[Ted]

While they arent a panacea to the answer of a Lugers reliablity, they certainly are the first place I look when reliablity problems rear their ugly head. A Luger opens and closes in 1/30 or a second (or less) and the magazine has to get the cartridge in position in much less time than that. Think about the movement of the breech block, it has to almost clear the rounds in the magazine before they can begin their upward and rapid move into position. The breech block doesnt move very much more backwards before it begins it forward progress to pick up the next round. This is why a proper operating Luger MUST have a strong spring in the magazine and this is why they included a loading tool with the weapon.....the springs are very strong indeed. A spring replacment of the main spring, magazine spring, sear spring, trigger recoil spring, and yes even the extractor spring will go a long way to make shooter grade Lugers more reliable assuming the ammunition is powerful enough (but not overly so)magazine lips are in good order, parts in the mechanism are properly oiled and in the correct fit and alignments. There are many things that can cause problems, but IMO, springs are the FIRST place to investigate problems. I have seen other things like an ejector that didnt move correctly (the empties didnt eject all the time) a frame that was not properly relieved enough to allow the magazine follower button to properly lift the hold open device and many others. Ted