A 1800 Meter Luger !

[Sieger]

Sheepherder,


You are some pistol mechanic!!!!

Just wondering if it shoots and feeds properly?

Those lighter grips do appear a bit chunky and like they really don't fit too well.


Sieger

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Sieger

Just wondering if it shoots and feeds properly?

Surprisingly, yes. No stovepipes, no failure to feed, no hangups, great ejection (back and to the right this time). It did take me the better part of a box of reloads to get anything on paper. I need to hold down and to the right to hit the black. <shrugs>.

Those lighter grips do appear a bit chunky and like they really don't fit too well.

The bottoms are thicker than anywhere else. Looks ugly. I'll stick with the Numrich grips for now.

The shooter Luger shot quite well, didn't have to hold anywhere off paper. I shoot 6:00 o'clock sight picture. Shooting it after shooting the heavy long barrel took a bit of adapting. But after I got it where I wanted it and ran a couple magazines through it, I did manage to get 5 in the black. Not all from the same magazine, but hey, I'll take it.

I shot 115gr FMJ ahead of 5.25gr of W231 in both Lugers, left over from many years ago. Probably too much powder for a Luger. My Hornady book shows that combination @ ~1175fps...

[DonVoigt]

Rich says:
"Surprisingly, yes. No stovepipes, no failure to feed, no hangups, great ejection (back and to the right this time). It did take me the better part of a box of reloads to get anything on paper. I need to hold down and to the right to hit the black. <shrugs>. "

I sez, why is it a surprise? There are/were thousands of 8" bbl 9mm lugers that shot just fine(we call them artilleries).

You are a good machinist and know the luger well, so I would have been surprised if it did NOT
function well! JMHO.

Now you just need to adjust the sights and you will be fine.

[sheepherder]

OMG !!! DISASTER !!!

Well, not really a disaster. Just more like an annoyance.

When I took the Swedish meatball Luger out and shot it, I broke the cardinal rule of artillery Lugers: [even though this is not really an artillery Luger] Never fire it without securing the rear sight!!!

I forgot to wire/cable-tie the rear sight slider so it wouldn't move. As a result, the slider button broke...And chipped teeth on the sight leaf...

Luckily, Numrich, Liberty Tree, and some guy on eBay all had the parts necessary to fix the Swedish M94 carbine rear sight.

Here's the repair, with pictures!



1. Here's the broken sight in place. It slides back & forth without depressing the slider button. It worked fine before I shot it.

2. The first and fourth teeth on the sight leaf are broken off.

3. Here's the slider. It's not clear but the tip of the button is broken off. I think the broken tip is what broke the teeth off during firing. It probably got jammed in the slider.

4. I got a 'new' slider & leaf from Liberty Tree. As mentioned in another forum/thread, I've gotten Mauser carbine nose caps from Liberty Tree and they were all excellent quality for 100+ year old guns.

Next is disassembly and cleaning. I dipped it in lacquer thinner and cleaned off all the cosmoline. Then brushed it with a brass brush. Looks pretty good.



5. I clamped the 'new' sight in my mill and put a mini-screwdriver in the quill and broke the limit screw loose. This was a nice unbuggered screw and I didn't want to bugger it.

6. I removed the screw and slid the slider off and clamped it in my mill vise. A pointer chucked in the quill and centered in the 'V' notch gave me the center for my Patridge notch.

7. I milled the 'V' notch with a 1/8" end mill down to the bottom of the 'V'.

8. The leaf was then clamped in the vise and the 'V' notch centered once again.

Continuing...



9. Milling the sight leaf Patridge notch, again down to the bottom of the 'V'.

10. Here's the modified Swedish M94 carbine rear sight, showing the new Patridge notches.

11. Drifting out the broken rear sight.

12. 'New' Liberty Tree rear sight installed.

I can't find any wire here, I'll have to make a trip to Ace Hardware and get a roll of thin steel wire to secure the sight when firing.

But I think this style rear sight is a mistake. If it's fired with the sight in the up position, it will flop back and forth during recoil & battery. I believe that is why the artillery Lugers used a stationary ramp rather than the folding leaf. Even then, the artillery Luger rear sights broke teeth and slider button tips.

So this fantasy Luger is pretty much relegated to display status. It'll be another 'Kim Kardassian' Luger; pretty but useless.



Since it's only a pretty face, my next project will be a display stand for it. Something simple. Like Kim.

[sheepherder]

This section is a continuation of the 'Full Length Guide Rod' fabrication that I left off on page 2 post #38.

I had finished the guide rod itself, but still needed to fabricate a guide rod plug. Here's a 1911 plug being machined (same process as for the Commander).



1. Turning down a piece of CRS to the required diameter and length.

2. Drilling out the plug; two size holes. One for the recoil spring, the other for the guide rod.

3. Using a parting tool to cut the plug to the desired OAL.

4. Finished guide rod and plug.

I've had a Colt Combat Commander slide and frame that I acquired 'in the white' back sometime in the 1980's. I finally decided to build it up with a Sarco 1911 'parts kit' a year or so ago, and Charles Danner blued the parts for me. I had been browsing eBay and noticed that a seller had an original Bo-Mar full-length rib for the Commander, so I acquired that and mounted it on the Combat Commander. I assume everyone here knows how to drill & tap holes in steel, so I didn't bother to take pics of that. I did substitute #6-48 screws instead of the supplied #6-40 screws. This gives me an extra thread in each hole plus a slightly larger base diameter for each screw. I changed a couple other parts, like one of my skeletonized triggers and a flat checkered mainspring housing. Just because I liked the looks.

It actually came out pretty well. I find it humorous that Bo-Mar actually made a rib for the Commander, incongruous as it may seem.







The rib seller included the original 40 year old instruction sheet, stored in the original plastic 'cigar tube' that Bo-Mar shipped the rib with. I'm including it here for any 1911 enthusiasts who contemplate attaching a rib to their 1911.





I have another 5" 1911 with an attached rib, I plan on taking both of these ribbed .45's to the range and see how well they shoot. I had taken the Combat Commander out and shot it before the rib and was once again surprised how well it grouped off a sandbag. It shot 4" low and 6" to the left, I'm hoping it's a bit closer with the rib.