Judging a Luger as a shooter

[HerbZ]

While I know that a Luger barrel should probably not have as much wiggle room as say a WW II era M1911A1, what is acceptable for a Luger to be a good safe shooter? Or perhaps I should restate it as how much is too much?

[stefanosg]

I can't tell you measurements, but if you have a gunsmith in your area, it might be best for him to look at it. I don't think it would be easy for anyone to make that call based on site unseen. I am not sure either by what you mean "wiggle room".

[HerbZ]

stefanosg,

What I mean by "wiggle room" is (just my attempt at humor and subtlety to describe) a Luger that when the barrel-receiver are in one hand and the other hand is holding onto the frame by the grip, you can really move the barrel-receiver back and forth, "wiggle" from side to side, more than with other Luger pistols I've handled.

[Vlim]

Hi,

The 'wiggle' you describe shouldn't influence the shooting behaviour too much. You can judge it best by comparing the grouping patterns of this gun to that of other guns (you shoot).

[HerbZ]

tac,

Thank you for the correct nomenclature.

[lfid]

I havent seen it discussed anywhere , but it seems to me that the sideplay/wiggle between slide and frame would be a significant effect on the trigger pull on a luger. seems the side play would contribute at least to a longer trigger pull before release.

Bill

[HerbZ]

Bill,

That sounds logical to me, but we've only just this one Luger at the moment on which to judge this. If this means anything, I'd guestestimate there's about 4mm of travel on the trigger with the safety on, before all the "slack" is taken out of the side-play/wiggle space between the frame and the barrel-receiver.

And I don't get to take this pistol shooting, so I can have a pattern from it to compare, unless I can convince a 'committee' that I will not be damaging this family heirloom (or myself).

For anyone interested in caching up on this family saga, here's the link to the tread of my original posting on this pistol from last year.

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthre...threadid=14835

To bring things up to date: I still have the same box of Wally's white box that I purchased last July, though I've been to the range countless times since then. I've replaced the unnumbered, ill fitting (and apparently quite delicate) wooden grips that this GI bring home arrived with, for a pair of those reproduction black plastic grips that Brownells sells for only $27.55. They're inexpensive, very serviceable, and will (after a little fitting with a fine set of files) turn a byf 41 or 42 into an instant B---- W----. I've also acquired a Mec-Gar magazine and (thanks to Pete) a very nice Luger tool.