Diagnose A Problem
 

Well, I took the P-08 and the P-38 out this weekend and had a lot of fun. I did notice that they caught a lot of attention.

The P-38 after a few rounds shot beautiful and I was able to at least hit the target. Especially after realized that when aiming at the bulls eye it actually was hitting about 8-10 inches below. Once I compensated for that I was actually was able to get a full clip in about a 6 inch group at 15 yards. Hopefully I will improve as I shoot it more.

The P-08 was a different story, It would only work as a single shot as it would not feed properly and I could use some help diagnosing the issues. I only have one clip as the new ones that I ordered have not arrived yet:

1) AT first it would not eject the spent cartridge fully and it would jam up in the action. This happened for the first couple of clips. At time you had to pull the clip so that the new cartridge would fall our and the spent one could then be cleared.


2) After a couple of clips, it would eject the spent cartridge correctly, but would not feed the next cartridge correctly. I would shoot once and then pull the trigger a second time and it would go click on an empty chamber. It would not pick up the next cartridge and chamber it. Please advise on what may be going wrong here. I am just hoping that it just needed a good cleaning and lub.



After we were done, I brought both home and took them apart and cleaned them, I hope they both will work better the next time we go out in two weeks over Christmas.

What ammo were you using?

I agree that the ammo may have been underpowered... Fiocchi ammo is particularly bad for Lugers as it was loaded to make sure that if it were accidently used in the 9mm Gilisenti auto pistol that it wouldn't disassemble the gun in the shooter's hand... The cartridge cases are virtually identical.

Winchester bulk white box of 100 rounds 115 gr. FMJ ammo available in most walmart stores is very reliable ammo in both Lugers and P-38 pistols. Make sure the gun is reasonably lubricated with breakfree during shooting...

I am using the Fiocchi ammo as it was just about the only .30 ammo I could find. Here in the bay area none of the walmart stores carry ammo. That is a problem about living in California.

Because I live in California, I found out I can only purchase one gun every 30 days and I have to have a safety certification before I can buy. So do you have a recommendation on a specific brand?

Thanks


Joe

I live in the high desert area of Ca. I've got 4 boxs of factory new Winchester 30 luger for sale. send me a PM if you want them.....

If we are talking 7.65 mm Parabellum (30 Luger) the Winchester stuff is under loaded and the Fiocchi stuff is more so. The Glisenti was originally chambered for the 7.65 mm Parabellum, but very few exist as shortly after it was chambered for the 9 mm Glisenti. The latter is a reduced load version of the 9 mm Parabellum.

1. Make sure the pistol is properly cleaned and lubricated.

2. Make sure you have a good magazine.

3. Check to see if the recoil spring is a factory original. Lugers are notorious for having had their recoil springs exchanged or modified by some one who had no idea of what they were doing. This isn't really the fault of the pistol. To paraphrase Georg, the springs have to be right.

4. IF all elsefails, think of reloading. The Winchester and Fiocchi ammo ain't never gonna be right.

Ok, how do I tell if the recoil spring is original or a correct one?


Thanks

Joe

Joe, If a M1906 or later, the coil recoil spring should have 17 turns. If 19 or 21 turns, it is for a 9mm. If you have a M1900 with the flat recoil spring, there is not really another alternative available. TH

Well, I took the P-08 out this week with some winchester ammo and the gun behaved a lot better although it wasn't perfect. About every 2nd clip or so I would have a jam where the bullet didn't chamber all the way and I had to finish pushing it into the chamber or it would stove pipe on me.

I have been collecting my brash with the intent on reloading and lost half of it when the shell cases ended up in front of my station. The range dosn't allow you to go fishing for brass if it lands in front of the bench. I understand that it is for safty reasons, but still it irks me a bit that I lost half of my brass.

I was actually pleased with myself, I kept almost all my shots in the black at about 10 yards. I will have to find a different range as it was a bit dark and I had trouble seeing the sites.


I would like to thank everyone who provided advice.

Joe

Joe,

I don't know how difficult it is to order ammo in Calif. But Samco in Fla. has Finnish Lapua/Sako surplus NC/BE ( non corrosive/Berdan primed ), that shoots real nice in my 7.65's. Also try using a MecGar mag!

Mike:thumbup:

http://www.samcoglobal.com/Ammunition.html

The reaction I met was always "?? What's the hell is this? A Luger?"..... no matter it's a Luger, C96, or P1.... it's always "a Luger" :) My conclusion -- Luger has a broader meaning: it's an universal name for old pistols.

It's weird that people having no impression on P1/P38. Germany dumped tons of them in refurbished form on the US gun market. They are still flooding in retail stores. Don't know why many people in shooting range don't recognize it. They shoot Glocks, SIGs, USPs, S&Ws.....