubs - The cartridges I used were 115 gr. I believe my problem with shooting high has to do with me not sighting the Luger properly. I think I was sighting primarily using just the front sight so I think I was "wristing" the back down a little bit thus causing the higher POI.

I'm sure you know to place the top of the front sight even with the top of the back sight. In general my Lugers also tend to shoot a bit high.

I load my own cartridges and I use mostly 115 grain bullets. I use just enough powder to reliably cycle the Luger action. I find that such loads also work well in more modern pistols.

IIRC,
the luger iron sights are "regulated" for 75m.
One would expect them to shoot high at "normal" US handgun distances. JMHO.

Thanks Don
 

This is the first time I heard of the P08's sight being regulated for 75m. Good information! Thanks again.

That's something I've never seen or heard before but it doesn't surprise me. It was designed for shooting humans and the body is a fairly large target. Shooting a bit high isn't really a problem.

Shooting high
 

I agree with you regarding why the P08 was designed the way it was but since I have no intention of shooting anybody it's good information as to why I might have been shooting high at the range. However, I still think I wasn't aiming properly as I noted previously.

Early lugers were recalled for the addition of the hold open, at the same time a higher front sight was installed to bring the zero distance down, from 100 to 75 m. I expect one could find the story of these changes in the Luger Parabellum 3 volumes somewhere.

More to the point, the high impact is why GT had taller front sights made- so that folks who want to shoot at 25 or 50 yards can change the front sight blade and hit where they aim. Lugerdoc has the sights in several sizes if anyone wants one.