New Luger
 

Howdy!

I've just purchased my first Luger, but thanks to California law, I can't actually pick it up until 3 January. It's a 1916 Erfurt which I plan to shoot as it's pretty common as Lugers go. All the markings appear to agree, the bore is clean, the action is tight and all of the blue is there, though a slight bit faded compared to blues I'm used to seeing on modern weapons. It appears to have been originally rust blued. Is that common? Anyway, it came with two matching magazines and a brown holster with a small tool attached in the flap. The holster is in very good shape except the leather on the strap is broken. I plan to to use hand loads, so I would appreciate any info you folks may have re: powder, grains, bullet weight, OAL, etc.

Thanks, Bob...

Bob, welcome to the forum. We'd love to see pictures.


Although 1916's are more "common" than some, if it has two matching magazines and the luger is matched, you might regret shooting it. although not really common, parts do break and if you break a numbered part, you have just destroyed any collector value to a shooter value.

Pictures of each side, of the magazines etc, could help you decide if you want to shoot this once or twice or be a frequent shooter.


Ed

I stopped back to the shop where I bought the pistol to examine it more closely. All numbers match, including the mags. I couldn't verify the grips as I wasn't prepared at that time to remove and examine them. I did, however, observe that the that though the trigger, safety lever, etc. are straw colored, the extractor and locking bolt are blued. Careful examination of the surface over the breech (where the date is) and the crown & Erfurt marking on the bolt reveals smoothed surfaces where a relatively sharp transition should be, perhape due to generous use of the buffing wheel. Further, the "yellow" is completely gone from the safety marking "GESICHERT".

Therefore this is a shooter. I'll add detailed photos after I pick up the gun.

I still need load info.