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Jerry Harris · 06-17-2002, 01:21 AM

The topic of chambering/unchambering a round with safety on has been well covered here, but in pieces. Let me run it a bit farther into the ground while verifying and summarizing previous posts.

As Thor said, opening the breech with safety on is possible ONLY with Lugers that have the fully-relieved sear bar. This improvement was patented by Georg Luger himself and earned him a royalty for every gun made with it, or modified to have it.

Expect to find the relieved sear on all WW1 or later non-grip safety Lugers, and on some earlier ones due to retrofitting. You can recognize it by noting that the raised bevel on the sear bar extends only 1/8-inch behind the trigger plate, leaving a 3/8-inch gap between it and the sear-blocking safety blade, when the safety is on.

Typical UNLOADING scenario:
You have ceased firing at any point in discharging a magazine and you want to unload the cocked gun completely.

1. Apply the safety.
2. Remove the magazine.
3. Pull the toggle fully back to eject the live round.

Typical LOADING scenario:
You want to load an empty chamber, but with the safety applied beforehand.

1. Pull back the toggle/breechblock about 1/4-inch, until you hear the sear click into engagement with the firing pin lug.

2. Push the toggle foward and fully down to close the breech, compress the firing pin spring, and **** the gun. If you don't do this, even the relieved sear will not allow the breech to open when the safety is on! (emphasis added by John Sabato, Moderator)

3. Apply the safety.

4. Open the breech and chamber a round.

In either scenario and in ALL cases, a properly-functioning applied safety will prevent the gun from firing by blocking the motion of the sear bar. A smart user knows this but treats any weapon as loaded with the safety about to fail. Easy to say, but hard to follow through on consistently!

A removed cannon (top assembly of barrel, receiver, breechblock and toggle) has no safety and CAN fire, so always empty the chamber and remove the magazine before disassembling. This applies to any gun, but more critically to a Luger.

06-17-2002, 01:21 AM	#9
Jerry Harris User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Central Ohio Posts: 64 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The topic of chambering/unchambering a round with safety on has been well covered here, but in pieces. Let me run it a bit farther into the ground while verifying and summarizing previous posts. As Thor said, opening the breech with safety on is possible ONLY with Lugers that have the fully-relieved sear bar. This improvement was patented by Georg Luger himself and earned him a royalty for every gun made with it, or modified to have it. Expect to find the relieved sear on all WW1 or later non-grip safety Lugers, and on some earlier ones due to retrofitting. You can recognize it by noting that the raised bevel on the sear bar extends only 1/8-inch behind the trigger plate, leaving a 3/8-inch gap between it and the sear-blocking safety blade, when the safety is on. Typical UNLOADING scenario: You have ceased firing at any point in discharging a magazine and you want to unload the cocked gun completely. 1. Apply the safety. 2. Remove the magazine. 3. Pull the toggle fully back to eject the live round. Typical LOADING scenario: You want to load an empty chamber, but with the safety applied beforehand. 1. Pull back the toggle/breechblock about 1/4-inch, until you hear the sear click into engagement with the firing pin lug. 2. Push the toggle foward and fully down to close the breech, compress the firing pin spring, and ** the gun. If you don't do this, even the relieved sear will not allow the breech to open when the safety is on! (emphasis added by John Sabato, Moderator)** 3. Apply the safety. 4. Open the breech and chamber a round. In either scenario and in ALL cases, a properly-functioning applied safety will prevent the gun from firing by blocking the motion of the sear bar. A smart user knows this but treats any weapon as loaded with the safety about to fail. Easy to say, but hard to follow through on consistently! A removed cannon (top assembly of barrel, receiver, breechblock and toggle) has no safety and CAN fire, so always empty the chamber and remove the magazine before disassembling. This applies to any gun, but more critically to a Luger.