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135C/C · 02-15-2010, 05:19 PM

I've made a couple of posts in the "New Collectors" forum and decided that this would get the maximum visibility to see if what I have is relatively common, or a serious problem.

I recently got a reblued 1914 DWM chamber marked "1916" to finally add a Luger to my collection. other than the grips, and obviously force matched sideplate, suspiciously marked takedown lever, and numbered aluminum based mag, appears to be all matching. Just fine with me, as I just wanted a nice looking "shooter".

I had some funtioning issues with it that I think I can probably solve with a Wolff spring kit. If you look at my "Malfunctioning Toggle....Help!" post in the new collectors forum @ http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=23544 and give me some input on that as well, that would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Anyway, onto the crack. Before I took it out to test fire it, I field stripped it and gave it a good look over. I noticed a crack about 3/16" long and wide enough to slide 2 sheets of newspaper into (didn't feel like looking for my feeler gages!) on the left side of the frame adjacent to where the top left side of the magazine is when it's fully inserted. It doesn't look structural to me, but I'm VERY new to Lugers and may very well be wrong. It almost looks as though at one time someone either forced a damaged magazine into it causing the split/crack or repeatedly used a damaged magazine which eventually shaved/stressed the metal enough to make it split over time. I've attached pics to help explain and show the damage. Is this crack fairly common on Lugers, or should I be concerned about it?

I've contacted the seller and he was very apologetic and is ready to refund my purchase price with shipping AND the cost to send it back to him. I'm happy with the look of the gun, the 15 rounds I fired from it (read my above mentioned post in "New Collectors") and would like to keep it, but I'm afraid that even if I can solve the functioning issues after replacing the springs, I may be stuck with a gun that shouldn't be shot.

Inputs or advice?

02-15-2010, 05:19 PM	#1
135C/C User Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Central Kansas Posts: 18 Thanks: 14 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Is this Crack in the frame "normal"? I've made a couple of posts in the "New Collectors" forum and decided that this would get the maximum visibility to see if what I have is relatively common, or a serious problem. I recently got a reblued 1914 DWM chamber marked "1916" to finally add a Luger to my collection. other than the grips, and obviously force matched sideplate, suspiciously marked takedown lever, and numbered aluminum based mag, appears to be all matching. Just fine with me, as I just wanted a nice looking "shooter". I had some funtioning issues with it that I think I can probably solve with a Wolff spring kit. If you look at my "Malfunctioning Toggle....Help!" post in the new collectors forum @ http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=23544 and give me some input on that as well, that would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. Anyway, onto the crack. Before I took it out to test fire it, I field stripped it and gave it a good look over. I noticed a crack about 3/16" long and wide enough to slide 2 sheets of newspaper into (didn't feel like looking for my feeler gages!) on the left side of the frame adjacent to where the top left side of the magazine is when it's fully inserted. It doesn't look structural to me, but I'm VERY new to Lugers and may very well be wrong. It almost looks as though at one time someone either forced a damaged magazine into it causing the split/crack or repeatedly used a damaged magazine which eventually shaved/stressed the metal enough to make it split over time. I've attached pics to help explain and show the damage. Is this crack fairly common on Lugers, or should I be concerned about it? I've contacted the seller and he was very apologetic and is ready to refund my purchase price with shipping AND the cost to send it back to him. I'm happy with the look of the gun, the 15 rounds I fired from it (read my above mentioned post in "New Collectors") and would like to keep it, but I'm afraid that even if I can solve the functioning issues after replacing the springs, I may be stuck with a gun that shouldn't be shot. Inputs or advice? Attached Thumbnails