1917 Artillery problem
 

I recently sold a 1917 artillery to a friend...he took it to the range and found that 8 times out of 10 it failed to **** after the new round was chambered....it had to be done manually....(the trigger "L" bar and retaining pin were recently replaced....how do we correct this problem??)...Thanks...

Several things can contribute to this problem. The first thing that I would do is to replace the recoil spring in the handle. due to age the springs tend to weaken and will not return the breach block back to battery quickly enough. I am sure that the Luger Doc can help you out in this area. Also check that the breachblock is traveling smoothly in the receiver rails and is adequatly lubricated. The ammo that you are using may also be a factor. You might try a different load. I am passing on info that I learned here on this forum, hope that it helps.
Craig

Thanks Craig....

The problem can be in the trigger lever itself, or as you called it the "L" bar, if the lever is not properly set/angled and the back face where the lever is cams for the trigger sear bar to ride over it, the gun will not ****, but allow the firing pin to slip on by and not catch on the sear bar...clear as mud??... I believe all the problem are in the new trigger lever, you may even need to change the degree of open/close of the trigger lever...and shipping to US for repair would not be cost worthy....but I believe all your problems are related to that lever, play with it....email me if I can help, even a quick phone call may help clear up the problem as perhaps I have not made myself clear here....I hate to say trust me, but I've done lots of these, and think I can help you more by a call then here....best to you

Hi Policeluger.....Yes.....That makes sense....I understand what you mean,and will play with the lever so that the firing pin does not slip by....Thanks for your help...

Don't I have a 1913/1920 police Luger comming from you....perhaps you can send the complete side plate and I could fit it to one of my guns and send back to you??? not sure about Ca. laws about (abot) shipping gun parts....abot....get it :)!!!

PL is probably correct. The trigger lever in the side plate must drop out of the way of the disconnector (plunger in the trigger bar) when the trigger is released. This is a common problem that I work on at least a couple of times a week for customers. TH

Thank You Gentlemen...I will ask the owner if he wants to do that....Cheers...Peter..

I had a similar problem with an artillery that had not been fired for some time. It would **** every time manually, but fail to **** when fired. After comparing the sear operation with another Luger, I thoyght the artillery sear was a little "sluggish" in springing back (I thought the sear spring might be weak). After a dedicated cleaning of the sear, it's worked 100% since. Suspect the sear was just "gunked up" and didn't return to position soon enough to catch the firing pin when fired, but was fast enough for manual cocking.

LC, I'll bet that your friend's LPO8 is cocking, otherwise it probably would fire multiple rounds, but just not allowing the disconnector in trigger bar to reingage the triggle lever after each shot. TH

Hi Lugerdoc....That makes sense....I will play with the lever to get it to release the disconnector....Thank you for your help.....

LC, If you don't have a different trigger lever to try, you may want to increase the angle of the bevel at the rear of top arm of lever. Also check the spring pressure on the disconnector. It should move smoothly and quickly. TH

LD,Thanks for all the tips,I will post the results once we have worked on the gun...