First Firing

[saxman]

Thanks; I also fired three other pistols for the first time that day (1953 Colt .45 auto, FEG hi-power and Kel Tec P-11), so I didn't get much time on any one of them. When the session wound up, I had one round of 9mm left. I loaded the Luger and let fly at my last target which had a cross in the center, 1/2" wide x 2" each way. I didn't see where I had hit the target until I retrieved it. The strike was dead center in the cross. I was concerned about it's accuracy because the barrel has peppery pitting and rather 'soft' land edges, but I guess it has enough of what it takes to shoot straight. I have heard many similar stories about old Lugers with worn barrels shooting great. All four pistols ran great that day and had good accuracy, but the Luger had a precision that the others couldn't match. I believe this is largely due to the semi-fixed barrel, which does recoil straight back but never tilts like the Browning design on the other guns. Whatever, all guns are great, and it sure is good to have the freedom to enjoy them. A guy in the next stall asked me what it was, a P.38? This was with the toggle to the rear, in plain sight. I was the only one in there shooting real guns - everbody else had those little multiple targets up for their rimfires. I think the blasts from the Colt particularly were wrecking their concentration. The little Kel Tec puts out a good blast and fireball, too. Oh, I forgot - I had one failure to load on the Luger, but it was my fault. For some reason, when I released the toggle to load, I 'rode' it part of the way, almost like I tried to stop it, and the round jammed on the feed ramp. A senior moment, I guess, but I just dropped the mag, retracted the toggle and dumped the round out. The next attempt loaded normally. The gun didn't have much oil in it to start with, and was starting to get dirty. This is why pros carry loaded, to eliminate a mistake like that which could get them killed.