New to the forum and my first Luger
 

Hi All,
Just made a deal on a 1916 DWM luger, all numbers matching except mag.Looks to be a little short on finish but may be the pictures, haven't seen it in real life yet. My buddy that checked it out and took the pictures says it looks OK for a 100 year old gun.....sure hope he's right! Barrel appears to be pretty frosted but he tells me it has lots of rifling so we will see.
Rodney

So far it looks like a good, honest gun.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to the Forum, yes a nice unmessed with Luger

Welcome to the forum Rodney.

Give us an update after you inspect it.

Welcome to this Forum.
It seems quite a desirable Luger, is it matching?

Sergio

Hi, Rodney and welcome to the forum. Your pistol looks good to me. Bill

Should be OK. 4" Luger is a restricted gun in Canada, it could only circle among small group of people. When the group is small, the price is lower and the risk is also lower. Most boosting activity is money driven, when there is less money involved, the hobby is actually healthier.

Thanks everyone,
Yes from what I can see and what my buddy told me it is all matching except the mag. Can't wait to get it home in a few weeks after all the paperwork is done so I can take it apart, check everything out and get shooting! Have been reading up on the proper bullet weights and bullet design, as usual lots of opinions out there. What are you guys using for reloads as far as bullet weight and design. Thanks
Rodney

Hi Alvin,
The clasification for under 4.2 inch barrels is prohibited, so far we are still able to take them (pistols} to the range to shoot, anyone with prohibited rifles are not allowed to take them out of the house!!!!
Yes the group of us able to buy the prohib status pistols gets smaller all the time, glad I got my prohib status when I did. Many of them can't be passed on to family members without a rebarrel to make them only restricted so as far as collections go I buy to shoot and if they happen to be collectable thats just a bonus.
Rodney.

Hi Rodney, and welcome to the forum.

Congratulations on your 1916 DWM Luger. All matching and in original finish is considered collectible if original finish is over about 80%. You have what looks like a righteous Luger!

As to shooting, use standard power 9mm Luger (assuming it's in that caliber). If reloading start at the lower end with 124gn or 115gn jacketed bullets.

Many of us do not shoot collectible guns because of the risk of breakage of numbered parts. It impacts both the history and the financial value when they get damaged, which does happen. A better choice for shooting is a mismatch or refinish matching WW-II era gun or an Interarms / Mauser Luger.

Marc

Hi Marc,
The saddest part of this whole situatin is I expect to keep this pistol until the day I die or am unable to shoot anymore, either way with the current Canadian gun laws the government will likely end up owning it and it will be destroyed anyway so I may as well take my chances and shoot it. Having said that I would be very sad if any parts fail and I have to replace a matching part while I;m still able to enjoy the pistol.
Rodney

Welcome to the forum. If you plan to shoot this Luger(I am a shooter also) you might want to consider purchasing an aftermarket extractor, fluted firing pin, and firing pin spring retainer for your luger. These parts are prone to breakage, so replace your original numbered parts with these. If they break, no harm, no foul.

I am a handloader for my lugers. For my 9mm Lugers, I load with 115gr FMJ and use the longest OAL that will function in your chambers and mags......1.165-1.169in. range. Lugers seem to like a long OAL for functioning. I load with medium burning powders like Unique and Power Pistol. I can make the fast burners work, but not as well.

Thanks rhuff,
That sounds great, will have to see if those parts are available in Canada. Really want to shoot the pistol but would be very sad if the original parts break!
Have to check but I think I might have some unique so wouldbe good to go.
Any thoughtspreference on the bullet type such as round nose, flat point or what they call truncated?
Rodney

Lugers strongly prefer FMJ, other bullet types tend to introduce loading issues. Here in the States Winchester White Box 115 gr. FMJ seems to work the best and is what the experts recommend.

The Luger was originally designed to work with a truncated cone bullet... You should be fine with a FMJ or Truncated bullet.

I have stuck with round nose bullets for my Lugers. I tried some jacketed hollow point, and JSP bullets with less than stellar results. I have loaded both lead and FMJ, both in RN configuration. They function best in my Lugers. I suppose that I should give the truncated bullets a try one of these days, but it is hard to argue with success......if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Thanks everyone,
I have some Round nose factory I will try when I finally get the gun home and clean it up.

Rodney

Be sure to let us know how your new Luger shoots when all of the stars align.