Survey for reliability, '70's era Mausers
 

I grabbed up a 1973 Mauser " '06 " 9mm 6" barrel very nice condition Luger, I haven't fired it yet (dang work demands) but I bought it hoping it would be a shooter to get my jollies with while sparing to some degree the older and more collectible guns I might come across.

So the question is, how in the real world have the '70's Mausers fared, with a routine shooting activity?

Dwight and others pointed out the somewhat common occurances of extractors getting chipped and various "breakages" with literal vintage Lugars, is it pretty much the same odds with a '70's Mauser?

I'm going to shoot this one, but I'm half tempted to just keep it as a great condition "collectible", but heck, I did buy it to shoot...

In that parts may not be completely interchangible with the vintage Lugers and the parts for the Mausers are no more (so far as I know), I'm kind of second guessing if I should routinely take this gun to the firing range, or should I call it "also" a valuable gun and just shoot my VOPO WWI / S/42, which some feel also will someday be a bit collectible...

I think the solution is money, pure money, solves lots of problems, LOL...

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and your experiences -

Frank H. in L.A. (But thinking seriously of moving to Oregun).

Frank, I view the Mauser 1970s standard Parabellums like their limited edition commeratives, as best kept NIB for collecting purposes. If you do decide to shoot them, I purchased all of Interarms remaining stock of new Mauser pistol (Parabellum, HSC and HSC super) parts, when they closed the doors, so parts are still available. TH

They shoot great! It may or may not break?, but it will definitly show wear, (tight fitted toggle train almost always shows some scuffing on the top of the links) BUT, only load the mag. to 5 rounds, and you will have a much more pleasurable outting...as the mag. springs are ridiculously strong!! Your thumb will wear out long before the gun! best to you, til..lat'r...GT
BTW, If I have a really nice gun to shoot, and I'm really concerned about rash...I never have any problem when shooting it, It's only when I drop it or bang it on the car door frame that the "feeling bad" time begins! :)

Frank:

I have three of these pistols. I find them to be a totally different shooting experience, compared to the originals, because they feel so differently in the hand.

If you enjoy shooting it, shoot the hell out of your pistol!!!

Sieger

Frank:

I have several 70's Mauser Parabellums, some commemoratives and two regular Swiss style. One I keep NIB and the other I shoot. It shoots great, very accurate. But I don't like the feel compared to the pre-45 Lugers, the grips are rough and squared off.

Tracy

Hi Frank H.,

I picked up this Swiss 6", 9mm a couple of 3 years back from LugerDoc.

Figured it was a cheap way for me to get into "Lugers" and have a reliable shooter as well.

I imagine I have put 500 or so rounds through it...no probems, so far. I did pick up a few spare parts (springs, etc.) at a local gun show...just in case.

I like the Swiss-style grip, but had the grip checkering re-done by Hugh Clark. When I am tempted to shoot one of my Swiss Bern lugers, I take this one out instead (but I have shot my Bern lugers as well...just to know they work before they hibernate in my safe...).

<a href="http://forums.lugerforum.com/lfupload/interarms1.jpg_medium_copy2.jpg" target="_fullview"><img src="http://forums.lugerforum.com/lfupload/interarms1.jpg_medium_copy2.jpg" width="400" alt="Click for fullsize image" /></a>

Regards,

Pete... <img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />