Adjusting Trigger Plate lever procedure
 

My 1918 Erfurt (with police sear) requires a lot of pressure to activate the release of the striker. The trigger has to be fully buried into the rear of the trigger guard for it to allow its release. Even then, I've noticed that the trigger bar does not extend as far away from the slide as far as it does on Lugers with normal trigger action.
I've heard that the lever can be (judiciously) bent to correct this condition. Can anyone direct me to a previous post that has addressed this issue, or some first hand experience in dealing with it?
Thanks, Karl

Karl, Some repro PO8 trigger levers can be bent to improve the striker release, but not originals: they will break before they willbend. On mismatched lugers it sometimes easier to change sears &/or tiggers for a quicker release. TH

Karl,

Don't try to bend the trigger lever; as Tom cautioned, it WILL break. I know from experience! Changing out the trigger lever, and/or sear lever and/or firing pin can sometimes help, but gets expensive. You can build up the little pad on the trigger lever that presses against the pin on the sear lever slightly with epoxy to reduce trigger travel.

You can also carefully remove a small amount of metal from the sear contacts of the firing pin & sear lever to reduce their contact surface. I have an old magazine article explaning how to do this. If you would like a copy, send me your email address at hhclark@wildblue.net

Don't overlook the obvious
 

make sure the trigger plate is tight and square... any movement in the plate will compound the problem... Best to you, til...lat'r....GT

Well maybe I just got lucky, but I placed my sideplate upside down in a padded vise and heated the trigger lever with a propane torch till it was dull red and carefully bent it a little ...doesnt take much to change the angle and amount of take up. I'm pretty sure my lever is original. While still hot, I quenched it in oil, hopefully re-hardening it.....no problems so far.

Hmmm - good idea !!! and easy

please comment later on what happens next

thanks
Bill

Michael Zeleny posted this pic in the "Luger Trigger Tuning" thread at -

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=24649

"The photo shows two lots from the Kessler auction of 23 August 2008:"

http://pics.livejournal.com/larvatus/pic/001pgsyb

An interesting jig for trigger tuning...

(I have a similar jig for tuning M1911A1 sears, but it's a filing, not a bending jig)

I haven't tried bending a Luger trigger lever, but I would think that annealing first (heat to red & allow to air cool) and then re-hardening/tempering would be required...

Inspect closely for cracks or deep tool marks before heating; the heat/cool cycle may cause these to widen and weaken the part to the point of breaking in use...

I've used Canola Oil for my quenching medium...A lot of pros recommend it... :p

This is probably the most frequent job that I'm requested to do. TH