Range report 1940 42 code

OD#3 · 09-28-2010, 02:36 PM

Took my newly-acquired 42 code 1940 Mauser to the range for the first time today. I got this from Simpson's as a shooter, and it has mismatched takedown lever, sear, and barrel. I was apprehensive about how well it would shoot, because I have no idea where the barrel came from (I posted questions about my barrel all over the place, and no one can tell me what it is). Anyway, using WWB 115 gr., accuracy was outstanding. If I did my part, I could put every round through a jagged hole at 15 yards. I had my chrono with me and found this ammunition to be very consistent. I was averaging about 1170 f.p.s. with a spread of less than 25 f.p.s. Two Mec-Gar magazines produced odd stoppages from stovepiping of live rounds to fired casings wedged backward in front of the bolt. With the military magazine, I had no jams whatsoever.

I had to shorten the range session though, because the pistol was doubling. I had been worried about this due to the mismatched sear and the fact that it had a very light trigger pull. The final straw was when it fired upon chambering a round!

Have to say that I wasn't too impressed with the Mec-gar magazines, and I wasn't a bit surprised that they induced malfunctions, because the motion of the follower up and down was noticeably less smooth than the military mag. I'm guessing that I can smooth this up some. I don't look forward to tracking down the exact cause of the doubling problem though.

nukem556 · 09-28-2010, 05:46 PM

you might want to try taking the sear spring out and putting a slight but definite bend into it, so it's slighly arched towards you...it'll put more positive pressure against the back of the sear bar so it'll better engage the sear notch into the firing pin notch...I've got a mismatched shooter that doubled on me, and it seems to have worked so far

OD#3 · 09-29-2010, 09:05 AM

Thanks for the advice. I worked on it for a couple of hours yesterday (before I read your post), and bending the sear spring was one of the first things I did. I think "Bubba" had been working on this pistol before me in an attempt to lighten the trigger pul. The sear spring wasn't very lively at all until I put the bend in there. I hate bending springs though; it usually weakens them in the long run.

The mating surfaces of the sear and the firing pin shelf were improperly angled I think--"negative"--I believe is the term to describe this type of sear angle. Anyway, the angle made the capture of the firing pin shelf more of a friction affair, encouraging the sear to pivot on its own. Further, the trigger spring was way too light, was bright shiney colored, and looked crudely cut. I think Bubba made it out of a spring from a ball-point pin.

I stoned the mating surfaces of the sear and firing pin shelf to about 90 degrees; I hope I didn't stone through any hardening layer to achieve this. The protrusion didn't seem to be quite enough either, so I stoned the receiver side of the sear leg (the part that bears against the receiver on one side and engages the spring on the other) a bit as well to improve engagement. And I replaced the ball-point pen spring with one I cut from a loading lever latch of a cap and ball revolver. The trigger pull compares very closely now to my friend's 1917 DWM Artillery. I'll test fire it again today and post the results.

OD#3 · 09-29-2010, 02:06 PM

The test fire went pretty well. I fired 100 rounds of Winchester White Box through it and never got any doubling; before, I'd had one about every magazine.

I only brought the military magazine with me today, since it had performed so well before. However, this time I did get quite a few nose-up jams--almost one every magazine full, accompanied by a few failures of the bolt to lock back. It was annoying. I'm betting it was the magazine, but I don't know yet the relationships involved that lead to this malfunction. Oddly, this happened more with slow-fire. Rapid fire emptying of the magazine was trouble-free.

mrerick · 09-29-2010, 04:14 PM

The way that you hold a Luger when firing can effect the action cycling forces and to some extent timing to the point that you can get stovepipes.

Check the consistency of your hand hold tightness and your arm positions / recoil support.

Marc

lugerholsterrepair · 09-29-2010, 07:36 PM

it's called limp wristing. A firm hold might help as Marc says...

Jerry Burney

OD#3 · 09-30-2010, 09:09 AM

Limpwristing is a common cause of many malfunctions with automatics, so I did experiment some with that yesterday. It made no difference how tightly I held the pistol. I even tried holding it so loosely that it was in danger of recoiling right out of my hand. The malfunction rate stayed the same. The recoil spring coil count is between 20 and 22 (not sure if one counts the coils at top and bottom). I know that doesn't mean that the tension is right, but at least it appears to be the proper spring. The rear of the frame shows toggle assembly impact marks, but I'm not sure how hard the toggle is striking it and whether that means that the toggle is bouncing back at too high a velocity. The magazine has quite a bit of up and down play in it, but I got the same performance regardless of whether I let it hang by the magazine catch or pushed up on the bottom of the magazine when firing.

I wish the Mec-gar magazines worked, but the malfunction rate is much worse with them.

