Breechblock restoration tips

Gary Beyer · 11-17-2004, 12:43 PM

I have a newly developed tip to share with those of you doing your own restorations. This is a little long, but hopefully somebody will find it useful.

I have a shooter Luger (1917/20 dual date DWM) that I've been restoring a little at a time as I continue to shoot it. It's a generally nice looking pistol, but it's been overly buffed and hot blued at some point in the past. I've reworked most of the toggle assembly including having the DWM on the forward toggle link touched up by an engraver. I've also taught myself how to rust blue the parts I've reworked.

My latest conquest has been the breechblock assembly. This was really the worst looking part on the gun with its overly buffed rounded edges. I have been scheming for a long time on how to touch up the rounded recess in the top of the breechblock where the extractor pivots. Pictures I've seen of original DWM Lugers made during this era show the machining marks running along the length of the part. The recess I wanted to work on has a radius of roughly 1/4". The first tool that came to mind was the larger of the two sanding drums that are made for Dremel Mototools This drum is roughly 1/2" in diameter. A quick check verified that the fit was very close in the breechblock recess.

Now, I really didn't want to try this by hand. I think that would be a disaster! I do however happen to have a drill press with an X-Y type machinist's vice. If you don't have one of these on your drill press, you don't know what you're missing - they are very handy for positioning parts precisely. I believe I paid around $70 for mine. Of course a mill would work just fine in this application also but I doubt there are many of us so blessed. I placed the Dremel sanding drum assembly (with a 120 grit drum) in the chuck, and mounted the breechblock (minus firing pin assy and extractor) end to end between the vice jaws, with the recess facing the sanding drum. With the drill press off, I brought the part up to the sanding drum with the XY vice controls. When the part just touched the sanding drum, I loosened the vice jaws slightly, and pressed the breechblock recess against the sanding drum to square it up to its working surface, then I re-tightened the vice. A couple of spins of the drill press chuck by hand and a quick check by moving the part away from the sanding drum showed that material would be removed in exactly the right place. OK, here goes! I turned on the drill press and brought the breechblock briefly into contact with the sanding drum. Another quick check showed things were going well, but more sanding was needed. One or two more bumps against the drum, along with a bit of up and down motion with the drill press feed control and I had a nice, square edged recess again!

Of course, the extractor had been overly buffed also, and after seeing the success of the method, I wished I had reworked it at the same time I had done the breechblock. Pictures of original guns showed the extractor was very likely contoured while mounted in the breechblock. OK, a small modification to my method was in order. I mounted the extractor in the breechblock, with the spring in place. I substituted a cut off finishing nail for the pin. The head on the nail would keep it from falling out during the sanding operation. Again I squared up the recess to the sanding drum, did a check by spinning the chuck by hand, and then applied power. Just a couple of touches, and the extractor was contoured to the recess in the breechblock!

Now, we're not quite done! The process leaves an undesirable "bump" where the recessed area transitions up to the joint area. This was easily contoured by draw filing with a fine toothed round file being very careful to stay square to the edges of the part.

When all was said and done, I wish I had taken some before and after pictures. Sorry, but the ugliness is now gone!

Gary

ToggleTop · 11-17-2004, 10:48 PM

Hello Gary,

Thank you for your detailed tip of luger restoration. It is amazing what we can do when we use a little ingenuity and have the desire to experiment. I am constantly repairing something in my garage. It is my only little world of solitude. You are correct about the cross vise. I have used mine many times to position a piece accurately on the drill press table. Good luck with future projects. Some of mine don't always go the way I planned!!

Regards,

11-17-2004, 12:43 PM	#1
Gary Beyer User Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Breechblock restoration tips I have a newly developed tip to share with those of you doing your own restorations. This is a little long, but hopefully somebody will find it useful. I have a shooter Luger (1917/20 dual date DWM) that I've been restoring a little at a time as I continue to shoot it. It's a generally nice looking pistol, but it's been overly buffed and hot blued at some point in the past. I've reworked most of the toggle assembly including having the DWM on the forward toggle link touched up by an engraver. I've also taught myself how to rust blue the parts I've reworked. My latest conquest has been the breechblock assembly. This was really the worst looking part on the gun with its overly buffed rounded edges. I have been scheming for a long time on how to touch up the rounded recess in the top of the breechblock where the extractor pivots. Pictures I've seen of original DWM Lugers made during this era show the machining marks running along the length of the part. The recess I wanted to work on has a radius of roughly 1/4". The first tool that came to mind was the larger of the two sanding drums that are made for Dremel Mototools This drum is roughly 1/2" in diameter. A quick check verified that the fit was very close in the breechblock recess. Now, I really didn't want to try this by hand. I think that would be a disaster! I do however happen to have a drill press with an X-Y type machinist's vice. If you don't have one of these on your drill press, you don't know what you're missing - they are very handy for positioning parts precisely. I believe I paid around $70 for mine. Of course a mill would work just fine in this application also but I doubt there are many of us so blessed. I placed the Dremel sanding drum assembly (with a 120 grit drum) in the chuck, and mounted the breechblock (minus firing pin assy and extractor) end to end between the vice jaws, with the recess facing the sanding drum. With the drill press off, I brought the part up to the sanding drum with the XY vice controls. When the part just touched the sanding drum, I loosened the vice jaws slightly, and pressed the breechblock recess against the sanding drum to square it up to its working surface, then I re-tightened the vice. A couple of spins of the drill press chuck by hand and a quick check by moving the part away from the sanding drum showed that material would be removed in exactly the right place. OK, here goes! I turned on the drill press and brought the breechblock briefly into contact with the sanding drum. Another quick check showed things were going well, but more sanding was needed. One or two more bumps against the drum, along with a bit of up and down motion with the drill press feed control and I had a nice, square edged recess again! Of course, the extractor had been overly buffed also, and after seeing the success of the method, I wished I had reworked it at the same time I had done the breechblock. Pictures of original guns showed the extractor was very likely contoured while mounted in the breechblock. OK, a small modification to my method was in order. I mounted the extractor in the breechblock, with the spring in place. I substituted a cut off finishing nail for the pin. The head on the nail would keep it from falling out during the sanding operation. Again I squared up the recess to the sanding drum, did a check by spinning the chuck by hand, and then applied power. Just a couple of touches, and the extractor was contoured to the recess in the breechblock! Now, we're not quite done! The process leaves an undesirable "bump" where the recessed area transitions up to the joint area. This was easily contoured by draw filing with a fine toothed round file being very careful to stay square to the edges of the part. When all was said and done, I wish I had taken some before and after pictures. Sorry, but the ugliness is now gone! Gary

11-17-2004, 10:48 PM	#2
ToggleTop User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: TN Posts: 297 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Hello Gary, Thank you for your detailed tip of luger restoration. It is amazing what we can do when we use a little ingenuity and have the desire to experiment. I am constantly repairing something in my garage. It is my only little world of solitude. You are correct about the cross vise. I have used mine many times to position a piece accurately on the drill press table. Good luck with future projects. Some of mine don't always go the way I planned!! Regards, __________________ *********************** ToggleTop************* JustHappenToLoveLugers *************************