Got it! With range update!

[Tony Min]

So I picked it up today. Took it apart and changed some of the springs. Cleaned and oiled the heck out of it. Used a bronze brush lightly.
I really like it. Not sure the mag is serviceable. A friend is going to the gun show tomorrow and I asked him to buy me a mag. If nothing is found he will lend me his to shoot it Sunday.
The mag is ok but the spring is so tight I can only get 4 rounds into it. I took it apart twice but not sure if someone changed the spring or what but I can't load it.
Pictures of the gun and mag below. Can someone identify the mag? It is something?
All numbers match except the mag. And repo grips. 1916 DWM. The straw actually cleaned up pretty nice. I love the straw on these things.
I love the gun. Finish it good with very light pitting. Not deep at all. Bore is shiny and perfect. Trigger is amazing. Very nice.

[Sergio Natali]

Very well, nice thing to have, enjoy it at the range, and shoot safe.

[wlyon]

Your mag with the KK marking is Portuguese. Have fun with it. Bill

[Tony Min]

Originally Posted by wlyon

Your mag with the KK marking is Portuguese. Have fun with it. Bill

Made it Portugal? Made in Germany for Portuguese contract? Desirable? Worth anything?

I wouldn't mind trading or selling to get something more appropriate.

If I was under fire trying to load my magazine, I would be dead. I have seen stronger springs, might someone have changed the spring?

[Arizona Slim]

If someone on the forum can come up with a value for your mag I would be interested in a trade for it for an equally priced mag if you are interested. I have a Portuguese Luger with the wrong mag. Maybe we can work something out.

Lon

[mystical_tutor]

When it comes to shooting Lugers I have some experience and I will offer some advice that you can promptly ignore if you like... LOL.

1) 90% of Luger jams are caused by bad mags. My suggestion would be to trade off the present mag to someone that wants it as a collectors piece or just retire it. Then find and buy one of the circa. 1975 Mauser mags--Unused if possible. There was a very practical reason that Germany issued a loading tool with every Luger. Because, if you can load a magazine without a loading tool you are a prime candidate for stovepipe jams.
Thus a question. Were you using a loading tool when you tried to load your mag? If not than 4 rounds is about right unless it is a mechanical problem with your mag that it won't take the rounds (i.e something inside it, wrong type spring, it is bent or some such)
2) You will do yourself a favor to save the wooden bottom mag in any case. The newer Mauser mags have plastic bottoms and will serve you quite well, at least mine do.
3) The well meaning advice that you need "stronger ammo" should be politely ignored. I have loaded and fired a few thousand rounds of 9mm and found that the standard handloading manual loads work quite fine (Unique powder seems to work best for me). I load hotter for my MP-40 but NEVER for my Lugers, P-38s or other handguns.
Please let me know how it goes. I love shooting my Luger (my "social piece" is an s/42).

Gary

[mystical_tutor]

Originally Posted by wlyon

Your mag with the KK marking is Portuguese. Have fun with it. Bill

Would that be the correct mag for my M2 Portuguese?

Gary

[Ron Wood]

Originally Posted by mystical_tutor

Would that be the correct mag for my M2 Portuguese?

Gary

No, it would not. A proper magazine for your M2 woud have a nickle tube and a wood base with the triangle in a circle inspector's mark like the mark on the left side of the receiver of your M2 Luger.

With regard to the magazine in the original post, the Portuguese did not manufacture magazines. The magazines were procured from DWM, Mauser and other sources. The magazine shown appears to be like those made in Denmark with a blued tube and wood base. The KK markings could have been applied at any time but I suspect the time frame of the magazine is more around the M43 Portuguese Lugers made by Mauser.

[Tony Min]

Originally Posted by mystical_tutor

When it comes to shooting Lugers I have some experience and I will offer some advice that you can promptly ignore if you like... LOL.

1) 90% of Luger jams are caused by bad mags. My suggestion would be to trade off the present mag to someone that wants it as a collectors piece or just retire it. Then find and buy one of the circa. 1975 Mauser mags--Unused if possible. There was a very practical reason that Germany issued a loading tool with every Luger. Because, if you can load a magazine without a loading tool you are a prime candidate for stovepipe jams.
Thus a question. Were you using a loading tool when you tried to load your mag? If not than 4 rounds is about right unless it is a mechanical problem with your mag that it won't take the rounds (i.e something inside it, wrong type spring, it is bent or some such)
2) You will do yourself a favor to save the wooden bottom mag in any case. The newer Mauser mags have plastic bottoms and will serve you quite well, at least mine do.
3) The well meaning advice that you need "stronger ammo" should be politely ignored. I have loaded and fired a few thousand rounds of 9mm and found that the standard handloading manual loads work quite fine (Unique powder seems to work best for me). I load hotter for my MP-40 but NEVER for my Lugers, P-38s or other handguns.
Please let me know how it goes. I love shooting my Luger (my "social piece" is an s/42).

