Cocking problem?

[Dirty Mike]

Does modifying these parts affect the value of the gun itself? I realize if it does not function properly that is bad, but I dont want to alter anything to affect the value as I dont plan on shooting the gun too much anyway?

Thanks for any advice.

[lugersrkewl]

if you have a righteous example of a matching original luger its best to leave it alone. If its a shooter slight modification to make it fire is fine. Or you could use lugerdoc whos on this forum. Hes cool because he repairs/modifies lugers but is also a collector so he knows the can and cants and how far you can take it before something starts to compromise value.

[Ronfromflorida]

Hey Hugh, you Sir are a certified firearms genius, my damn good looking, sort of mismatched, 1917 P 08 started giving me problems over two years ago, I couldn't figure it out, brought it to a gun smith no one could fix it.
Followed your instructions, polished and beveled the trigger bar as you showed so well in that very clear photo you posted, and it was back to working perfectly bang bang bang.....
Thank you Sir....
Myron thanks for your help too.

[luigi]

just a great big THANKS YOU! ( as in HUGH). I am a luger virgin and had the fire...no fire syndrome.
I did the dremel tool on the sear bar plunger and trigger lever and IT PERFORMS PERFECT!!
I really appreciate the help of the "all knowing" folks on this forum.

[rossgn]

Trying this fix on my 9mm. It is stated to stone the " top" of the sear button, but from the pics, it looks the bevel is applied to the left or right side of the button as related to frame? The button on mine is already somewhat beveled on the " bottom" of the button as related to frame? Just want to make sure I bevel the correct side.

[4 Scale]

In doing this fix myself, I bevel what I would call the "left" side of the sear button, left being described as the left side of the pistol as I hold it in normal sighting position as if to discharge it. As Hugh said in post #13, idea is to get the button to go under the trigger bar, or in my view trigger bar to ride up over the button as the receiver returns to firing position.

That said I was able to restore proper function mostly by beveling the trigger lever, with very little new bevel applied to the plunger ("button"). Hope this helps.

[rossgn]

Got it. Thanks!

[ChuckM]

Hi. I was reading this thread with interest. Hoping to solve a problem I have with a 1916 Erfurt. In my case the gun will not **** at all, even by hand. The action seems to work, it will hold open with an empty mag, but doesn't seem to **** or dry fire no matter what. Internally the gun looks good. The only thing I see is some noticeable "peening" around the Breech Block where the Firing Pin Spring Guide locks in. That FPSG also doesn't seem to stay in very well and often pops out when field stripping. The spring itself is a little bent (possibly caused when the guide pops out). I plan on replacing the spring, but looking for advice to solve the cocking problem at the same time. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks. ChuckM

PS- also if the problem is the lever not slipping over the Trigger Bar, shouldn't you be able to release/dry fire it with the side plate off and by depressing the trigger bar? I don't think my problem is that its not releasing, it appears not to be cocking to start with. Thanks again. ChuckM

[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by ChuckM

Hi. I was reading this thread with interest. Hoping to solve a problem I have with a 1916 Erfurt. In my case the gun will not **** at all, even by hand. The action seems to work, it will hold open with an empty mag, but doesn't seem to **** or dry fire no matter what. Internally the gun looks good. The only thing I see is some noticeable "peening" around the Breech Block where the Firing Pin Spring Guide locks in. That FPSG also doesn't seem to stay in very well and often pops out when field stripping. The spring itself is a little bent (possibly caused when the guide pops out). I plan on replacing the spring, but looking for advice to solve the cocking problem at the same time. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks. ChuckM

PS- also if the problem is the lever not slipping over the Trigger Bar, shouldn't you be able to release/dry fire it with the side plate off and by depressing the trigger bar? I don't think my problem is that its not releasing, it appears not to be cocking to start with. Thanks again. ChuckM

Why don't you start a new thread and post pictures of the related pieces?

[lugerholsterrepair]

Hugh, Thanks for the tip! The spring plunger on the sear bar rotates...How is the angle to stay in any one place? Thanks, Jerry Burney

[lugerholsterrepair]

Hugh, Thanks! I was under the impression this plunger rotated but from your photo it is obvious it does not..It is one of the few parts on a Luger that I don't commonly take apart. Small pin.
I do appreciate this! I will give it a try. Jerry Burney

[Ron Smith]

Hugh,

What's the fix? I have run into this problem with my .30 shooter on occaision.

Ron

[Edward Tinker]

Made a sticky as a learning tool

[apis mellifera]

Maybe I'm asking a completely obvious question, but would/could the unmodified parts (those pictured above) cause a trigger to not be reset? I posted a question about this (see below, with updated info) and before I go whittling on these pieces, I want to be sure I understand how they interact with each other.

1. Insert loaded mag
2. Work action, chambering round
3. Pull trigger
4. Gun fires
5. Gun ejects spent casing
6. Feeds next round
7. Pull trigger, but nothing happens. The trigger hasn't reset.

If I start again at step 2, it follows the sequence again. Since the trigger is rest during the first part of toggle motion and the gun does eject and feed properly, I'm lost as to what is wrong. Also, if I dry fire it and work the action with the trigger held back, it will replicate the reset problem. Any suggestions on what to replace/fix?

Many Thanks,
Matt

[Hugh]

Matt,

Yes, the above modification should solve your problem. Before making the modifications, be sure that the small plunger in the front end of the sear bar is moving in & out freely, if this is true and the action is still not working properly, then make the modifications.

[hqbmw]

Hugh,

Thanks for the fix information. It's very helpful. My question is " How do these parts work together and what is the modification correcting?" I hate to sound technical, but if I know how a system works, I will know how to troubleshoot or repair it.

Dumb-founded

Jack Hiles
Mesa AZ

[John Sabato]

Get Gerard Henrotin's e-book on the Luger Mechanicals... it has very good explanations of the relationships between the parts and excellent graphic illustrations.

[Hugh]

Jack,
What John said!!!

Actually, what the mod is doing is allowing the button to slide under the trigger lever.

[lboos]

Matt, i had the same problem as you [1 thru 7] . i took it to a gun show and talked to a luger dealer and told him of the problem. when he looked at the firing pin he told me some one had been messing with it and it had slight file marks on one side of the steps on the pin. he took a firing out of one of his luger,s to test it in my gun and dry fired it. and you could the firing pin click ea. time. where before it only click,d the 1st time. i bought a used firing pin from another dealer. took it home and replaced it. it work,s fine now. sorry diden,t mean to ramble on. new to luger,s