Don,
In the 5 pages of thread I read, somebody was referring to all the friction the "bullets" create. It didn't seem to make total sense to me, either, but I thought maybe somebody here knew more about these drums than I do, which is very little. I think he meant "cartridges".
Availability of the repro drums and loaders has been a sometimes thing. I tried for more than 30 years to find a loader and couldn't, except for worn out originals at $1,500 a pop or so. Still retaining some of my sanity, I didn't buy one. But I collected a lot of pictures and could see pretty much how they work, except for the small part actually pushing the cartridge.
A couple years ago, I started making one, and almost finished, before giving up to the distractions of another project.
A week ago, I got out the pieces and started again, finishing it to the point I could load about 28 rounds and see that my concept was O.K., except that I saw how to do it a little bit better.
So this evening I went to work with the welder, milling machine, Mr. Dremel's wonderful invention, and made a completely new handle and lever link assembly. It works slick as a whistle, but is a little over-engineered. But it's just a hobby, for fun.
Yes, I wind the heavy spring first. And yes, I then hand insert two rounds. I'm thinking about designing a little widget for the loader so you don't have to do that. But again, only for the challenge and fun.
Non-shooters or non-Luger people would think this is all absurd, wasting time on a loader for a drum type which never had much real purpose except on an early German sub gun. And the loader is dangerous to use. I'll bet some young German farm boys lost eyes and suffered other injuries trying to crank that terrible folding lever. That's how engineers learn what not to do.
Yes, I did have the drum apart years ago, and cleaned out the grease. It was pristine inside. I will put fresh lube in it when I am ready to actually shoot.
I'm guessing that the shake and recoil from firing a shot is an essential part of the design for making these things work, when they do. But these drums were about Step One in the design of high capacity magazines for weapons firing pistol cartridges. They learned a lot about how not to do it.
The materials used were very good, and it's amazing how the springs and metal are still fully functional and up-to-spec after 100 years this year.
The other purpose? Our Second Amendment promoting friend Senator Chuck Schumer would say, "It's great; keeps PhilOhio off the streets."