09-28-2010, 02:36 PM	#1
OD#3 User Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: East Tennessee Posts: 13 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Range report 1940 42 code Took my newly-acquired 42 code 1940 Mauser to the range for the first time today. I got this from Simpson's as a shooter, and it has mismatched takedown lever, sear, and barrel. I was apprehensive about how well it would shoot, because I have no idea where the barrel came from (I posted questions about my barrel all over the place, and no one can tell me what it is). Anyway, using WWB 115 gr., accuracy was outstanding. If I did my part, I could put every round through a jagged hole at 15 yards. I had my chrono with me and found this ammunition to be very consistent. I was averaging about 1170 f.p.s. with a spread of less than 25 f.p.s. Two Mec-Gar magazines produced odd stoppages from stovepiping of live rounds to fired casings wedged backward in front of the bolt. With the military magazine, I had no jams whatsoever. I had to shorten the range session though, because the pistol was doubling. I had been worried about this due to the mismatched sear and the fact that it had a very light trigger pull. The final straw was when it fired upon chambering a round! Have to say that I wasn't too impressed with the Mec-gar magazines, and I wasn't a bit surprised that they induced malfunctions, because the motion of the follower up and down was noticeably less smooth than the military mag. I'm guessing that I can smooth this up some. I don't look forward to tracking down the exact cause of the doubling problem though.

09-29-2010, 04:14 PM	#5
mrerick Super Moderator - Patron LugerForum Life Patron Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Eastern North Carolina, USA Posts: 3,900 Thanks: 1,372 Thanked 3,094 Times in 1,503 Posts	The way that you hold a Luger when firing can effect the action cycling forces and to some extent timing to the point that you can get stovepipes. Check the consistency of your hand hold tightness and your arm positions / recoil support. Marc __________________ Igitur si vis pacem, para bellum - - Therefore if you want peace, prepare for war.

09-29-2010, 07:36 PM	#6
lugerholsterrepair Moderator Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Arizona/Colorado Posts: 7,763 Thanks: 4,865 Thanked 3,105 Times in 1,429 Posts	it's called limp wristing. A firm hold might help as Marc says... Jerry Burney __________________ Jerry Burney 11491 S. Guadalupe Drive Yuma AZ 85367-6182 lugerholsterrepair@earthlink.net 928 342-7583 (CO & AZ) Year Round 719 207-3331 (cell) "For those who Fight For It, Life has a flavor the protected will never know."

09-28-2010, 05:46 PM	#2
nukem556 User Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Irmo, SC Posts: 625 Thanks: 35 Thanked 168 Times in 107 Posts	you might want to try taking the sear spring out and putting a slight but definite bend into it, so it's slighly arched towards you...it'll put more positive pressure against the back of the sear bar so it'll better engage the sear notch into the firing pin notch...I've got a mismatched shooter that doubled on me, and it seems to have worked so far

09-29-2010, 09:05 AM	#3
OD#3 User Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: East Tennessee Posts: 13 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Thanks for the advice. I worked on it for a couple of hours yesterday (before I read your post), and bending the sear spring was one of the first things I did. I think "Bubba" had been working on this pistol before me in an attempt to lighten the trigger pul. The sear spring wasn't very lively at all until I put the bend in there. I hate bending springs though; it usually weakens them in the long run. The mating surfaces of the sear and the firing pin shelf were improperly angled I think--"negative"--I believe is the term to describe this type of sear angle. Anyway, the angle made the capture of the firing pin shelf more of a friction affair, encouraging the sear to pivot on its own. Further, the trigger spring was way too light, was bright shiney colored, and looked crudely cut. I think Bubba made it out of a spring from a ball-point pin. I stoned the mating surfaces of the sear and firing pin shelf to about 90 degrees; I hope I didn't stone through any hardening layer to achieve this. The protrusion didn't seem to be quite enough either, so I stoned the receiver side of the sear leg (the part that bears against the receiver on one side and engages the spring on the other) a bit as well to improve engagement. And I replaced the ball-point pen spring with one I cut from a loading lever latch of a cap and ball revolver. The trigger pull compares very closely now to my friend's 1917 DWM Artillery. I'll test fire it again today and post the results.

09-29-2010, 02:06 PM	#4
OD#3 User Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: East Tennessee Posts: 13 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	The test fire went pretty well. I fired 100 rounds of Winchester White Box through it and never got any doubling; before, I'd had one about every magazine. I only brought the military magazine with me today, since it had performed so well before. However, this time I did get quite a few nose-up jams--almost one every magazine full, accompanied by a few failures of the bolt to lock back. It was annoying. I'm betting it was the magazine, but I don't know yet the relationships involved that lead to this malfunction. Oddly, this happened more with slow-fire. Rapid fire emptying of the magazine was trouble-free.

09-30-2010, 09:09 AM	#7
OD#3 User Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: East Tennessee Posts: 13 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Limpwristing is a common cause of many malfunctions with automatics, so I did experiment some with that yesterday. It made no difference how tightly I held the pistol. I even tried holding it so loosely that it was in danger of recoiling right out of my hand. The malfunction rate stayed the same. The recoil spring coil count is between 20 and 22 (not sure if one counts the coils at top and bottom). I know that doesn't mean that the tension is right, but at least it appears to be the proper spring. The rear of the frame shows toggle assembly impact marks, but I'm not sure how hard the toggle is striking it and whether that means that the toggle is bouncing back at too high a velocity. The magazine has quite a bit of up and down play in it, but I got the same performance regardless of whether I let it hang by the magazine catch or pushed up on the bottom of the magazine when firing. I wish the Mec-gar magazines worked, but the malfunction rate is much worse with them.