[Michael Zeleny]

Gerben, my Mauser Parabellums have found more appreciative owners. I didn't win the Sports version on eGun, but other specimens pop up there from time to time.

I understand Sam Cummings' challenge to create a version of the Parabellum pistol at an affordable price. As far as I am concerned, this was a fool's errand. Cast and molded parts wreak havoc on precise actions, as witness the degradation of SIG P210 pistols after the expiration of Swiss military contracts. If anything, the Luger action requires much greater precision of manufacture. I know of no service grade Luger that has interchangeable parts. I heard the claim of doing away with the hand fitting of parts before blueing made on behalf of Krieghoff, but their interchangeability is not borne out by numerous original specimens in my collection. By contrast, Swiss P49 pistols suffer no degradation in accuracy or reliability in mixing and matching major subassemblies. Attempting to make a Luger to this standard is a recipe for disappointment. The Swiss seem to have gone as far as reasonably possible in their quest for "rationalizing" the Borchardt-Luger design, as witness the 1965 prototype pictured on pp. 276-277 of Horst Rutsch's book. Regrettably, Mauser engineers chose to do it their way. Predictably, mediocrity ensued.