Take down lever question

[Piker]

Hi, new to the forum and I have a question about reassembly.
First a little history of my pistole '08
I recently inherited my dad's 1938 S/42 which he purchased 30 some odd years ago from a Vet's widow & according to the story was captured along with a Nickel Plated FN HighPower with waffenfarbs etc. really a couple of nice pistols.
Anyway, dad shot maybe a box of ammo through the two pistols at most and had never tore them down for a good cleaning, just the barrel brush and a good wipe down...
So I got his collection and decided to take the '08 down to field strip clean it (After watching a youtube video it looked pretty easy) and I encountered this little problem upon reassembly...
My takedown lever doesn't want to go all the way through so that I can lock the trigger plate back in position....
Even without the plate the bolt doesn't want to go all the way through...
Am I doing something wrong? is the takedown spring under the takedown lever not working?
Help!

Thanks in advance
Mike Douglass

[policeluger]

make sure the TD lever is all the way in place, look on the right hand side as the gun is pointed away from you, the round end should just be showing coming out the frame....welcome!

[Piker]

Well that was my problem it didn't want to line up...
so I looked at it again and swore at it... and guess what? it slipped into place.
Thx!

[Vlim]

Hi,

With a good quality spring (L-shaped, underneath the takedown lever), you can expect to have to use some moderate force to push the takedown lever in, agains the pressure of the small spring.

So one should try pushing down on the takedown lever from above, while trying to move it into the hole, that should to the trick.

Most L-springs are so worn down (as are the levers) that they slide in without much effort.

[Piker]

I knew that some eagle eye'd HP guy would chime in.
I am aware of the official history that FN made no nickel plated pistols during the war, yet here I have this example of a fixed sight, nickel plated, nazi stmped HP.
Before you jump to the logical conclusion, No, the stamps are not filled in as would be indicative of a "after market" plating job...
The pistole came from out of the woodwork so it is highly unlikely that the nazi eagles were added post war.
the only thing that has been done to this pistole since I have been it's owner is the grip screws were replaced as they were stripped.
(unfortunately I had to use blued screws)
To the best of my knowlege this is a genuine one of a kind example of a factory nickled FN HP 9mm manufactured during the occupation.
The theory my dad put together was this was walked thru the factory by a German officer and had it made to order.
I'm open to other theories...

[Piker]

More pictures

[Piker]

last one was blurry

[Piker]

Here's the whole thing

[Piker]

I have not run the serial numbers to figure out when this example was produced, perhaps someone more knowlegable than I could help?
The story was that this pistole and the S/42 were captured in North Africa,
taken off of a german officer. If this is to be believed, prior to 1943 would be my best guess.

[Piker]

and yet here it is, and here we are...
and to quote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation,
"The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession."
however, Holmes also said, "When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
So to which do we subscribe, the former or the latter?
"To reach new heights, I'll use the ladder..."
variously ascribed to Groucho Marx or Piker.

Please post pictures of your Ben Franklin and George Washington Luger set.

[Piker]

No sir, it wasn't my intention to be unkind, nor do I feel that it was your intention to impune the integrity of my poor little pistole and to hurt its feelings. I was merely picking up the gauntlet laid down at my feet to provide a photo of my poor little bastard child, which I have done.
Your interpretation of the good Friar William of Occam's principle diverges from mine I'm afraid. My interpetation is "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." that coupled with the old axioms "don't believe everything ya read." and "to every rule there is an exception." would, by my score, put the ball squarely back in your court.

Unlike the Jabberwoky this creature exists... it may NOT be unique which would support my position if other examples turn up... but it does indeed exist.
(I, by the way do not believe in nickle plated wartime manufactured Lugers... I have yet to see a convincing example.)
Wartime records, I don't believe can be taken as gospel. Nor are official records 100% correct all of the time. Boker Cutlery for example denys it's Nazi past and has no records of making daggers for the Allegemeine SS, yet there they are.

I can assure you sir, that my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek most of the time and a yankee sense of humor courses thru my veins, so I was of course, amused by your Ben Franklin and George Washington Luger set remark, and I was playfully responding in kind - in a "I showed you mine, now show me yours" kind of way. Perhaps I should have said, "I showed you mine now show me a picture of your text book."?
The problem with the internet and these kinds of exchanges is the lack of visual clues one gets from a face to face dialog, I'm certain that humor and meaning gets lost along the way when laid out upon the page...perhaps I should employ emoticons (which I am not adept at)
I'm here to learn, not smash statues, but if one or two gets a mustache painted on it... "It wasn't me.", as my little brother used to say.

Cheers,
Piker

[Hugh]

I'll probably regret it but I'm going to jump into the fray and make the following observation:

It seems that portions of the serial number on the frame have been buffed prior to nickel plating by whoever did the work on this gun AFTER IT LEFT THE FACTORY.

Also, it is possible to take a blued gun in excellent condition, strip the bluing off and nickel plate without buffing. This will then appear to be a factory nickel gun. I have had two Lugers in the past that were in this condition, but I knew that they were not factory nickeled, because such an animal doesn't exist. :icon107:

[wdavid431]

Mr Piker, with the slide locked back on the Browning HP, is the outside of the barrel also chromed/nickled? I have a HP which is chromed/nickled (not sure which it is) and the outside of my barrel is chromed/nickled.
I thought mine was a very nice HP that had been chromed/nickled by some GI to make it a shiney pistol and did not research or ask about it. Who ever did the work paid attention to detail and did a good job. My magazine is also chromed/nickled.
Either way you have a very nice Luger and HP pistol. I sort of like the shiney look.

[Piker]

This information is helpful, the serial number 60644a places this pistole in 1943's production run.
Thanks.
I learned something new today.

[Piker]

wdavid, yes the barrel is also nickled, as well as the clip bottom.
Pretty thick plating actually judging by the lifting on the bore, which gives me my oppinion that the waffennapts should be filled in if this was an attempt at "after market" plating.
Please post some pictures for comparison.
Thanks!
Piker

[Edward Tinker]

Michael, I have had 8 or 10 lugers and P38's come through my hands the last 3 or 4 years; if they were buffed and nickled it was obvious that it had been done post factory. Recently I had a P38 that must have been in very, very nice shape and it was nickled over. Looked like a factory job, but since german officers and enlisted did not carry nickled guns; it was post war. So markings were very sharp and not filled in.

I am no expert, but from what I understand, its not like a paint job that after a couple of coats it fills in; nickle or chrome is electro applied, so it attaches to the gun and is very thin. I also know that nickle requires copper first to be adhered to the metal, not sure if chrome requires a pre-coating.

Ed