Rear Sight on 1900 American Eagle
 

I have been trying to figure out if all lugers rear sight are dove tailed into the rear toggle mechanism. I recentlt bought one and all the SN match on the toogle for the gun. in fact all numbers that are stamped match (SN 8372). My rear sight is not the V-shaped sight, but a peep sight. I have yet to see another on any of the pictures I have seen on the internet. Im sure the original was lost some time ago and they just replaced it with whatever would work. But the way most of the toogles look on line, appears to be all one piece and not a dove tailed design. I have been curious about this, so if anyone can help me out I would appreciate it.

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If your pistol is the standard barrel model then there are NO dovetails on a standard A/E Luger's rear toggle link.

A gunsmith machined this for a previous owner. This modification has ruined any collector value the pistol might have had, (but may make it easier to shoot!)

Thats what I was thinking. That really sucks cause everything matches number wise on this gun. I tried to add the pics, did they upload?

What gets me about that part if it was machined to fit that sight, is that it still has the bluing down in the groove. Interesting!!

That would indicate at the very least a reblued toggle link. It is possible that the entire pistol has been reblued. Your photos did not load. If you want to try to upload photos, go the the "advanced" reply button and scroll down until you see where they offer to manage attachments.

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These are the pics of my luger. I was reading about how guns that have been reblued have rounded edges, mine are pretty sharp. And when you look at it under a bright light you see some rust stains coming thru, but its hard to see.

I have another question too about the stamp on the inside of the gun. Ive heard it called the flaming bomb and that if it had that stamp it went thru some military inspector. Not saying its one of the test lugers. But I was curious what that stamp meant. Ive seen it on 3 different parts on the gun. An one being the middle link on the toggle. The other 2 are on the actaul body next to the takedown lever and the other next to the barrel.

no, that is old style thinking about the flaming bomb, it was a DWM inspection marking on earlier guns, it has nothing to do with the military

ref rebluing, it really depends, the reason things get rounded is that folks use a buffing wheel and buff it hard. if done by hand and someone knows what they are doing, then it will be much harder to tell, especially on a old reblue.

What you look for on a luger for reblue is the obvious first, blue inside, the rear toggle link whacks the rear when shooting, when in the blue or barely whacked, that is a good sign it was reblued, look for rounded edges, look for acceptance or markings are not just lightly struck, but seemingly 'wron' off, which would be a reblue

A reblue is cleaning all the old blue off, then rusting it, cleaning (carding the new rust off), then keep doing that until it appears the right color.


Ed

saying that, my american eagle, DMW and 4 diget SN aint very deep. There is pitting around the american eagle and around the inside of the barrel.

Saying that all the known issues with the gun, what kinda value would you put on it. I paid a grand for it 3 months ago. it has the wood base magazine with germany stamped on it. I have shot it, but only 1 clip thru it. But it chambered fine and seemed to shot good. But that damned Ol' rear sight. I knew once I started looking at guns on line, that wasnt right for the gun.

That is an interesting modification. It is no bubba hack job. It was done by a qualified macihinist for someone that liked to shoot. It is a nice early piece with its own unique history and although the collector value has been diminished somewhat it is still a neat gun. For a grand you didn't come off too badly. To me, the pitting around the chamber crest is more of a detraction than the sight.

I paid a $1,000 for heavily buffed and reblued 1900 in the 10k range 3 or 4 years ago; I would say value would be slightly less now.

The price you paid is about what they go for, saying that, commercial guns sell less than say a military.

I have a couple of 1900's for sale at Legacy Collectables, to include a very nice Test Luger and although there is interest, they just don't sell like say a 1941 byf....


Ed

I agree with Ron Wood that this is a very well done modification. It is unfortunate that it was done on a rare model. While the modification could be reversed by a qualified professional machinist/gunsmith...if you price the work required, I am sure that you would find that it would not be inexpensive, and I doubt you would ever recoup your investment in the reversal of the modification back to a standard rear sight.

