My 3 Shooters

[Doubs]

Here are my 3 shooters. Top and bottom are 9's. Middle is a .30 that Hugh Clark just rebarreled. The two lower ones are E. German reworks. The .30 is "all-matching" except for the barrel... meaning that various parts have been force-matched when the E. Germans rebuilt it. Still, it works perfectly. They're loads of fun to shoot.

[Roadkill]

Nice layout. So if you can't hit it with the bottom one you just increase barrel length till it gets there? (Remember Clint Eastwood & Lee Vancleef in "Fist Full Of Dollars"?)

RK

[Doubs]

[quote]Originally posted by Roadkill:
<strong>Nice layout. So if you can't hit it with the bottom one you just increase barrel length till it gets there? (Remember Clint Eastwood & Lee Vancleef in "Fist Full Of dollars"?) RK</strong><hr></blockquote>

Good one, RK. Didn't Clint Eastwood also make a spoof of crime movies where there was a gun fight in a warehouse and the guys kept pulling out pistols with longer and longer barrels? I thought it was very funny at the time.

[Doubs]

Rick, the 8 inch barrel is roughly 40 years old and maybe a year or two older than that. IIRC, it was made in Italy. As you said, they used to be readily available but I haven't seen any marketed in years. Numrich (Gun Parts Corp.) has one made exactly like the original Artillery but without sights it costs $230 or thereabout. The sights will set you back another $250 if you can find them as a reproduction item. That's pretty steep in my book.

Me? I'd like to have a tapered 8 inch barrel in .30 caliber. It would be a blast to shoot, I think. I'd also like to find a P-38 in .30 Luger chambering. They're around but difficult to find and expensive if found. I can always dream though, can't I? [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Hugh]

<img src="graemlins/wave.gif" border="0" alt="[byebye]" />
Doubs,

I've been looking for a P38 in 30 Luger also. I have found two in Gun List in the past two years, both times they were sold when I called. Somebody else out there must like them too! [img]mad.gif[/img]

At present I have the following guns in 30 Luger: several commercial Lugers w/regular length bbls, Luger w/6" bbl, Luger w/8" bbl, baby Luger w/3" bbl, Original Browning HP, Browning HP with interchangable 30 L & 9mm bbls, Colt Commander, and 30 L bbl for a Ruger but don't have the gun yet. <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

Been wondering about the feasability of having a P38 bbl relined to 30 Luger? [img]confused.gif[/img]

[Doubs]

Hugh, I like your collection of .30 Luger chambered pistols. The cartridge is one of my favorites and I have a few pistols chambered for it myself. At the moment, I have a 1906 Navy long frame "Frankenschloss, Suhl" rework that was done during the Nazi era; a 1906 AE, a 1906 Portugese Army; an Erfurt 1920's rework; a Browning Hi-Power and a Benelli B-80. I know where there's a 1951 Beretta in excellent condition but he wants $1,000 and that's a bit steep IMO.

If you find someone who would reline a P-38 to .30 Luger, let me know, please. I'd likely buy a shooter grade P-38 or P-1 and have it done. It's a good cartridge and I wish it were more popular in this country. Seems there are others who thinks so too. Maybe if Winchester and Remington offered a factory load in something other than FMJ?

[Doubs]

[quote]Originally posted by Rick W.:
<strong>I have not seen a P38 in 30 Luger, were these post war varieties like the 22lr version? After all the talk about P38's I finally handled a couple last weekend, both of these were alloy framed. I am a little afraid of the alloy, but the guns came up nice with the sights. Trigger on these two was not much to write home about, but twas one of the first double action guns I think.
Rick W.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I'm not certain if the P-38 was made in .30 Luger before the war or not but I wouldn't be surprised. Interarms brought some in over the years and I imagine those that come up for sale are Interarms imports. Like you, I have reservations about alloy and wish the German military had stayed with steel frames. The P-1 I bought last week is, as far as I can determine, brand new and very nice. It's a great time to buy a P-1 as I've not seen lower prices in many years. The double action isn't the best on the P-38 and it was the first military semi-auto pistol adopted by a major power to offer that feature. The single action on my P-1 is pretty nice though. The P-38/P-1 is supremely reliable and is a good choice as a sidearm.

I've looked for spare barreled Luger receivers or cannons for years. You're very fortunate to find two. I have one that has a stub of an Artillery barrel attached and one day I'll have Hugh rebarrel it with an 8 inch .30 barrel. It has the trigger bar still but I'll need an ejector. Plenty of time because I don't have the barrel yet. I'll find one eventually.

