Help me out fellas
 

I've got a commercial Luger that just doesn't want to work right for me. She's a mix match shooter that I've been tracing down the same problem with. When you go to chamber a round the extractor doesn't grab it and actually pushes it so that the firing pin lightly strikes the primer. At first I thought extractor which I replaced and didn't fix it. Now I'm thinking it's the recoil spring which I have the replacement part coming to me in the mail. The only other thing I can think it to be is the barrel or actual recoil lever. Both seem fine but I'm wondering if the bullet can go deep into the chamber perhaps it's bad.... What do you guys think ????

The 9mm Luger round headspaces on the cartridge case rim. Are you using the correct ammunition for your Luger?

What is the cartridge case length?

If the chamber is undamaged, the ammunition should not push completely into the chamber.

Marc

Is your Luger a 9mm?

I moved this to the repair section and also check-marked to notify you.

What does your chamber/barrel look like? If the chamber ledge is eroded or somehow incorrect, then the loaded round can go past the ledge instead of headspacing onto it. Then the round is too deep into the barrel for the extractor to grab the cartridge rim, or for the firing pin to reach the primer for ignition.

chamber reamer...
 

BTW, Doc, (rhuff) I now have a finish 9mm chamber reamer, and the gauges! Sooo, we're ready to take the plunge anytime you're ready! best to you, til...lat'r....GT:cheers:

The extractor should ride up over the cartridge rim. If it's not riding up and over but acting as a ram and pushing the cartridge further into the chamber I would have to suspect the extractor spring.

The Luger is a 9mm. Currently I'm using standard 9mm 115gr ammo. I've change both the extractor and spring for this pistol and it still pushes the round into the barrel to the point that the firing pin barely touches the primer. I have to pull back the toggle slightly and move the bullet under the extractor and rechamber it. At that point it will fire with the trigger pull and sometimes the next round will cycle into battery no problem.

GT
Good to know....I will contact you in a few days.

Doc

Here's a quick question. Should the recoil spring have enough tension to close the toggle when you slightly open it? I've seen on other pistols that then toggle will close by itself after you "break" the locked toggle action . Is this true because mine doesn't do this. If you let it go from fully open it will close by itself but if you slowly close it by hand it reaches a point where you don't feel any spring tension.

Thats how I decock my luger when it hits that point where it stops I pull the trigger and its snaps shut.

So a new barrel? Or is there really a difference in 9mm ammo case length between makers?

reply
 

I replaced my recoil spring and it seems to act a lot better. I picked up some Winchester white box ammo and am going to see if that was my problem. I guess if it doesn't fix it then i'll need to replace the barrel. Should I go that route or should I try to get the top dollar for the one I have and buy an s/42

Your profile doesn't specify where you live; some Euro countries prohibit pistols that shoot 'military' caliber ammunition. It is not uncommon for one of those pistols to be re-chambered for a 'different' 9mm cartridge, to allow it to be marketed without restriction. You may have one of those.

Hope not but I'm located in the great stat of Texas in the good ole USA

To us Yankees, that's a foreign country..."Occupied Mexico"... ;)

New shooter!
 

Hey Rich, post your new shooter... I really like it... GT

Any idea on a good place to find the go no go gauges for a decent price

If you can locate a box of PMC 115gr or 124gr FMJ cartridges, give them a try in your Luger. I have a barrel that was acting just like yours (due to a Bubba gunsmith) but it would function correctly with PMC ammo. PMC ammo uses a little thicker brass, and the case mouth is a little wider where it would headspace on the chamber ledge. PMC is not expensive ammo, and might well be worth a try. You will be able to tell without going to the range.

Remove the upper receiver from the frame, and remove the toggle train. Then hold the barrel muzzle down, and drop a round into the chamber. See how deep into the chamber it goes compared to the other ammo that you tried to shoot. IF, it sits higher in the chamber, that is a good sign.

Then remove the firing pin, spring and spring retainer from the breachblock. After they are removed(very important to remove these pieces), reinstall you toggle train into your upper receiver. Open the toggle train and place a PMC cartridge into the chamber. Then slowly close the toggle train and see if the cartridge will headspace correctly, and allow the extractor to snap over the extraction ring if the case. If it does, then open the toggle train and your extractor should remove the cartridge from the chamber and allow the ejector to eject the round.

Good luck.

I did buy a box of Winchester white box ammo which I've heard is a good bullet to fire from this weapon. I believe the grain weight is about 115 but not too sure without grabbing the box and looking at it. I'll give pmc ammo a look if this Winchester white box stuff doesn't work but its going to be awhile until I can get some time to get to the range and actually test out all the repairs I have done to it thus far. I'd really like to get my hands on an s/42 with the waffen marks but I don't like the price tag. Anything over a grand for a pistol I think is just too much but I guess your paying for the history of it as well.