Gary

I won't ignore advice ever.
I was not using a loading tool. But even with mechanical help I could not get the mag spring to depress further. I think it is bent and seems to expand when compressed and gets stuck.
I put in a P38 mag spring and it actually feels pretty good. It is still stiff but due to the different spring shape doesn't get stuck when compressed. It still takes mechanical help to load. My friend is also bringing one of his mags tomorrow. I would love to buy a mag. Haven't found anything decent yet. Any leads for the ones you mentioned?
For ammo I bought Winchester white box 115gr. I also shoot my P38 with it.
I spent about 10 hours detailing it last night and today. If they had done this it would have been 500 more. It soaked up the oil and looks fantastic.
I also sanded the edges of my grips more round as they were kind of sharp though they are decent repros. Then restained the edges with Walnut stain.
It is a different gun.
I am excited to shoot it tomorrow.

[Tony Min]

So I fired about 80 rounds of white box through it today. The original mag with the P38 spring did fine though I could only get 7 rounds in there. New mag and springs are on the way from G.T. Thanks!
My friend's mag didn't work for me. Spring was too soft.
Gun is deadly accurate. Got several bulls eyes at 25 yards and hitting black consistently once I figured out the sights. Shoots pretty much dead on.
Only issues towards the end of the day was my take down lever would start creeping down. It seemed to not detent very strong. But when I got home and took it apart and I worked it back and forth some it seemed to improve. So it may just be dirty.
I read how hard it is to replace the spring so hope I don't have to.

Fantastic gun! Amazing fine tuned piece of machinery. 98 years old and runs like a Swiss watch. My P38 took a back seat.
Trigger is amazing. I would guess two pounds or less. On par with my worked on 22LR trigger with competition sear.

Got real dirty on the inside. Gotta clean!

[mystical_tutor]

I am concerned about the dirty inside thing. Not my normal experiance. What is "white box" ammo? reloads? Did the brass have any issues? Did the primers "flatten" out against the bolt face (this is when you look at them after fireing and find the primer flat and the little grouve around them is gone. This often hints of improper head spacing.

The TD lever is usually not a problem if it has a correct spring. After cleaning it insert it and see if there is any slack or "rattle" without the sideplate on. Taking the spring out just for fun is not recommended but you may need to to check and make sure it is a proper spring. People taking these apart without knowing about that spring can loose them without realizing it and they are not always replaced with a correct spring.

Just some thoughts.

Wonderful you had a good time with it. The sights on Lugers leave a LOT to be desired, specially in low light conditions.

Keep up the fire,

Gary

[Tony Min]

White box is what everyone here recommends to shoot. 115 gr FMJ Winchester white box. The gun performed perfect. Shells looked good.
I am assuming the spring in the take down lever is a little tired but I am not looking forward to changing it. There is a strong detent click when all the way open but less strong of a click when closed. After spraying it out and lubing it good it is better but not as strong as I would like. A spring change might be in my future.

[Edward Tinker]

Tony, excellent

Not much better than shooting a luger (except in close contest is a 1911 )

the take down lever spring is on the inside of the gun, it can be a little tricky but not much. Usually if this spring is broken, its obvious and to get in a new one, you pretty much just 'pop' it down.

Ed

[Zorba]

If I can install a take down lever spring, anyone can. Yea, its a moderate PITA, but doable.

[Tony Min]

Originally Posted by Edward Tinker

Tony, excellent

Not much better than shooting a luger (except in close contest is a 1911 )

the take down lever spring is on the inside of the gun, it can be a little tricky but not much. Usually if this spring is broken, its obvious and to get in a new one, you pretty much just 'pop' it down.

Ed

It might not be broken. Maybe a little weak. The click when closed is not real positive, though very positive when in the open position.
After cleaning and lubing it is a little better. Hope it stays closed next outing.

[Tony Min]

Originally Posted by zormpas

If I can install a take down lever spring, anyone can. Yea, its a moderate PITA, but doable.

It was your description that scared me. I don't have a slop sink, my hips don't move etc.

[Zorba]

Originally Posted by Tony Min

It was your description that scared me. I don't have a slop sink, my hips don't move etc.

Improvise. Its not like my method was the factory procedure!

[DavidJayUden]

I'm wondering aloud why the lever doesn't stay up. Isn't there a slot in the lever shaft that the spring semi-drops into in the raised position? Could the spring be a bit "fat" to drop into the grove.
I'm just thinking that a bit of filing or re-arching the spring MAY get you where you need to be.
dju

[Tony Min]

I looked in the area. Is it correct the take down lever spring isn't visible unless the lever is out? It held fine for the first 60 or so shots. Then suddenly the trigger was acting up and I noticed the lever was down a few degrees.
When I pulled it back up the gun fired normally but now it would creep down every couple of shots.
When I came home and took down the weapon I sprayed out the area real good and lubed it. It seemed to regain some of the positive click. But I don't know if it's enough to withstand the shock of being fired. It has a much more positive click in the open position.
All other springs were original in this gun. I changed the recoil spring and the spring on the firing pin plunger.

[mrerick]

From the bottom, you can see a tiny silver "dot" where the short arm of the spring extends into and through the frame. It's just ahead of the trigger guard on one side.

If it's broken or missing it might just be a small hole.

This spring is curved along it's long axis. The curve extends up into the slot cut in the take down lever. This is what retains it.

If your spring broke, has become too flat, or is missing the take down lever can easily rotate out of position.

If needed, I know that Tom (LugerDoc) has replacements available.

Marc