[padredan]

really not a clue about the german army. forty years ago , i can speak of, in the united states army, you have small arms repairmen then the armor's. alot of the problems can be corrected in the field by a little more than field stripping and replacing a failed or damaged part. At first the m16's proved to be troublesome in the field, those problems had to be worked out, major rebuilds and replacemnets would have to be done in the armory. For a weapon to be just completly wiped out, it would have been usualy in a crash, happened to alot to m60's or a direct hit from small arms fire, ppg's or morters, have seen a few get run over by convoy's or apc's, it did happen. one of the most durable weapons had to be the u.s. sidearm caliber .45 1911' a1, which just celebrated it's 100th. i do not think i ever saw one that could not be rebuilt. there was very little hand fitting, just pick some good usuable parts and you hand ole slab sides back in the fight. Not taking anything awy from the lugers, now that i own a couple , i deeply respect them. If one thing they are beautifully built weapons. But would i have wanted to take one into battle with me? Lugged it through the mud and the muck and swealtering jungle and still exspected it to defend myself and those around me? Well, this is a luger forum, and the short time i have been here i learned to respect those here and i have gained much knowledge from them.l do not wish to start any hard feelings, that being said. my best regards Padre