Durability of the Luger

[Ray]

Gentlemen


Well, I now freely admit to having caught the full blown Luger bug. With four gun show purchases under my belt and two more today from Mr Shattuck,I'm in serious trouble. The Shattuck guns, I hope, should give me a sense of what a "real collector's piece" is all about.By the way, thanks to you folks and your quick responses two of the gun show purchases turned out to be real finds. So my question is related to what I have been reading in various sources regarding the durability of the Lugers. The message seems to be that while they are engineering marvels, their performance on the battle field was less than stellar. The suggestion is that the close tolerances caused jamming failures associated with dirt and debris, something not a big problem with the 1911. Can this be true or is this just another "the 1911 is the best

military side arm of all times" story? Mind you my own experience is that 1911 is truly an excellent gun.Nevertheless it doesn't seem possible that battle failure is in keeping with such long term production.

[Ted]

Ray, if you REALLY want to get hooked come with us next spring to VISIT the World of Lugers to the next viewing and Luger forum convention, 1600 Minty Lugers will make you go "Deer in the Headlights" lol Ted

[G.T.]

In reality, when compared head to head, the luger did quite well. As in the only case we can draw any conclusions from, the 45 test Lugers......It seems to me that they were close enough to warrent a retest, which D.W.M. refused, as the German army adopted the P.08 the following year.....I think the P.08 was pretty stout! till...later...G.T.

[G.T.]

Plus.....It's always pretty tough to beat the homeboy!.....G.T.

[Matt]

I think the Luger's reputation of being prone to malfunctions is exaggerated. ANY pistol, even the Colt-Browning 1911, can jam if bad ammunition is used or it is clogged with debris. The most reliable pistol I own is a P.38, that has NEVER jammed. It's not nearly as accurate as a Luger though.

[Johnny Peppers]

The firing test of the .45 Cal. Luger did not go particularily well, and especially so with Frankford Arsenal manufactured .45 ACP ammunition. Luger recommended that the loadings be identical to those furnished by DWM, but the powder was not readily available in the United States. You also have to remember that the horse Cavalry was still in use at this time, and the lack of an exposed hammer was considered important to the testing boards. The Model 1905 Colt could have the hammer cocked with one hand in the event of a misfire, while the Luger required two hands to recock. The two examples of the .45 Cal Luger furnished to Springfield were not put through the full endurance tests, which would have been done had the entire order of 200 been delivered.

[Mark M.]

Gruss Gott,Matt!

I think you just said it all! The P38,

the "not as pretty succesor" is one of

the most,if not THE MOST,reliable pistols I've ever had.Mine have not

locked up no matter what ammo I've

used even after 200+ rds.They may not

be (and aren't!!!) as pretty as Lugers,

but they are an excellent shooting pistol!

I have one question regarding the P38,

however.Why the hell didn't they keep

the same proven "cant" on the butt as the P08??If they had,the P38 would be

the finest pistol ever made IMO!


Tschuss! Mark M.

[Michael E Halbrook]

The other thing to consider is the Colt was considerably

modified to satisfy the Army through the course of the tests. It is almost a completely new

gun from the 1905 to the 1911.

200 test Lugers were requested, it seems like DWM did not want to bother with redesigining the Luger for someone half way round the world while they were ramping up for many other sales.

[Marvin]

Ray,


After reading the other postings, I thought I would jump in on this one too. As to the durability of the Luger, I feel it was a very good pistol and performed admirably for the German Army. One thing that folks in the US don't realize is the Europeans tend to maintain equipment better than American. The armaments of Europe were difinetly made to closer tolerances than American and therefore required better maintenence. Even today, the European automobiles require more maintenance that an American auto, but, if maintaines according to recommendations, they will last a loooong time. I thing this is the same for European firearms, they must be maintained to get peak performance. The Lugers we cherish today are the same way, they must be maintained. Remember the problems we had and still have with the M-16 rifle. This rifle is a close tolerance weapon and must be maintained to operate effectivly. Compare the M-16 with the Ak-47; the AK requires almost no maintenance and it keep on operating; much the same as the difference between a Luger and the 1911 Colt. Does anyone else have a good comparison of weapons like the AK and the M-16???


Marvin

[Ted]

The Luger is an elegant work of art and craftsmanship. The P.38 I see as a rugged weapon of war that resembles a stout little tiger tank (except the grips are more fragile if plastic) BOTH appeal to me tremendously! Ted

[Aaron]

Before we go overboard in praising the Luger, me must continually remind ourselves that the Nazi bigwigs preferred to carry American Smith & Wesson revolvers!

[Tim]

Before we go overboard in praising the Luger, me must continually remind ourselves that the Nazi bigwigs preferred to carry American Smith & Wesson revolvers!


Isn't that because they knew S&W would eventually sell out to that most famous of Nazis, Wilhelm Klinton?

[Matt]

My biggest complaint about the P.38 is the grip just seems too large for a 9mm pistol. It is bigger than the grip of a 1911 .45-automatic. Also, the rear sight notch is wider than the blade front sight, and that can make for an inconsistent sight picture if one is not careful. But, complaining aside, it's still one of my favorites! And it's almost as "cool" looking as a Luger!