I recommend that you enjoy it for what it is... a quality shooter that you got for a good price.

Well, I look at it that at least I finally got one and it shots. So thats a plus. It kills me Ron that the american eagle does have the pitting around it. Well I guess Ill stock up on 30 cal and emjoy shooting it and let some others enjoy shooting it as well. Its always cool to have a piece of history.

I do appreciate yall giving me some feed back on this gun. I think I may just have to save up and get another. These old guns are so addictive. My closet is getting full. I just got back from shooting my arisaka 99. It dont have matching numbers, but it is fun to shoot.

Thanks guys!

Enjoy the gun for what it is. Very few folks have a M1900 that is a shooter and even less that have one that was formerly owned by a marksman who modified it to be a tack driver. I don't have a spare $1000 to spend on such a gun, but if I did I would buy it and relish the experience of punching holes where I intended them to go! These early guns were works of art and we sometimes forget that when they were new people shot them, and shot them well.

The one time I did shot it, I was a little impressed. The recoil on the gun was so small. Dont know if it was because of the 30 cal or what. But the 8 rounds a shot (one full clip) had a good grouping at about 30 ft I guess. That day I was just curious if it shot at all. But I had torn the gun all the way down and looked at everything and oiled it up. I had a feeling it would. It took me a minute to figure out how the trigger fired the firing pin though. I would see the pin all the way out until it was almost all the way closed. But I figured it out though.

But either way its a keeper to me. Hell now the rear sight is even more of a conversation piece.

I also admire the addition of the peep sight; something I had not thought of...But the aperture is awful big...

I have been putting Redfield peep sights on Enfield No 1 'carbines' lately, and all the peeps like yours are threaded to take whatever size aperture you desire...Which makes me ask, is the inside of your peep threaded??? If so, you could mount different size apertures to it...

...Just a thought...

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There are no signs threading. It has a counterbore on one side and flat on the other. and honestly size wise and too bad for the gun. Just my opinion!

Im glad I posted this about the peep sight. It makes me like it even more knowing it may be a one of kind or not many like anyways.

Appreciate yalls thoughts on this

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Here is another stamp on the inside ofthe toogle. It is a number "1" and is on the rear part of the toogle that has the peep sight. Is this an inspectors stamp and common. Whats yalls thoughts on this stamp.

I am too. In the last couple years, a couple members have posted pics of re-barreled artillery Lugers with the barrel replaced with a 4"...But retaining the artillery toggle...IOW, no rear sight...

I had not even thought of dovetailing the toggle...Much less a peep sight...

Both are excellent ideas...(For the above situation anyway)... :thumbup:

(I must save the URL of this thread) :D

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Thats an interesting statement I havent thought of. My barrel is no stamped with a serial number. So my question is do you think this gun was restored at one point in time and thats when they added the peep sight. Makes me wonder if this gun ever saw any military action, whether it being someones personal gun or an issued gun. But I dont think its got any military stampings or import stamps. I really just dont know how to tell if it did.

Glen,

Congratulations on a nice M1900 shooter. I also have a 1900 shooter (mismatached, slightly buffed and reblued). If you intend to shoot this gun I suggest that you get a spare leaf type recoil spring and a spare extractor. Tom Heller (Lugerdoc) here on the forum has excellent quality reproduction extractors. The leaf main springs are getting hard to find, all the more reason to get one now. Happy shooting.
KFS

Yeah I was also pondering in getting an aftermarket magazine and grips. My magazine has the wooden bottom and the wooden grips also have the "72" serial number stamp on the backside. So Id hate to crack them puppies. They aint got many scratches on them. Just gotta fifure out how to remove the extractor. I havent removed that part yet on the toggle.

Do you mean was it re-barreled??? Um...Well...here's a pic of two original 1900AE's with barrel serials...

Glenn,

The "1" is just an inspector's mark and has no particular significance. The barrel should have a serial number, so the gun has either been rebarreled or the markings on the barrel were obliterated when it was refinished (I would tend to go with a rebarrel since it was obviously a marksman's gun). There would be no military markings since the only military issue American Eagles were the US Test Trials guns, and even they did not have any military markings. The only other military issue M1900 Lugers were the Swiss.