So I made it to the range with the pistol after replacing the recoil spring. The previous recoil spring had lost a lot of tension to it which I discovered after removing it. With the new spring in place the pistol seems to act a lot more crisp. With that said I chambered the Winchester ammo and found that it did the same thing. After clearing the weapon I tried to chamber it again and as soon as the toggle snapped shut the weapon fired and attempted to load another round which it failed to do. I then cleared that obvious malfunction and cycled it yet gain this time there was no premature firing but the round clearly went once again fully into battery and the extractor resting behind the rim of the bullet case. I believe at this point it's pretty much going to be a barrel change. So do you guys agree with me? I was able to locate an nos barrel from dwm for around $80.

My further question is what will this barrel change do to the value of the gun? Should I change it or potentially sell it and inform the new owner of its problems ? I would really much rather have an s/42 or something from that ww2 era then one that predates it

Drew,

If the Luger is all-matching and decent shape, the new, mis-matched barrel would relegate it to shooter category. But as a functioning shooter, mostly matching, and decent shape, it would still likely approach $1k in value, give or take. $80 for a NOS DWM barrel sounds like a smokin' deal. If you can live with the bottom line after all is working again, then go for it!

If your sights are set on a WWIII vintage, then probably best to pass it on to a good home while you're looking for that Mauser-made version. Unless you're stuck on the war history aspect of it, you should also consider one of the 70s Mausers, in which you'd encounter optimal metallurgical characteristics, and likely a gun that is very like new, and no worry about breaking a numbered small part.

I don't ever want a WWIII vintage weapon of any kind.........

I currently have severAl vintage ww2 weapons

Drew:
I'm trying to grasp your problem here.
First of all, was your trip to the range followed by a trip to the laundry? Having it fire on releasing the toggle would have scared the ****out of me.
So you released the toggle and it fired? Now, with an empty gun, does it release the striker when you snap the toggle closed? I'm having trouble understanding how premature ignition would be a barrel issue, as it sounds distinctly left side to me.
Then once it closes on a loaded (or dummy) round the extractor is behind the rim, not in the rim? But the toggle is completely closed, no gaps?
So you think that the shoulder in the chamber is too deep, letting the loaded cartridge seat too deep into the barrel?
Thanks for your clarification(s).
Another option to re-barreling would be sleeving.
dju

A too deep chamber would not be a factor in the gun going off upon toggle closure. You have a sear/firing pin interface issue here, not a chamber problem, at least in this specific case.

I have repaired the firing problem since then. The main problem I have is exactly the bullet chambers too deep into the barrel possibly because the shoulder is worn or modified. Who was it on here that changes barrels with supplied barrels?

Could it possibly be a 9x21mm conversion from the original 9x19mm, (although I don't think 9x21mm would fit or function in the magazine)?

Is there any dicernable shoulder to the chamber?

Wow. You don't even have to Search - there are several threads in this sub-forum on it... :thumbup:

Neither do I!! But I'll leave the typo intact in hopes that it helps prevent such a thing from ever happening...

Ha! I too missed that the first time around! :D

What's that old joke..."I don't know what weapons WW III will be fought with, but WW IV will be fought with sticks & stones"... :eek:

IIRC, Albert Einstein said it... no joke.

Check with GT (Gerry Tomeck) on the Forum for new PO8 barrels and installation. TH

Or if the barrel is matching, consider relining it.

The barrel is not a matching barrel so changing it would be a bad thing I guess

So I picked up an unmarked dwm barrel. Cost was about 93$ hopefully this will solve the problem and I can actually shoot this gun properly for the first time

Have you talked to GT concerning the problem that you have with the bbl. that is on the luger? The reason that I say that is that I had an aftermarket 5in bbl. on a 1939 receiver that a "bubba-smith" screwed up royally when he tried to headspace it for me. The chamber ridge was junk after he finished!! GT removed the bbl. and machined back the bbl. flange and shortened the chamber end of the bbl. and recut a new 9mm chamber in the bbl. It looks fantastic!! I hope to get it to the range soon, but have tried it with dummy rounds with great success.

GT is also you man if you want the bbl. changed out for another bbl. Just trying to give you some options to get your Luger up and running.

Drew,
What part of Texas are you in? If near the Houston area, I can check the headspace for you, and/or change out your bbl..
Hugh

I'm actually in Houston on the west side. I'm pretty sure the head space is bad since no matter what round I get it loads fully into the breech. How much to change out the barrel and how long?