Avoiding dry firing
 

I have two Lugers, both manufactured by DWM(BKIW) in the 1927-29 time frame. One has a sear safety and clipped mag safety and the other has neither. I can avoid dry firing the one without the safeties by pulling back on the toggle about and inch or so and releasing while pulling the trigger. I have not been able to make this work on the one with the safeties. Am I missing something here?

Don M,

I am not sure because I don't own a Luger with a sear safety, but I believe that if you pull the toggle back and then ease it forward until you feel the resistance of the sear against the firing pin surface, you should be able to pull the trigger at that point and safely lower the firning pin without the sear safety engaging and preventing you from doing so.

I am sure that everyone who owns such a Luger that reads this will try it and report back so we all will know if this is possible...

Thanks for a great mechanical engineering question...

Pick up some snap-caps and problem solved. You can even make your own.

As assembled, a sear-safety Luger can be trigger-released in this way with no problem. The sear safety comes into play when the receiver group is removed from the frame (more precisely, once the side plate is removed).

--Dwight

pipeman45 -- What's a "snap-cap"?

Dwight -- That's what I thought but I can't seem to make it work.

Don -

Snap Caps are dummy rounds which are specifically designed for dry firing. One uses a spring loaded cap to absorb the impact of the firing pin. Another type uses a nylon cap for the same purpose. You can find them at Brownell's.

Luke

I use casing drilled out so a pencil eraser fits in it tightly, also have a bullet inserted into the shell casing to correct overall length, they are marked with bright blue paint to avoid embarassment. I use them for testing magazines and feeding for all my semi autos, especially those with a free floating firing pin. Doesn't take but one slam fire to make a convert out of you.

rgg

Thanks to all. I'm still puzzled about why the trigger release doesn't work but I've ordered some Snap Caps from Brownells to take care of it until I figure it out.