I would not attempt to remove the extractor unless you actually break it while shooting. More M1900 Luger extractors are broken by attempting to remove them than actually fail in shooting. You have to lift up on the forward end of the extractor to free the lug on the bottom from the detent in the breech block and then pull forward on the extractor to remove it. Kind of a fiddley operation and a bit risky if you haven't done it before (don't ask me how I know!). It is an un-numbered part so replacement is not a detraction.

For Rich (postino): The apertiure is large that is true, but consider that it is being held at arms length, not with only a couple of inches eye relief that you would have with a rifle peep sight. At arms length it looks more like a ghost ring than a peep sight (at least for these old eyes).

But I dont think its got any military stampings or import stamps.

Germany IS an import marking.

As someone said earlier, "not to be a smartass" but GERMANY is an export stamp.:bigbye:

I just can't win today!

I've read here that late magazines won't work in a 1900...But at least one does...(Or so I've read)... ;)

I would contact G.T. here about a magazine and Hugh Clark about grips...Which also are pretty much 1900-specific...

So this gun having the barrel changed and the toggle modified. How bad does it hurt the value. And as for the extractor, I know my limitations and thats why I never even attempted to take the whole toggle apart other than removing the firing pin. Talking about firing pins, do the original firing pins have a serial number on it for the 1900 luger. Cause mine dont. A possible replacement pin as well.

Postino,
So your saying a brand new aftermarket magazine wont work in my gun. I almost bought one from a local gun shop here the other day. So I dont need to try and get that mag from them or what?

Someone had a post hereabouts regarding that, that I read a couple days ago; hopefully he'll chime in here (I don't own a 1900)...

Or you could walk into the gun shop, slap that mag into your Luger, and see what happens... :D

Edit: Post on mag interchangeability may not have been recent; I've been reading/Searching for info on 1900's...can't recall who said it and can't find the post!!! :(

M1900 firing pins are not numbered.

Well thats good to know that it wasnt stamped. I think Ive seen some that were on later models.

The more I look at your gun, the more I like it. You have a keeper. Enjoy it. I would love to know how easy it is to accurately punch holes at 25 yards slow fire. I suspect with care it will group at less than two inches.

Ill have to let you know and get back with you on that. Talking about ammo, I bought a box of Fiocchi semi jacket soft point 93 grain. What are your thoughts on ammo to use. I was really curious how corrosive this ammo I got is, granted I clean all my guns that day after I shoot. So this being a luger you better believe Ill clean. But still curios what is the better bullet to use on this old gun and not damage it or cause any issues with feeding or to high of grain content.

Fiocchi should be good to use, I haven't had any experience with it though. If you think about it, what else can you use this ammo for? No one chambers anything for this caliber anymore except for the Rugers that were built several years ago and came with a spare barrel in 30 cal. I suspect those for the most part were never used. Benelli built a pistol in this caliber, they didn't sell many of them. FN built a HP in this caliber but there aren't that many of them over here as did Beretta, so if you think about it all of the intended market for the 30 luger is for those who own the Lugers that are chambered for it whether it is the many thousands of the original commercials or the 70's built Mausers.

I acquired my 1900 AE in 1974 when I was 14. I came with 4-5 hundred rounds of ammo from the 30-40-50's era. All were mixed boxes of Winchester, Western, Remington, Peters and were either FMJ or soft point. Mine really liked the sp type and I burned most of it up. I later found Norma brand at a Gibsons Discount Center on close out for $6.97 a box and picked up 6-7 boxes of that, it really liked that too.(Well, my dad got it for me)

So, I'll bet that any of the 30 cal you find will not be a problem. If you do happen to find some of the old stuff don't shoot it as it has become collectible in itsself. :)

SteveM

I figured I add some more Pictures of my 1900 American Eagle

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