Lugerman's 1907 .45 Target model

[DavidJayUden]

Several weeks ago there was a posting that included photos of the Lugerman’s current .45 Luger project, and the photo included a “target model” with a 7” barrel, to which I responded: “I’d like to shoot that one…” Several days later Eugene contacted me and informed me that indeed, that gun, their used prototype, was for sale. It was their prototype target model, a trial balloon, #43, and it had about 2000 rounds thru it already. Shortly thereafter we struck a deal that included the gun, 3 magazines, both target and checkered grips, Certificate of Authenticity, and a loading tool at the Princely sum of $6500. He wanted to replace the lanyard loop and touch up the bluing but it was pretty much ready to go since they use it for testing. Once I did the FFL and payment, he had it in the overnight mail to my FFL, and I had the gun in my hands soon afterwards. Pretty darned fast for Eugene…

Anyway, I took it to the local indoor range tonight and fired 9 groups of 5 shots each using 3 different types of round nose 230 gr. ammo; Winchester White Box, FMJ, old reloads loaded with 230 gr. Cast round nose bullets, and new Wolf steel case 230 gr. FMJ. No cleaning either before or in between groups.

The first groups were fired at 15 yards with the barrel resting on a shooting bag as I knelt behind it, the groups ranging from 3-4”, mostly in strings. All printed low and left, while my sights were level front and rear and held at 6 o’clock on the 3” black dots. Moving the target back to the wall at 25 yards, the groups opened up to 5-6” with an occasional flyer that was entirely my own doing. Low and left. I then moved the target up to 10 yards and shot from an offhand standing position, and was able to squeeze them down to 2-3”, low and left.

But the point here is that the gun shot exactly as it should, and while some groups were better than the others, no one ammo outshined the others, at least not with me at the trigger. No doubt the groups could be cut in half with an experienced target shooter.

The problems I encountered are as follows: Sometimes, but not always, I had to press the mag. catch button in to insert the mag. But not always. There were 2 failure to feed instances, one with the White Box ammo where the extractor either slipped off or never grabbed the rim and the case was left in the chamber. Once I pulled the loaded mag. out and snapped the toggle shut, it easily extracted the spent round. The other instance was when the action cycled and closed on an empty case while loading from the magazine (stove-piped). That was one of my 1980’s reloads, so I’m blaming it on low pressure. The last issue was with the trigger, normally a heavenly trigger-pull, occasionally it would set the sear then wait for addl. pressure before it broke and fired. The sear bar and sear bar spring would pop out as it should, but then there would be a tiny glitch before additional pressure caused it to fire. Sort of like a single stage trigger becoming a 2 stage trigger.

Although my 3 magazines include 2 alloy bases and one wood, Eugene suggests using the alloy bases for shooting and the wood base for looking. Those magazine springs are strong, and a loading tool is necessary after 2 or 3 rounds, and I agree that the wood is probably not up to that kind of pressure. Not at $400 per pop.

Cleaning the gun afterwards I noticed that it disassembled and appeared exactly like any other Luger. I’ll venture that the Interarms Mausers were much further from the original patterns than is Eugene’s 1907. I did encounter 2 issues, one being that the short pin that holds the breechblock to the forward toggle link was loose enough to slip part way out once removed from the barrel extension. Not fall completely out but looser than what I’m used to. Secondly, I was unable to turn the firing pin inside of the breech block in order to remove it. Generally you push them in then turn 90 degrees, but this one didn’t turn much beyond 20 degrees, and I wasn’t about to force it. (No owner’s manual and probably no YouTube videos. Yet.). Otherwise field stripping it was totally the same as with any other P08 that I have ever owned.

Early impressions? Too expensive for a daily shooter but a fine pistol to be sure. Very pleasant to shoot. Comparing it to a P08 is sort of akin to shooting your 1911 Officer model, then picking up a long-slide .45. The sights are typical Luger sights and probably better for 18 year old eyes than my 1955 models. Accuracy is good, the gun certainly shoots better than I do. It does not seem finicky about ammo, but I haven’t yet tried my favorite 200 gr. SWC loads. And it does get LOTS of attention at the range.

So I’ll keep it, at least until someone with enough money who wants it worse comes along.

Follow-up notes: Shared my experiences with Eugene and he indicated that the trigger and loose toggle pin could be fixed whenever I sent it back. He mentioned that they had a target shooter run it and his groups were smaller than were mine. Thanks… And he’s skeptical about my SWC loads feeding well in his Luger. Also he reiterated that my gun was their prototype and not originally intended for sale, so if you are waiting for your .45 don’t call Eugene and chew on his leg because you haven’t gotten your gun yet.