Luger Operation Problem
 

New to lugers....
As I understand it, the toggle assembly is suppose to stay open with an empty magazine in.....Mine does not....What is the problem???
Have a Great Day!!!!!!!!

Likely the magazine, unless it does not have a hold open?

Tried two mags, both the same...What's a "hold open"???

Hold open is the piece that holds open the toggle on an empty mag.

Look at the diagram of parts under the technical section

The original version of the Luger didn't have a magazine hold open. Most all later versions had them.

It's a part that fits along the top of the frame, just beside the well that the magazine pushes up through. There is a small spring in the front of it.

Some users removed the hold open because they didn't want an opponent to see that their pistol was empty.

Marc

This is a 1920 commercial model....

It's an L-shaped lever, pivoting on a small leaf spring. The lever is pushed upwards by the magazine button on an empty magazine. The toggle hooks behind the lever with a recess machined in the bottom of the toggle.

If all the hardware is present, the failure to hold open is usually caused by the magazine.

If all of the parts are there, you might push up on the magazine while pulling the toggle back and it then may stay open. That will tell you if it is funtioning or not. That has been my experience in the past.

I just did that, pushed up on the magazine, and it locked back....There is a bit of play in the magazine.....Is there a easy way to take the play out of the magazine lock....

It seems that the slots on the body of the mag may be worn, or elongated, allowing the mag to be loose. Find yourself some new MecGar and use those for shooting.

One could restore the notch to function my TIG welding the worn material back into place. But it would cost ya for a good job by a technician with the skill to do it.

Oh, and its a bit like pure chance if you don't tell us model, yr, serial range, because many Lugers are not the same...

As I stated above it's a 1920 Commercial model ....Serial number 5948....
Appreciate all the help I have received on this luger....Plan on buying another soon....

Hold open Question since on the subject
 

As I have read some lugers have the hold open and some dont. I have an early 1900 AE SN 8372 which has a hold open latch, and a couple other 1916 and 1917 which also have the hold open latches.

Seeing that the AE was one of the early versions and it has it, what vintage and contracts didnt have them

Attachment 34158

these are side by side pics of my 1900 AE and my 1916 shooter. They pretty much look the same with little differences in thed frame itself.

Luger patented the hold open in May, 1900. An angled cut improvement was patented 7 years later.

In 1901, a weapons commission complained about the number of parts in a Luger, and the hold open and it's spring were two of the parts that were eliminated.

If I remember correctly, the first issue P.08 military Lugers deleted the hold open.

Some time between 1909 and 1911, the army determined that eliminating the hold open had been a mistake.

In May, 1913, the Prussians issued regulations to restore the hold open device. They also ordered that all existing stock be retro-fitted at the Erfurt arsenal. The majority of existing pistols without hold opens were retro-fitted.

Marc