A Target Luger
 

I have to admit it: I love shooting Lugers. But in their military configuration they are not target pistols: the sights are horrible and get worse every year; and the trigger pull leaves a lot to be desired. So with a little time on my hands this winter, I decided to put together a "Target Luger". The objectives were: a longer barrel, better sights, and better trigger.
I have always like the elegant lines of the Navy Luger; it just seems more graceful than the 4". In addition, the longer sight radius of the 6"barrel offers the potential of better accuracy. I wanted adjustable sights for the sharper picture and the ability to adjust for different loads. Improving the trigger pull was also on the agenda. AND I wanted to do this without ruining the classic lines of the Luger.

The rear sight was intended for a Glock. It was the lowest profile adjustable rear sight I could find. The dovetail attachment was removed from the bottom of the sight. The Luger's original sight and 'hump' were machined flat. The new sight is wider than the rear toggle, so the forks were re-shaped to provide clearance for the sight as it travels with the rear toggle. Some of the final fitting has yet to be blued. The rear sight base was carefully TIG welded to the rear toggle. GT provided a beautiful 6" barrel, Brownell's was the source of the front sight blank.
Trigger work was primarily to take the slop out of the system. The trigger lever and plate were drilled for a larger, tighter fitting pin. The lever was also bent to bring it closer to the trigger bar when at rest. The sear surfaces were polished, but the angle and amount of engagement wasnt changed. It now breaks cleanly at about 8 pounds.
So far, I've put about 50 rounds of mixed ammo through the gun and everything is still hanging together. The sight picture is much better and I'm sure the increased radius has a lot to do with the 3" or so groups at 25 yards. My goal is 2" with handloads.
A big thanks to GT for his magic in coming up with the barrel, Chris Tobias - a machinist willing to tackle my crazy projects, and Frank the Welder for attaching the tiny sight to the rear toggle. I plan to spend a lot of time at the range this summer.

John

Nice looking pistol, and you can always replace the rear toggle and put the sight on an even longer
barreled version; and I do hope you started with a frankenluger.

Careful and clever work, but I'm not sure I would have had the guts to do it!

Nice work John, please keep us informed if you are able to come up with some good hand-loads for your "Target Luger". :thumbup:

Lon

Very cool project gun! :thumbup:

Is it 30 cal or 9mm?

Neat- how much are you going to charge for the complete pistols when you go into full production? LOL Bill

John

Chapeau for your work of craftmanship!

Sergio

Thank you for the info and photos. A most interesting project. I, also, am more of a shooter than a collector, and have a problem with the original sights if I try to shoot a fair amount of ammo at one range trip. I am familiar with that rear sight, as I have the same one on a G27. I will be interested in your accuracy handloads for this luger, as I also handload for my Lugers. Nice job!!

Thanks for the comments. The donor gun was a very worn commercial DWM, definitely in the shooter category. Its in 9mm. I have a friend who has cast a bunch of 120grn. truncated cone slugs that show potential in a couple of different guns. Right now I'm experimenting with Bullseye, because that's what I have on hand.

John

John,


I have made Bullseye work in 30 Luger but not the best I have tried in MY Lugers. If down the road you can find a slower burning powder like Unique, and others in this range, you might want to give them a try.

The pistol/shotgun powder supply is not anywhere normal yet, but it is improving ......although very slowly. I look forward to your range reports.

Very impressive work, John. Sounds like a fun project!

in order to bend the trigger bar did you have to heat it ?
Ive tried to bend a few and always seem to break them

Hi Jim, I wouldn't try to bend a trigger lever without having a couple of spares on hand to replace it with. They are super hard, and very brittle and prone to snap if you bend them cold.

I would try heating just the leg you want to bend until it turns a dull red in color and then let it cool without any help. Then try your bend, but don't be surprised if it still breaks.

An alternative to bending would be to have a precision welder build up the lower arm surface that touches the trigger (leave the vertical part of the lever alone IMHO), and then polish it back down slowly by hand (or with a dremel polishing head) until you have achieved the dimensions and surface that gives you the trigger manipulation you are looking for... It may take you several attempts, but at least you won't snap the trigger lever.

Just my $0.02

Your two cents are quite valuable. :thumbup:

Nice job, John! :thumbup: That rear sight actually looks right at home on the Luger, kinda "steampunky" like the rest of the gun.

Nice gun, but I think you will find the longer barrel more advantageous at distances greater than 25 yards. I have a 3" S&W .44 special that will shoot 3" 5-shot groups at 25 yards offhand. A good 4" gun shouldn't have any problems at 50 yards.

John, you are right-on about the brittleness of the trigger lever. I realize I was flirting with disaster when I heated & bent mine. Whether the LPA sight has the strength to stay together for a couple of hundred rounds is part of the experiment. I'm mildly optimistic.
I've thought about other powders for my 9mm and 45acp. I'd like to find something that will work in both calibers. Any suggestions besides Unique ?

Vhitavuori N340

Vectan BA 9

Power Pistol will do what you want, but it does have a flash/bang characteristic that some folks do not like......especially at the upper end.

Titegroup works fine for both