Ejection Problem & Case Damage
 

I would like to improve my P.08?s ejection and would appreciate your advice.

Cases are sometimes left in the breech and prevent the toggles from closing. The cases lie flat and sometimes have rotated 180�º so that the case mouth now faces the breech block.

Additionally the pistol consistently damages cases with a ?v? shaped indentation that is about 3.5 mm long and enlarges to about 1 mm in width at the case mouth. This mark, with varying degrees of severity, appears on all cases. The top 1/3rd of the extractor has brass particles on it, and I assume this shows where case damage occurs.

Thanks for your suggestions.

I have one gun that does this occasionally as it begins to get dirty. I would suggest carefully cleaning all crud, powder, etc. from the breach block, toggle, etc. parts and carefully lube the gun. Try the Wall Mart Winchester bulk pack 9 mm ($10.95/100 rounds here in the lower 48). If this fails, try a new Mec. Gar magazine.

I am fairly confident that your problems comes from a far to strong recoilsping.

Regards HÃ?Â¥kan

Hakan; I agree. The marks on the cases indicate the recoil spring is way to strong.
Lonnie

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll get a standard weight Wolff mainspring and let you know what happens.

Freisch�¼tz, I have had this mark on the case mouth on most Lugers I have ever fired. Jerry Burney

FreeShot, The first thing that I would check, is your ejector. Does it move easily and is the tip inside the receiver worn or chipped. Then check the same for the extractor edge that picks up the case. If these past the test, then start trying new mag or different loads. Tom H.

I checked both the ejector and extractor.

The ejector is a replacement that moves freely, and the tip is undamaged.

I checked the extractor with a magnifying glass, and compared it to two other P.08s. I didn't see any damage. How strong should the spring be? This pistol's doesn't feel weak, but it's not as strong as my P.38. I can barely move that extractor with my finger.

My cartridges use moderate loads - 6.4gr of HS-6 behind a 122gr NEI truncated cast bullet. Following the recommendations of an article in the Cast Bullet Association's journal, I size the bullets to .357" diameter and seat them out to obtain an interference fit with the barrel's throat. Cartridge overall length is 29.74mm. The angled Luger magazine accepts these cartridges. They jam in the P.38.

Thanks again for the interesting suggestions!

Today I have had problems with my P08 shooting Wolf ammo.
I put 25 rounds through it, and to a shot they did not feed well
into the chamber. Extraction was not a problem, just feeding from the clip.

Roy,

Was this your first time using this magazine and / or the first time you used this type of Wolf ammo?

Usually this is a magazine problem, and if you have more than one magazine, test them each one one out with different ammunition, that will usually solve this problem.

More information and maybe we can guess better <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Ed

Hello Ed,

Thanks for the reply! This is my first time firing my pistol, and also using Wolf ammunition. I will try other brands of ammo, and if that does not work, I will order another magazine for the pistol. Are there any good aftermarket magazines around? I'll certainly will have to save my nickles and dimes for an original.

If you are going to shoot it, then put non-original grips and use an aftermarket magazine. Both are fairly inexpensive. Magazines, such as triple K or Mec-gar are good ones, least they have been for me.

Is yours a "collectable" P08? If so, then breaking a part can lower your value a lot? But, they were made for shootin' so...

Ed,

Thanks! I'll look for grips and the magazines. My pistol is an S/42 1936 that the East Germans had rebarreled. Barrel has the crown/n mark underneath it.
Thanks for the info!

Give http://www.thegunsource.com a try, they have Mecgar mags for $18.85, a pretty good price.