New S/42 in the family tonight
 

I have owned some Luger pistols in the past; the last one was about 20 years ago. I recently began looking for a Mauser Parabellum. Naturally a search like this leads to other things. Tonight I wandered in to a neighborhood gun shop a half an hour before closing. My wife and daughter were with me. I saw this Luger lying in the bottom of the cabinet with some other used stuff. I could see that it was mirror refinished and re-strawed. I asked to look at it. It looked nice enough and the price was very reasonable on it; much to my family's dismay I said, "I'll take it."

It is a 41 S/42 with a 4-digit serial number. I have not disassembled it but the numbers I have seen thus far match. Obviously the clip and grips are reproductions. I am buying it to shoot.

The restorer did an excellent job. The corners of the metal are not rounded. The Nazi proofs were completely removed from the right side of the receiver. That is fine with me. The restorer also chose to straw the trigger, take down lever, safety catch. magazine catch, ejector and also the extractor. It is not how a 41 S/42 would have looked originally, but I prefer straw for the small parts.

The only question I have is regarding the small proof mark below the take down lever. What is that?

Jim,

The mark is a VoPo East German Police property mark. Possibly the reason that the Nazi proofs are gone. They were most likely peened out by the Russians or East Germans. The person who restored it probably just draw filed what was left of them off.

Ron

Hi Jim, The S/42 Mauser code was last used in early 1939. Your 41 S/42 is an anomaly, either out of sequence production, or, more likely, assembled post war from parts from different guns. Regards, Norm

A very pretty gun. We can hope that it shoots as good as it looks.
dju

Hi Jim - Congratulations on your new Luger!

As Norm mentioned, your Luger is most likely assembled from parts of different periods.

By 1941 (actually during 1937) Mauser had added small extended "humps" to the top rear of the frame ears. Your gun doesn't appear to have these.

That means that the "41" dated receiver couldn't have left the factory with your frame.

The re-finisher took great pains to fire blue the parts that would have been that way before 1938. 1937 was a year of transition. The hump was added during that year, and the finish was shifted to complete salt bluing that year.

On military Lugers, there is generally a suffix letter below the serial number on the frame, on the front of the trigger area. You don't appear to have this suffix.

There were two periods during Mauser manufacture of Lugers when they had a block of guns without letter suffix. 1937 was one of those. My guess is that your Luger frame was from 1937.

The "S/42" on your toggle also corresponds to the typography that was used in 1937.

Your "41" dated receiver was probably the "donor" part during the rebuild. That partially accounts for removal of the firing proofs, and appearance of the serial number stamped into the left front of the receiver (which may be engraved rather than stamped).

I can't see the bottom of the barrel. Does this also have your serial number stamped in it? Does the witness mark lineup with the receiver?

Try taking your photographs without flash, in indirect even light. It will make it easier to evaluate things.

Someone went to great pains to make this appear to be a pristine all matching Luger. The presence of the toggle's axle retention pin (which appears to be still in the white) makes it possible that the train is in the original finish. It is rather well done work!

VoPo Lugers usually had obvious refinishing work. They also should have entered the USA with importer marks. If these are not present (sometimes they are under the grips - be very careful if you remove the grips; easy to break, particularly the left one at the safety lever) it's possible that they were removed when the gun was refinished to increase it's value. That, of course, would have been a federal "no-no"...

I would like to see a closeup of the serial number on the front of the frame. Is the second digit overstamped? I have a 1936 that has a serial number factory overstamped in that area. Would be interesting to see if that happened again.

Marc

Jim,

I like it.

Peter

I also like it. Someone took a lot of time to refinish it. It may not be period correct, but it reflects what I would call a "labor of love"... :)

The grips appear to be one of the better reproductions. Some of the poorer repros leave a gap in the top left grip, where the grip fits under the sideplate...Others have a much finer checkering line spacing which just doesn't look right...Yours looks just the way it should... ;)

A refinished Luger like this, mismatched & refinished, would still sell (and quickly) for at least $800 at the local [WNY] gun show...and quite likely more...

The area of the country where I live sees very few Lugers/Broomhandles/Walthers; they bring collector prices regardless of condition or correctness...

Beautiful restoration! Should really turn some heads at the range. Congratulations!

I went to the shooting range at Bass Outdoor World today and tried out the weapon. I bought a 100 rounds of Winchester white box 9mm ammo that most everybody here recommends. I ran 50 rounds through the weapon.

In use it malfunctioned several times, which I attribute largely to the 7 round reproduction magazine. On firing the very first round the magazine fell out. I had not rammed it fully "home." Later a spent casing stove piped with the rear going into the chamber. The range attendant had to help me clear this. Another stovepipe happened but I was able to clear it out easily. At one point into the session the firing pin failed to engage; I was there with a loaded chamber pulling the trigger and it did not fire. I unloaded the weapon and removed and reinstalled the side plate. After doing that this malfunction did not repeat. Although the hold open always worked after the final shot, it also held the toggle open 2 additional times before the magazine was empty.

What kind of magazine would obviate these malfunctions?

As far as performance, it shoots very tight. The trigger pull is decent. You can squeeze the trigger and touch it off without spoiling the aim. I had disassembled it, cleaned it and lightly oiled it prior to going to the range. The parts all fit together very tight and the piece is extremely solid. Despite the initial malfunctions it is still a sweet weapon and could be very accurate.

[B][FONT="Courier New"]Thanks very much for your thoughtful expertise.

MecGar makes the best aftermarket magazines for shooting your fine looking Luger.

Charlie

What is a reliable source?

Your "41" dated receiver was probably the "donor" part during the rebuild. That partially accounts for removal of the firing proofs, and appearance of the serial number stamped into the left front of the receiver (which may be engraved rather than stamped).

On the underside of the receiver corresponding to the chamber area it is marked "9mm para" with an East German proof mark like the one under the takedown lever.

I can't see the bottom of the barrel. Does this also have your serial number stamped in it? Does the witness mark lineup with the receiver?

I don't know what a witness mark is. But there is a little notch on the barrel and receiver that line up.

Someone went to great pains to make this appear to be a pristine all matching Luger.

I noticed in taking it apart the the hold open is serial numbered 32, which is umatching.

I would like to see a closeup of the serial number on the front of the frame. Is the second digit overstamped? I have a 1936 that has a serial number factory overstamped in that area. Would be interesting to see if that happened again.

I will get those photos tomorrow if possible.

Marc[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the advice.

Here are some snaps of the front of the frame.

Jim,

Thanks for posting the CUs of the serial number.

It does look like this was overstamped, and it might be in a way similar to what my 1936 looks like.

In my case, they had stamped one of the digits in the wrong order, then corrected the error with an overstamp of the right digit.

Marc

Marc, Nice looking shooter. Judging by the alinement of digits on your frame serial, I would guess that it too has been renumbered. You might want to try a new Mecgar mag (instock @$35) and new HO spring @$25, to see if these solve your funstion problems. If not, I also repair lugers and find the one that are not matching factory original, usually have some problems. TH

My 1936...
 

Hey Tom,

Jim has the new Luger, not me!

Here's a picture of the 1936 that I recently acquired. Consensus on the forum was that the overstamp took place at the factory at the time of manufacture.

Marc

This is another '41 S/42' listed on Gunbroker.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=201962304

Auction # 201962304

Wonder if mine looked similar before the re-do.

Hi Jim, That Gunbroker item you posted is a very interesting gun. To call it mismatched is the under statement of the year! The frame is from a pre 1919 Erfurt, the toggle train from a 1939 or earlier Mauser, and the receiver from a 1941 Mauser. If that wasn't enough, the small parts all come from different guns. Regards, Norm

I thought I saw some of those East German Police proofs on the Gunbroker item; that little bird that looks like a chicken.

You WILL get the small problems worked out I am certain... but regardless of the source of parts, and the fact that the gun didn't leave the factory with the parts it has now, it is a fine looking refinished Luger and should give you a lifetime of shooting service...

Congrats on the acquisition...

RANGE REPORT

After I received 2 new 2 Mec Gar magazines I took the weapon to the range this morning. Some malfunctions did not appear, but others persist.

The firing pin reliably cocked each time. The hold open did not engage while there were still rounds in the magazine.

However, as with last trip to the range, there were a couple of instances of used casings stovepiping. The most prevalent malfunction was that often the new rounds would not feed properly into the chamber. There was some play in the magazine catch. If I put the gun on the table and pressed down while shooting this would not occur.

The used casings stovepiping suggests the possibility of a bad ejector, weak ammo, a dirty action, too stiff a main spring, or limp wristing. Basically the toggle isn't going back hard enough to pitch the case free of the chamber area.
Your mag catch could be worn, or the slot on the mag. could be worn or in the wrong spot. Sometimes you need to experiment to find the right mag. that works with the right gun. And the right ammo, etc. Nothing is simple with these but that's part of the fun.
Dito the feeding issue. Try other ammo, consider the main spring, etc. Something as trivial as the bullet shape can dramatically effect the function of these guns.
Now get back to the range...
dju

I don't know how to determine if the ejector is bad. It works most of the time. I used Winchester white box ammunition. You could eat off of the action. Nobody ever accused me of being limp wristed. So I agree that perhaps the mainspring should be changed. Also could the magazine catch be "built up" to secure the magazines higher in the well?

Hi,

Check the little coil spring under the extractor first. I had a similar experience with a parts gun years ago. Even when the rounds did extract, it would bounce them off the side of the gun. After a new coil spring was fitted under the extractor the empty cases flew like Georg intended (landing on top of the head or in the neck area, just under the collar :) ).

The extractor spring appears very taut. It is real hard to raise the extractor manually. I noticed a P-08 spring rehab kit for sale on ebay. Don't know if they are good but the seller has quite a lot of gun parts going on.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I replaced the mainspring and the springs for the trigger, firing pin and extractor.

The replacement mainspring was a tad shorter than the one I took out. This may mean the new one will not bind up. The trigger pull is increased a little bit but nothing inordinate. Most notably, the extractor spring replacement was shorter and after installing it the extractor was easier to lift manually. The extractor being too tight was probably responsible for all the stovepipes.

I also bent the magazine catch spring a little to help hold the magazines in better.

Hopefully it will do better at the range next time.

Can you believe that I haven't been to the range since December!

I visited my range today. The pistol was stovepiping after nearly every round. Then I noticed that the ejector broke off.

Now I need to get a new ejector.

RR, I have in stock NOS WW2 Mauser PO8 ejectors @$75 each or used @$50. Please also include $6 S&H and send MO or check to Tom Heller POB 398 St.Chalres, MO. 63302. Thanks, Tom

I am thinking of sending the pistol to you for a look-see. I replaced the recoil spring with one that had slightly less pressure Could that have caused/contributed to the broken ejector, or is it just one of those things? In addition the pistol seems to shoot high and to the left.

I doubt that the change of recoil springs had anything to do with your ejector failure. I don't do any "accurizing" but it sounds like your need a higher front sight blade (NOS ones available @$25) and repositioned to the right. I'll be happy to inspect your luger, diagnose any problems and quote cost of repair for a $75 inspection fee + $25 return S&H. Tom