[Thor]

I own a post war 22 lr P.38 in mint condition and I confess I shoot it occasionally, really a fun gun. I would love to have another 30 Luger P38. I onced owned a Post war P.38 that had an accompanying 30 Luger slide and barrel. ACCURATE! The slide was not serialized and was supposed to be an accessory to the 9mm gun. Should have kept it! but oh well......... <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" />

[Doubs]

[quote]Originally posted by Thor:
<strong>I own a post war 22 lr P.38 in mint condition and I confess I shoot it occasionally, really a fun gun. I would love to have another 30 Luger P38. I onced owned a Post war P.38 that had an accompanying 30 Luger slide and barrel. ACCURATE! The slide was not serialized and was supposed to be an accessory to the 9mm gun. Should have kept it! but oh well......... <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>

Thor, I believe EVERY gun man has a similar story of one he sold and regretted it later. For me it's been more than one. The .30 Luger slide/barrel you had would be perfect and I'd love to have one. I'd also like to have one in .22LR but I suppose they're more rare than the .30 and even more expensive.

As for the 95 grain .310" cast bullets you've ordered, they should shoot very nicely in a Luger. The .30 is very tolerant of bullets.... much more so than the 9mm. The best 9mm cast bullet I've used has been the Lyman 356402, a truncated cone design. Lee offers a 6 cavity mold of basically the same bullet. The 95 grain .30 mold I had made was based on the TC design by Lyman and it is very reliable in my Lugers.

A tip you may need if your bore has any lead deposits after shooting cast bullets; If regular cleaning doesn't remove all of the lead, a tightly wound wad of fairly coarse steel wool on a jag will take it out nicely. Some may cringe at the thought but steel wool is much softer than barrel steel and Schutzen shooters using turn of the century or older rifles often use this method to clean their bores. All I can say is; it works and I have yet to harm a bore with it.

[Thor]

The 22 lr P.38 is a blow back design, and the slide has a large cut in the front to lighten it to work with the light recoiling 22. A treasure! Thor

[Doubs]

Thor, that is a beauty! I'm surprised that the small weight reduction of the cut out area is sufficient to allow the .22LR to cycle the action. Does it use any kind of floating chamber like the Colt Ace to increase recoil force? Or, is it a true blow-back only? In any event, it's a keeper, I'm sure.

[Thor]

It is a straight blow back, soft recoiling and very reliable. got it for $600 from a guy on the old gun and knife forum. He posted he had one for sale, sent me the picture, I said he DIDNT have one for sale cause I just bought it. WOW, what a find. A guy on the P.38 forum one day said he bought a true 7.65 Parabellum chambering in a P.38 post war, wow, super find too!

[Roadkill]

Great gun Thor. I learned to shoot a pistol on a Ruger MK II Bull Barrel. Only way to learn is with a .22. Rick, if you are interested in a P38 now is the time. Several of us have picked up an import P1 and none have been disappointed in either the gun or the price.

RK

[Thor]

RK, I learned on a standard barrel Ruger 22 Auto also, I thought it a lot like a Luger.

[Doubs]

[quote]Originally posted by Thor:
<strong>RK, I learned on a standard barrel Ruger 22 Auto also, I thought it a lot like a Luger.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I learned on a 1927 Colt Woodsman that my father bought new. A beautiful pistol, that one, and I still take it out now and again.

You mentioned yesterday the possibility of having a 9mm P-38 sleeved or lined to 7.65mm. If you ever find someone willing to do it, I'd be very interested in having one done.

[Roadkill]

I'm a little currious (or stupid) about the interest ya'll have in the .30 Luger ammo. Seems pretty limited to me. I've fired a lot of broomhandle, .32,.380,& Tok, where does it fit in? From what I've read it was unacceptable hence 9mm is created. But I've never fired it so I really don't know. How does the P38 fit in the shoulder holsters?
RK

[unspellable]

The 7.65 mm Parabellum offers high velocity, low recoil, accuracy, and more moxi on delivery than a 22 LR or 22 Mag. It will do anything the 32 Mag will do and probably more. There is a lot of small game that a 22 just won't do the job on. I used to depend on my 30 Luger for jackrabbits, a 22 won't put them down, much tougher than a cottontail. I expect those who need an armidillo stopper would find the same. It feeds better than a 9 mm and will handle a greater range of bullet styles. Would you believe I used to run semi-wadcutters and full wadcutters in one? Properly loaded it has more velocity and a flatter trajectory than the 9 mm.

Prior to WWII the 7.65 was more popular than the 9 mm and with a long barrel was considered to be something of an outdoorsman's pistol. This is why we see so many M1920 commercials in 7.65. The Versaille treaty did not prohibit the 9 mm in export pistols. It was also well regarded for a finishing off pistol as it had a lot of penetration on thick skulls.

[unspellable]

PS. I meant to say the 7.65 was more popular in the US than the 9 prior to WWII.

Also, how the hell you gonna squeeze a 30 Mauser or Tokarev into your Luger? You'd have to buy a Borchardt and shoot reduced loads.

[Hugh]

[img]eek.gif[/img] RK,

If you ever see a varmint hit with one of those 60 gr Gold Dot or XTP out of a 6" bbl 30 Luger, no explanation would be necessary. <img src="graemlins/jumper.gif" border="0" alt="[jumper]" />