Change barrel
 

Frame number 2403g

Receiver number 8783 Top marked 1938

Toggle marked byf 24

Need advice on changing 4", 9mm barrel.

I am a machinist with some gunsmithing experience.

Is the 4.2" barrel from SARCO a good choice?

Is there a special technique for securing the receiver

during the barrel removal?

Is there a special wrench used for removing the barrel?

The previous owner drilled out the first 1 1/2" of the bore

for some type of blank firing device.

Pistol does not cycle, presumably due to "shortened"

bore not allowing enough recoil time.

Any advice will be helpful.

Thanks, andrew

YES, there are special tools involved.
 

Welcome Andrew to the Lugerforum. Changing the barrel on a Luger requires special tools to prevent maring of the receiver and twisting of the receiver "fork" which will make your Luger totally unreliable. If you must attempt it yourself, contact Hugh Clark or Tom Heller for advice on how to do it without damage. You might even find that they can get it changed for you without damage for not much more than the price of the barrel from Sarco. Remember that changing the barrel will also require a headspace check and/or adjustment.


Sarco products vary in quality... Both Hugh and Tom have links in the Links and Resources section of this site and both have sources for barrels that might be of more consistent quality.


Let us know how you make out...


regards,


John Sabato

Re:Barrel changing
 

Andrew, As John said above, it is critical that you have a proper luger barrel wrench that exactly fits the profile of the PO8 receiver and a very strong barrel vise that grips the barrel as close to the receiver as possible (I use brass inserts shaped to the PO8 barrel and plenty of rosin). On an old barrel that you don't want to save, you could turn down the rear flange of the barrel on a lathe to make it easier to remove. When installing the new barrel, you need to make sure that when the extractor grooves line up, that the front sight base is also exactly verticle. If the new barrel is over torqued, this may not be the case. Sarco's 4.2" barrels were made by Mentor Arms for the Canadian market, where the standard 4" barrel is now ilegal. All of Mentor's (now out of business) barrels (4,4.2,6 or 8") are superior to the Numrich barrels, in my opinion. I charge $100 to change barrel, head space, chamber ream if necessary and test fire. Tom