Luger books and references recommendations?

[VN Vet]

I recently purchase the STANDARD CATALOG OF LUGER by Aarron Davis Pub. 2006. It gives identification and pricing (2006) for various models. I like it. Anyway it is not an expensive book.

I also have THE LUGER BOOK by John Walter Puib. 1991. It has lots or good reading information too on Borchard Lugers; 1885 to 1985.

[DHENRY]

Two excellent (though small) reference books I find very helpful:
1) 'The "Parabellum" Automatic Pistol'...Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken, Berlin
(English Edition).
2) 'Lugers Unlimited', by F. G. Tilton, MSgt., USAF., 1965.
The 'Parabellum' book, a translation from the German, is very old, but its beautifully-drawn illustrations and tables are incredible in their detail.
Don

[bradsimpson]

As the publisher, I may be a little biased, but I believe this to be the best study of the Luger ever published:

[Wastoute]

What I am fascinated by is just how Lugers were made. Is there a reference that discusses the manufacturing? Having been a production machinist in the '70s I have some knowledge of metal working and as I consider the years these things were made I wonder. For instance, when were electric furnaces introduced? Which parts were cast? How? Cast from tapping a furnace where the steel was made or a furnace where steel was melted? Man, I can think of so many questions and I suspect, as usual, answers just lead to more questions.

The price of the steel for parts may not have been cheap but the value of those parts has to increase as time is spent working on them, so can you imagine a production line where parts are handed along to masters of their craft with increasing skill and as the years go by and skill increases the opportunities to master even more demanding skills...photos of these shops must have been made and might reveal details of "how it was done" that would be a lot of fun to discover.

I visited a furnace in PA once many years ago and the "guide" gave a talk on "How it was done" 200 years ago. The iron was made (obviously) in the furnace. When the guy in charge decided the time was right the furnace was tapped and the river of molten iron was channeled into runs like irrigation ditches to flow into wax formed parts that were buried in the sand. To describe it with words fails to convey the awe at the skill of the craftsmen who could do this that, for me, can only be really appreciated by seeing the site. Realize, you only get one shot at that moment which is the culmination of weeks of work. Were parts for Lugers cast in a similar fashion?

[Edward Tinker]

Wayne, if you have another comment, you can click on the little pencil icon and edit your own posting and add to it, rather than three comments, one after another a few minutes apart

and the answer to question 1 - not really

There are bits and pieces in many books

[DonVoigt]

I don't believe any of the parts in an original luger were "cast".
Casting may have been used in the 1970's by Mauser( I believe it was- just don't know for certain. US made lugers of the '70s definitley have some cast parts; and some modern replacement small parts are cast.

I'm with you, I'd really like a tour of the DWM or Erfurt or Mauser factory where these were made. I've seen very few pictures with any detail.

Originally Posted by Wastoute

What I am fascinated by is just how Lugers were made. Is there a reference that discusses the manufacturing? Having been a production machinist in the '70s I have some knowledge of metal working and as I consider the years these things were made I wonder. For instance, when were electric furnaces introduced? Which parts were cast? How? Cast from tapping a furnace where the steel was made or a furnace where steel was melted? Man, I can think of so many questions and I suspect, as usual, answers just lead to more questions.

The price of the steel for parts may not have been cheap but the value of those parts has to increase as time is spent working on them, so can you imagine a production line where parts are handed along to masters of their craft with increasing skill and as the years go by and skill increases the opportunities to master even more demanding skills...photos of these shops must have been made and might reveal details of "how it was done" that would be a lot of fun to discover.

I visited a furnace in PA once many years ago and the "guide" gave a talk on "How it was done" 200 years ago. The iron was made (obviously) in the furnace. When the guy in charge decided the time was right the furnace was tapped and the river of molten iron was channeled into runs like irrigation ditches to flow into wax formed parts that were buried in the sand. To describe it with words fails to convey the awe at the skill of the craftsmen who could do this that, for me, can only be really appreciated by seeing the site. Realize, you only get one shot at that moment which is the culmination of weeks of work. We're parts for Lugers cast in a similar fashion?

[Wastoute]

Don, on his website mauro states they have many glass plate photographs of the manufacturing process. So they DO exist. We MAY GET our "tour of the factory". These kinds of photos also show incredible detail.

It occurs to me that if these plates could be digitized and a volume created that "amateur investigators" could have access to (sort of "crowd sourced") and comments discussed it would be possible to assemble a sequence of photos with narratives that would demonstrate every small detail. It may only be of interest to a few but for those few absolutely thrilling.

When I was a machinist decades ago I just wasn't interested terribly in metallurgy or the history of metal working, it was just a paycheck. I had to learn some of it "for the test" but it just wasn't relevant. Now I am curious as can be. I just read that High Speed Steel wasn't even invented and introduced until 1910. How in the world did they makes these parts before that?

[cirelaw]

Although costly, there are over 400 pages of every luger proof mark ever made!