Skeeter Skelton on Lugers
 

Skeeter Skelton did an article on Lugers in Shooting Times in 1969.

http://www.darkcanyon.net/handguns_b..._July_1969.htm

Interesting. I can't claim credit for finding this, I spotted it on another gun forum.

StrikeEagle

Skeeter really liked Lugers and wrote a couple of articles. One of them detailed his construction of a "long-barreled Luger", which resulted in a 6-inch 9mm shooter with a Micro adjustable rear sight. Wish I knew where that gun is now.

I always enjoyed Skeeter's articles, had a thick magazine or two of compliations of his articles, was very enjoyable.

Ed

Several interesting points in this article. The .22 centerfire cartridge in particular. Wonder what happened to it? It is interesting that P-38s sold for more than P-08 at one point in time...

Hi Wayne,

Welcome to the Luger Forum and thanks for the good read...

Nice to read through the posts! Many years ago when I went into a gunshop to buy my first gun, I knew NOTHING about guns... well, almost nothing. I knew of 'twenty-two caliber' and I knew of 'Lugers'... so my goal was to buy a Luger in .22.

And they had one! LOL

I still own that Stoeger Luger... it'll always have a place in my heart and in my safe. :)

I'm much more of a shooter than a collector... but I own 2 REAL Lugers. Both shooters and I'm very certain would not impress anyone here except as well-loved shooters. I'll dig them out and maybe you folks can tell me exactly what I have.

Thank you for the welcome! :)

StrikeEagle

I was stricken by this statement as it agrees with my own assessment: "For me, most Lugers are light in the muzzle, with a bit too much of the weight over the shooting hand. " He goes on to say that "Many shooters like this quality" and for those who don't there are the longer barreled versions, which is true, the six inch variation seems about perfect to me.

I note that Skeeter Skelton considered the P-38 inferior to the P-08. ("while the inferior but intriguingly new P-38,..." ) I'm not the resident expert on this subject, but I lived some 12 years in Europe, including 3+ years in Germany, mostly in the late '60's and early '70's. I had numerous discussions with ex-German soldiers and others who encountered or used the 08 Parabellum and the P-38. The concensus seemed to be that the P-38 was a more effective military combat pistol for the following reasons: 1.) It could be carried chamber loaded with hammer down, and drawn from a holster and fired double action much faster by the average soldier than the 08 could be fired because releasing the safety lever required a seperate manipulation. 2.) In race track terminology, the P-38 was a better "mudder", that is less easily fouled by foreign material. 3.) The P-38 was considered more functionally reliable, especially with replacement parts. 4.) The P-38 seems better suited to a southpaw, at least this one. I welcome disagreement on this subject.

I don't think you will get any disagreement on the points you mention.

I just read through Skelton's article again, and it appears that much of it is an appreciation of mechanical sophistication, manufactured elegance, ergonomic grace--an ineffible esthetic which those of us on this Forum somehow innately appreciate. Inasmuch as it may be said of a weapon this is a beautiful object, and designed to be so.

None of this is shared by the P-38, "inferior" on these levels (and on a practical basis, the P-08 is inherently much more accurate).

--Dwight

Thanks, Dwight, for your reply. I look at most pistols, especially of WW1 and earlier vintage, from the standpoint of a machinist and mechanical and manufacturing engineer, as well as that of a shooter. I've only owned one Luger in my life, a 1916 Erfurt with a trigger pull that would make serious accuracy very difficult, especially under stress. The sideplate was not original to the gun, and that necessitated some remedial work (build-up of the whateveryacallit that the L-shaped piece pressed down on when the trigger is pulled) for the breech block to come back into battery with the firing mechanism cocked. I think I can see that the P08 would be inherently more accurate than the P38 for the same reason as the Nambu, the Lahti and other pistols where the barrel is fixed to the receiver or frame. I haven't touched or looked seriously at a Luger since 1962, except for one carried by an Israeli soldier sitting by me on a train in 1973. For some reason my interest in the Luger is aroused now.