[ithacaartist]

Alex,

Some comments... I think the majority of the meat of these concerns is urban legend, born of lack of knowledge of the gun, which is the norm outside of those who actually study, understand, and use the pistol. The forums are major islands of information and collective experience that is not usually available to the uninterested/inexperienced/ignorant.

1) I don't think the Parabellum has cornered the market on finicky. The parts for the firing and safety systems of the ol' reliable 1911 aren't "plug-and-play", either, and require careful fitting. With springs refreshed, a hundred year old matching gun will probably do fine, barring other actual damage or excessive wear. The Luger's design suggests that it will wear less than a 1911. Susceptibility to mud and sand was tested by the Army's trials before the 19111 was adopted and it didn't reveal a significant problem. The action is resistant to infiltration of debris when closed, and any pistol will screw up if dumped into the mud with its action open. The army's beef with what was tested centered around the caliber, due to concerns about "stopping-power." Using the correct ammo, which required sourcing powder from foreign manufacture, was also problematic.

2) This is true of any old gun. State of the art metallurgy was used all along, and changes/improvements followed as they became available. The last built were likely the best in this respect.

3) Well, if you ignore the "loaded chamber indicator" function of the extractor--don't look at it or feel for it... So, this is nonsense.

4) The Luger's safety system is very effective, and it's quite safe to carry it loaded and cocked with the safety applied. An exception would be something like a first issue, un-altered Navy. Early grip safety pistols' safety levers worked in reverse of what is found on the P.08, and could be nudged off safe when inserted into a holster. But with the grip safety, you could probably haul the gun out of the holster by its trigger and still be OK until squeezing the grip.