Unusual looking barrel
 

found this pic in a forum discussing rust bluing....no explanation for the odd profile on the barrel or that block behind the front sight.....?

What you call a "block" behind the front side, is actually the tip of the spring loaded latch that must be depressed to screw off the enire front sight band/base. Under that band the barrel is threaded for installation of a silencer or suppressor...

I beleive I remember that this gun was previously in the collection of our benefactor and system owner, John D... and it has been sold since the photo was posted. As I recall, he didn't have the matching silencer in his collection... but then, this is all from memory...

A very interesting Luger indeed, and one that must have quite a story to go with it.

hmm...cool!

It's cold out, and I'm feeling really stupid...What's odd about the profile??? (Eyes are bad, too)... :)

look closely, the last 1/2in or so behind the front sight is turned down to a smaller dia.

Interesting...Why do you think that is??? :confused:

Were there any other pics of the barrel on that site???

nope, that was the only pic...my guess is it was turned down to make the last section the the barrel straight, not tapered, so it could be threaded for the suppressor...regardless, it looks like excellent workmanship!

But you could do that and still hide it under the band...I'm thinking it's clearance for the latch, when you're depressing & unscrewing it...

Or it could be because the internal thread was tapped with a 'standard' tap size and the barrel needed to be turned down to that size...I measure ~.530" at that point on my S/42...Could it be turned down to 1/2" and threaded for a Nationa Fine or maybe even National Extra Fine thread???

Does anyone know if the latch/button presses in (parallel to the bore axis) or does it cantilever??? Is there a keyway in the barrel that it engages???

The latch presses inward toward the front sight if my memory serves me correctly. I do not recall for sure if the the latch entered a keyway in the barrel to maintain the vertical position of the front sight, but I think it did... that would make good engineering sense anyway...

I used to have about a dozen photos of this gun from different angles but unfortunately lost them in a computer crash many years ago... That's what prompted me to start archiving my luger photo collection on CD's.

John D. may have some more good photos of the gun since it was in his collection. He has a not well known skill for producing excellent photos of guns... I wish he would post more of his collection in a Lugerforum album. (John D. Hint...Hint!) :)