Bore wear versus locking bolt wear: The C96 started its career in the days of corrosive ammo, so bore wear doesn't correlate to mileage. Put the horse away wet a few times and the bore is shot even with low mileage. On the other hand, regardless of actual mileage, the locking lugs will progressively round off with additional mileage, whether the effect is slow or fast and no matter what the primer is. Hot loads might accelerate the process a bit, but the bottom line is still mileage.
There are after market bolt stops available. Some will recommend the use of a quality after market bolt stop in any C96 that is actually fired. I am not prepared to say they are wrong.
Be it a C93, C96, or C98, (I once got chewed out for calling a Luger a C98) they are all classy old gals that should be treated with respect and I don't recommend any load hotter than enough to reliably cycle the action for any of them. In the case of the 7.65 mm Luger, this may mean a hand load hotter than modern factory loads, at least those commonly available hear in the U.S.
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