Toggles, Which Do You Prefer~
 

I love the original dish! I find it superior for grasping~ Eric

I find them equally functional for grasping, but the M1900 more elegant.

The 1900 is .150" wider than the P08 so there is more to grasp. :)

Rich Thank You! Its a 1902 fat barrel compared to the 1900 test luger. It was compared to a 1937 Krieghoff above~

I have never handled a dished toggle Luger - BUT - it seems to me that they're dished backwards to what would provide an optimum grip. (???)

The Tip of Your thumb is a natural fit! Perfect~

From "Instructions for the Long Pistol 08 with Insertable Drum Magazine" Berlin 1917. English Translation by John Baum.

(Me: Yes, some of the sentence structure is a little odd because of using as much direct translation as possible.)

Page 5.

Loading the Pistol

"Hold of the Grip with the left hand, Muzzle pointed down!

"Pull back the Breech to its full limit position. Index and middle fingers of the right hand hereby grasp the fork shaped knee link; the thumb is supported against the strike base {above the lanyard loop}".

More instructions followed.

Page 23 Table V shows a picture of this with a drum magazine inserted.

So instead of pinching the knurled part of the toggle between the thumb and index finger (like I did before reading this manual) I now hook my index and middle fingers over and on the sides of the toggle.

This really makes more sense. In battlefield conditions where the hands are wet (water or blood), muddy, etc. and you have lost your fine motor skills because of the adrenalin, using this method would be less likely to slip.

Using this method, the "dish" would be correct. Note the knurling on the front of the dish to help your fingers grip. The later designed knuckles also have knurling on the forward face. I'll admit I cannot explain the reason for knurling on the outside faces of the knuckle, but would assume that just gives the pinching option in case it is ever needed for some reason - broken or missing index or middle finger for instance. Doesn't hurt anything and in the fog of war, I suspect the more options the better.

Because of the toggle lock, the Old Model toggle cannot be lifted directly; it must be pulled to the rear until the latch is clear, when it then rotates upward due to the presence of the unlocking ramps of the frame. The hand motion is always rearward, and small knurled front edge of the dished toggle is ergonomically designed exactly to accommodate this motion.

The New Model toggle can be lifted directly upward, and the knurled faces are designed to allow maximum maximum contact and pressure to be applied to lifting the toggle open under all circumstances, regardless of any "official" methodology.

--Dwight

TKS That I Did Not Notice!

Well, I learned something new today. :)

Eugen,
it is a good day when one learns something!

I like the aesthetics of the early, contoured toggle,
so much in fact that I had Rich mill my "new" style toggle for my baby build!:thumbup:

A Beautiful Thing!!

I prefer the new design. The 1900 style of toggle knobs had it's reason of being because of the toggle lock, which was necessary because of the flat main spring that closed the action more by inertia than spring power. The side purchase of the toggle knobs was undesirable in the old design because it could lead to pulling up the toggle instead of backwards.