Have fun with this gun. You really should start off with a shooter! I mean, what's the point of collecting guns if you don't have one you can shoo? That sucker looks like it had a checkered history, which will be fun to figure out. The Russian's are always accused of messing them up, but there are plenty of American bring backs in just as bad shape. That nasty scribble on the toggle could have come from a local pawnshop, too.
I'm not any expert, but it clearly was captured and abused by somebody. But, the gun is 100 years old, so I'm not really surprised you had some stovepipe jams. There are several good reasons for that that, not the least that you may need to take it apart and lubricate the thing properly.
I have a 1917 artillery that I absolutely love to shoot. I keep it well greased and oiled. That main spring is almost 100 years old and it's a little rusty, but it seems to work great. I totally agree, there is no good reason to use military grade ammo (+P) or high powered stuff (hollow point self-defense rounds). Just good old target rounds - full metal jacket (FMJ) are fine. I ran 50 rounds through mine and never had a malfunction. It's smooth and just feels so right in my grip. You have to get used to the sights going away with every shot, but when they come back, that gun is usually right on target, ready to go again.
A lot of the problems with some--automatic guns aren't in the mechanisms or ammo, it's in the magazines. You may want to buy some after market magazines for shooting practice. The springs just get old and the magazine tubes get corroded. It only takes a little bit of corrosion to ruin the smooth action of advancing rounds into the chamber, to mess it all up. (While I haven't hand any problems with my Luger, I have seen this happen with cheap magazines in other modern semi-autos, so I'm must saying. It's also the best advice my retired police captain mentor gave me.)
Your gun should be fine, if it's all original matched parts. That's how they were designed, built, and tested. Problems with the gun don't generally crop up with the original parts. Ammo can be on source of problems, the wrong magazine is the other. Just my opinion and limited experience.
Keep sharing your experience. I loved your target photo. I'll post one, next time I'm out. My problem isn't accuracy, it's just being about to see anything 50 yards away. That's all about my age and vision, not the weapon.
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