Modification of a Standard Upper to .22

[John Sabato]

These photos are of a .22 conversion owned by Patrick Villiers who lives in Germany. The .22 conversion parts are strictly Erma, but the target Bull barrel work looks like very custom work. These photos are located in the "Old Owner's Corner" that is left over from one of the first incarnations of the Luger forum before we came to this format, and created the Member's Gallery.






Photos Courtesy of Patrick Villiers

Here is Patrick's caption for his .22 Conversion:

I know that purists don�´t like Luger conversions and customizing, but the idea here is that it�´s proof that the idea is still alive. Georg Luger was working on variations until the time of his death. There are at least two people working on .22 Lugers here in Germany; Werle (see Waffen Werle - Links & Resources) and Johann Uhl. The simple idea is to use the Erma kit. A competition .22 Luger needs a heavy barrel. Mine was too heavy and has since had the sides milled off. The Erma conversion is not all that successful. It needs careful attention to the main spring (from a P 38) and the ammunition used.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by John Sabato

These photos are of a .22 conversion owned by Patrick Villiers who lives in Germany. The .22 conversion parts are strictly Erma, but the target Bull barrel work looks like very custom work. These photos are located in the "Old Owner's Corner" that is left over from one of the first incarnations of the Luger forum before we came to this format, and created the Member's Gallery.

Here is Patrick's caption for his .22 Conversion:

I know that purists don´t like Luger conversions and customizing, but the idea here is that it´s proof that the idea is still alive. Georg Luger was working on variations until the time of his death. There are at least two people working on .22 Lugers here in Germany; Werle (see Waffen Werle - Links & Resources) and Johann Uhl. The simple idea is to use the Erma kit. A competition .22 Luger needs a heavy barrel. Mine was too heavy and has since had the sides milled off. The Erma conversion is not all that successful. It needs careful attention to the main spring (from a P 38) and the ammunition used.

I have Lugers and P-38's. A P-38 mainspring will not interchange with a Luger mainspring (it is too small diameter) but MIGHT be used in the Erma unit...Somewhere...

Any guesses where???

http://www.lugerforum.com/owner_gallery/patrick.html

[kurusu]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

I have Lugers and P-38's. A P-38 mainspring will not interchange with a Luger mainspring (it is too small diameter) but MIGHT be used in the Erma unit...Somewhere...

Any guesses where???

http://www.lugerforum.com/owner_gallery/patrick.html

I thought you already knew that.

SE-08-2_1.jpg

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by kurusu

I thought you already knew that.

I don't have an Erma unit to look at, and the brief description doesn't say which spring was replaced, or if the P-38 spring was clipped...Or why it was substituted...

The salient part of Patrick Villier's comment to me was "The Erma conversion is not all that successful".

For the $500-$600 these kits are going for these days, I'm happy to remain ignorant.

Edit: Patrick Villiers expands further on his comments on Jan Still's forum -

http://luger.gunboards.com/showthrea...n-kits-for-P08

(Patrick is Guest_V).

There are two springs in the Erma toggle; one for recoil, one for the firing pin. The Erma toggle assembly comes apart quite easily for replacing the springs; chasing them across the room can be invigorating...

Maybe Ed Tinker would be willing to try replacing his Erma 'recoil spring' with a P-38 mainspring...The Erma spring is called a 'breech-closing spring' in the Erma manual/parts breakdown...