1937 S/42 Drilled barrel ... why?

[ChrisLL]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

Mainspring & mainspring guide missing...that's kind of odd; if you were going to make it 'unfireable' then the firing pin, spring, and guide would be more accessible and reasonable to remove...

But I suppose you could replace them and have an 'operable' pistol...Now, the barrel...yes, it's [fairly] easy to replace...But then it's not matching, but should be 'fireable'...

Hmmmm...Could you shoot it with the holes in the barrel??? that's an interesting question...gas would vent and probably drop bullet velocity/travel down considerably...Possibly even 'squib' [bullet never leaves barrel]...And there would be lots of debris from burning powder, maybe some bullet jacket slivers, vent out the holes...Dangerous to anybody to the side...But revolvers function with openings before the barrel, so it's possible...

Strange way to demil a Luger...

That's exactly what I thought ("strange way to demil ...") and expected upon disassembly to have a missing firing pin, etc. but that's all there. "Could you shoot it with the holes in the barrel?" - huh, that's too funny, we had that same discussion at the gunsmith's shop, came to about the same conclusion. Personally, I don't want to fire any guns with holes such as this, but maybe you could get away with it.

From a safety point of view ... with a new barrel, what would make a gun like this unsafe (assuming that the action functions normally)?

Maybe the right question there is ... Do you know a reputable Luger gunsmith in the Northeast (I am in Vermont) that could determine if this pistol is safe to fire (after a new barrel)? . I do know one excellent gunsmith but I have not spoken with him as yet, not sure if he is interested in working on a Luger or has any experience with them.

I don't see this ever being a valuable collector's item (although it would look pretty decent with a reblue) so I am not too concerned about a non-matching barrel. I kind of like it as-is with the wear and tear. I do have the grips by the way which are in pretty nice shape, I decided to leave them off until the spring/guide are replaced though.

Chris