Help with recoil lever pin.
 

I have only one Luger pictured below.

https://i.imgur.com/kSxX0c9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/waogaqh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wdEKCI7.jpg

I am planning to sell it at auction and thought I'd clean it as I only fired it one time years ago and have left it alone in the collection since then.

In reassembling the pistol, I thought I had completed the job but a pin was left on the bench. I see that it is the recoil lever pin. I cannot push it back into position as it appears that the mainspring is putting pressure on the recoil lever and the pin will not line up with the frame and hole in the lever. Some have suggested removing the mainspring, putting the pin back in and then re-inserting the mainspring.

Can someone suggest the correct course of action?

As can be seen from the photos, this is an Erfurt Luger with matching frame, barrel and slide, and magazine base plate all with a serial number of 9152. The base plate is aluminum, not wood, so maybe it's a replacement?

Anyway, any assistance would be much appreciated.

This pin can be a royal pain to get back in once removed. I have never seen this pin simply fall out so I have to believe you disassembled it for cleaning ?? Generally one only removes this pin for repairs.

The best way is to relieve the recoil lever of mainspring tension by inserting a suitably sized pin punch in the hole at the bottom of the mainspring guide and pulling up. Once the spring is up the recoil lever can be disengaged from the mainspring. Now aligning the recoil lever pivot hole with the rest of the frame should be easy ... insert the pin. Now re-engage the recoil lever with the mainspring by again pulling up and gently mating the recoil lever to the Mainspring Guide hook.

Have fun but take a break if you're getting frustrated ya ??

Welcome to the forum.

You'll probably have to remove the recoil spring before re-inserting the pin unless you can re-align the lever with a conical pin first. It's likely under a fair amount of pressure which will interfere with getting the holes aligned.

A special tool is generally used for pushing the recoil spring alignment rod up and unhooking it from the lever. It may be more difficult since the lever has no fulcrum to rotate on.

Note that your Luger has been refinished, and should be marketed as such. The magazine and sear safeties are also intact on this pistol, which is unusual.

A lot of the magazine safety is there, but like most surviving magazine safeties, the tab that blocks the trigger when the magazine is not in the gun has been removed.

You can do this on a table, but if you have a vice, it might be easier.

Look at "How to change Luger Main spring?" in the "Luger Accessories" forum.
(sorry, I don't know how to link to it, but it's a recent post I found using the Search with "main spring".

Be careful, it could fly out so wear safety glasses.

I wondered if there are some kind of spreader pliers that would make it easier to push the spring - something like snap-ring pliers !?

I was indeed cleaning the pistol after a field strip and carefully reassembled it according to my manuals and Youtube videos. No doubt some members here are represented in those videos. It is quite perplexing as to how the pin could have been released as I did not attempt to fiddle with the mainspring at all.

Anyway, thanks to all for the advice. I will work on it and report back.

You absolutely DO NOT have to remove the mainspring to get the recoil lever pin back in. You would be asking for more problems with zero gain to your immediate problem. What you want to do is relieve the pressure exerted on the recoil lever by the mainspring that is preventing you from lining up the holes to put the recoil lever pin back in. Just disconnect the mainsprings hook from the recoil lever bottom bar ... then the recoil lever just slides around in the frame and can easily be lined up to the frame's hole. It really is that simple and I wish I was there to show you. No 'special' tools are needed for the job other than your basic pin punch set and good manual dexterity.

The first time you play with your recoil lever is the most traumatic but after you've done it once or twice it's childs play and can be done in under 4 minutes after that.


The following is a YouTube video that starts with the mainspring out ... this was done to show folks how to re-assemble a Luger mainspring and recoil lever. The part regarding the recoil lever shows how easy it is. But you do not have to remove the mainspring at all but if you do please protect your eyes at a minimum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3x5Ie50Bdw

I want to thank everyone here for the great advice, particularly "spangy". I did not remove the mainspring to get the lever pin back in place and the video you suggested was key to understanding the procedure.

Again, thanks to all.

Did this at Mikes kitchen table gun shop when I was about 15.
Decided there was no real reason to ever do that again.

Child's play! If ya want a real challenge take apart a Remington mod 51 or a Mauser broomhandle!

I definitely agree Mike ... the 1st time I did it I didn't remove the mainspring tension at first ... After over an hour trying to line up the lever's pin holes I used the my tiny brain and did it the right way. http://i.imgur.com/NXpGI.gif

Even though I now find this procedure child's play there really is no reason to remove the recoil lever pin except for repairs.

As an aside, taking this pin out, is NOT a field strip.

Field strip to me is upper off, toggle out and rest is left alone except you might want to clean firing pin, etc. Taking pins out is not something that I would do unless I was stripping it for parts.