1900 Mainspring

[Ron Wood]

Here are some views of the flat laminated spring found in the early 1900 and 1902 Lugers.
The mainspring consists of two laminations that are riveted together. The longer leaf includes the hook that engages the S-shaped transfer link connected to the toggle.


The laminated mainspring is difficult to find, so occasionally you will encounter a gunsmith replacement that was made to restore a Luger to operational condition without regard to "cosmetics". The following example came from a 1900 Luger that made its way from Old Mexico across the border into Texas. It is hand forged and has the same aesthetics as homemade soap, but it works! The ingenuity and resorcefulness of craftsmen is always a source of wonder.


As noted by Levallois, the shape of the mainspring varies and what may function in one Luger may not be "tuned" to another. The next photo shows the different curvatures from left to right of the individual leaves, two original examples, and the hand forged example.


The actual dimensions of the components of the mainspring can only be estimated from a photo. The true dimensions would have to be determined by having the parts in hand. In addition to the dimensions, the tensile strength of the springs would have to be measured. The following illlustration shows the relative dimensions of the components, but I would guess that it falls far short of that necessary to make a reproduction.