LugerForum Discussion Forums - View Single Post

Kyrie · 03-09-2001, 11:52 PM

Hi Mark,

Good questions

That Lugers need "hot" ammunition to work is misinformation. A Luger in sound mechanical condition will function just fine with standard (read "non +P") ammunition. OTOH, a Luger with mechanical problems (warped frame, binding toggle assembly, and so on) will not function with standard ammunition, but will with over pressure ammunition. What is happening here is the "too hot" ammunition is forcing the Luger past its mechanical problems. But by forcing the mechanism to work when it shouldn't, it's making existing problems worse - and eventually the pistol won't function no matter how "hot" the ammunition is. The bottom line to this is a Luger that will not function with standard ammunition has a mechanical problem not related to ammunition.

Regarding the South African PMP ammunition I have fired a lot of it, but don't know to what standard it is manufactured. I can say it's unlikely it was manufactured to SAAMI specification, as it won't even chamber in a SAAMI minimum 9 mm Parabellum chamber. It is possible this ammunition is a contributing cause to the excessive wear you have noticed on your Stainless Luger - I do not fire this ammunition in my Lugers, or my C96's. OTOH, the stainless Lugers have been known to have some metallurgical problems - some of them quite bizarre. I know of one case where one of these Lugers could not be stopped from rusting, even though it was stored at 70 degrees and a humidity that never exceeded 50%. That's pretty wild. So whatever the root cause(s) of the problem you see developing may be, the material the pistol is made from may be a contributing cause - or it may not. I frankly don't understand a lot of things I've seen and have had reported about these Lugers.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,

Kyrie

03-09-2001, 11:52 PM	#19
Kyrie User Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 757 Thanks: 0 Thanked 212 Times in 101 Posts	Re: Luger ammo Hi Mark, Good questions That Lugers need "hot" ammunition to work is misinformation. A Luger in sound mechanical condition will function just fine with standard (read "non +P") ammunition. OTOH, a Luger with mechanical problems (warped frame, binding toggle assembly, and so on) will not function with standard ammunition, but will with over pressure ammunition. What is happening here is the "too hot" ammunition is forcing the Luger past its mechanical problems. But by forcing the mechanism to work when it shouldn't, it's making existing problems worse - and eventually the pistol won't function no matter how "hot" the ammunition is. The bottom line to this is a Luger that will not function with standard ammunition has a mechanical problem not related to ammunition. Regarding the South African PMP ammunition I have fired a lot of it, but don't know to what standard it is manufactured. I can say it's unlikely it was manufactured to SAAMI specification, as it won't even chamber in a SAAMI minimum 9 mm Parabellum chamber. It is possible this ammunition is a contributing cause to the excessive wear you have noticed on your Stainless Luger - I do not fire this ammunition in my Lugers, or my C96's. OTOH, the stainless Lugers have been known to have some metallurgical problems - some of them quite bizarre. I know of one case where one of these Lugers could not be stopped from rusting, even though it was stored at 70 degrees and a humidity that never exceeded 50%. That's pretty wild. So whatever the root cause(s) of the problem you see developing may be, the material the pistol is made from may be a contributing cause - or it may not. I frankly don't understand a lot of things I've seen and have had reported about these Lugers. Hope this helps! Best regards, Kyrie