Viggo G Dereng

â??CROW BREAST ON PUMPERNICKLEâ?

It Certainly Makes

â??One Damn Tough Sandwichâ?

My apologies to all that may have been mislead at my misdirection

The stock lug HAD a use in machining. Not as the primary holding and locating device but as an auxiliary device to steady the free standing handle portion of the frame. This would allow a variety of machining operations while damping the vibrations of the machining process thereby allowing smoother finishes and greater accuracy.

The machining operations would be to first machine the various slide cuts and pockets of the upper, or slide portion, of the frame.

Then the frame would be inverted and mounted on a fixture that used the slides to locate and lock the frame in position. Mounted thus with the handle protruding upward, and supported by a fixture arm that attached the stock lug to a solid column to the rear of the mounted frame. This would dampen and allow free access and to all portions of the frame excluding the small portion occupied by the lug and fixture arm. It is easy to visualize by standing a Luger on its rear and front sights, That at least 95% of all remaining machining on the frame could be accomplished from this single fixture.

It seems probable that this may have reduced the setup time for these machining operations by 50 to 70%, â??No Small Applesâ?


Johnny,

I think that you misunderstand the problems of Machine Design and Production. There really was little change in basic production methods. As newer and tougher metals became available, Newer and higher speed tooling was introduced to fill the gaps and the basic methods of setup and machining remained essentially the same but at higher speeds. The problems of positioning and holding the parts for cutting operations have not changed to this day and NC Machining has only allowed the rapid changing of tools, and removed from the operator the responsibility of setting each cut and making many changes in setup. Now the addition of Multiple Axis Machining allows properly designed parts to be machined with automatic changes in setup for the part, tool changing and setting each cutting operation, Thereby Increasing Productivity.

I too am an old timer, â??77 Years Youngâ?, and for eight or more years I worked with line shaft machinery Both in my primary and side jobs. Yes, I too had to work two jobs to feed my family during my early years. This was good experience, so I am not unfamiliar with the machining processes that were in common use when the Lugers which are most prized as Shooters were produced, 1930 to 1946.

I began study of the machine shop in the fall of 1940 in High School Manual Arts class, in preparation for graduation and work in industry. Where I became familiar with a variety of old line shaft machinery With the advent of Dec 07,1941, I quit school and began work in what would become a variety of machine shops, both within and outside part time jobs until retirement in Dec 1977.

Every shop that I worked in had some Line Shaft Equipment until about 1970 when the last line shaft tool grinders were phased out

Now, There are few of us â??Old Flat Beltersâ? remaining to reflect on the â??Old Daysâ?.

Since the stock lug was first available on the 1900 Luger Carbine, With 175 mm and 300 mm Barrel lengths as Sporting Guns,

Why was it not needed or apparently used for â??fixturingâ? on the large production orders Of both Military and Other Sporting Weapons such as 1900 AE and the 1906 AE and the P-08 Lugers, until I913. (Which are included in the majority of all Lugers produced during that period). Most of which had no stock lug.

If it provided such a good attachment fixture, why was it not used for this purpose on all the Lugers produced until the 1913 German Army Artillery Model?

My instinct as a Product Engineer, tells me that the production of a large military order for 1913 generated the need for new Hot Forging and Piercing Dies. The Wartime Economy dictated the Manufacturing of a single Forging approach for all Lugers, and then would then replace all worn Dies as needed. , And it seems possible that at this time someone realized that this lug could be used to advantage as a production and machining aid.

After the war was over and Lugers were again placed into production, post war reconstruction demanded the use of existing dies and equipment to rebuild a broken economy.

Remember there was no Marshall plan in those days, They made do with what they had, and under severe restrictions. All of which helped set the foundation for WW-II in the minds of a bitter defeated people who were governed by a foreign decreed â??German Republicâ? which was not necessarily of their choosing.

I hope that this enlightens enough to justify the long treatise.

Viggo G