Some experienced shooters, whose opinions I deeply value, told me that the Luger is an unsafe firearm. Here were their reasons:
- The system is senstive (finicky was their choice word) and is prone to misfires and jamming.
- The pistol is 60-110 years old and may not be mechanically sound.
- There is no identification as to whether the firearm has a round chambered and ready to fire.
- The firearm is prone to going off when holstered. Citing Band of Brothers (This is the one I REALLY want an answer to).
I am not sure how accurate these opinions are but I am willing to examine them. I am new to the luger game and was hoping for some insight from more experienced members here.
My thoughts on their points are as follows:
Finicky System: This seems to be a point of contention. While British Commonwealth report the pistol to be sensitive to dirt and failing under stress, I have yet to find any German reports of such issues. I imagine that the various springs for working the toggle arm, magazine and action need to be calibrated to maintain a certain degree of timing.
[B]Old Firearm [\B]: There is not a whole lot to argue there. Yes it is an older firearm and may have been compromised due to time; however, this seems like something each pistol needs to be examined rather than branding the entire design as unsafe.
[B]Round Chambered[\B]: This also seems like something that the basic firearm principle of "treat as loaded" really helps with. I also don't understand how this is different than most other modern pistols. With the 1911, the hammer has to be back for it to fire. Modern pistols like Glocks seem to be plagued with the same issue as mentioned above.
[B] Unsafe to holster[\B]: This one really baffles me because I can't seem to find a straight answer on this. There seems to be the idea that a luger is prone to being "triggered" while holstered. The idea is that the luger has an external sear bar and is prone to being pushed while in a holster. They sight an episode of Band of Brothers as an example of this. I am fairly certain that the incident inf Band of Brothers was not with a luger; rahter, it was with a FN 1900.
Thanks for any help on this