Food for thought: is the luger really a "weak" design?

[DonVoigt]

I first wrote this as a response to the thread on the "telltale mark", but then decided maybe it deserved its own thread.

So here it is food for thought, and request for info or reference on subject, I really need to read the US trials results, should be informative. May need to buy another book.

If you have references for information, please quote and/or list them so others can go to the sources and read them.

I'm not looking for "opinion" there is plenty of that written already, but data, facts, actual experience with complete or catastrophic failure. A broken extractor or ejector doesn't count- these are expendable and replaceable in my book- but something that can't be "fixed" by parts replacement.

Remember the luger and the "reliable tank" the K98K rifle were issued with a spare parts kit for field use- which contained pretty much every part for either! Out of a million or two units, some will fail for sure, but is that a design flaw or just a fact of life in manufacture?

What started me thinking:

Originally Posted by Rick W.

We all know the Luger will "work" with overly hot ammo, but the life of the pistol is shortened dramatically; .

Food for thought:

Can one define "dramatically" or life ?
I don't disagree- only curious as to where this comes from- is it 10% less life, or half, or 90% less.
Do we really know this by testing or is it anecdotal "common knowledge".
Is it just some parts, or what is it that fails?

If an extractor or ejector breaks, is this a "life" failure?
I don't think so.

Has anyone ever done a controlled destructive firing test with Nato or +P ammo? with a control? Two of those modern 1970 Mauser copies of the luger might be ideal to test, they even have better "metallurgy" according to some.

Folks write all the time about how weak the luger is and to not use this or that- but what does this really mean?

In comparison, some new, "modern" pistols in 9mm P and/or .45 acp come with instructions to change the mainspring every 500 or as few as 50 or 100 (old Rohrbaugh) rounds. Some even come with a spare mainspring packaged with it. Others require "special" grease to prevent pre-mature wear- so which is the "weak" design?

Please take at least 10 minutes to think about your response to this question before you write.