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07-09-2003, 04:12 PM | #1 |
Lifer
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Luger Artillery Barrel manufacturing question
I have always wondered if the barrels used on Artillery Lugers were machined from round pre-rifled barrel stock that was large enough to produce the rear sight mounting (dovetail) or if the raw barrels were actually forged into the rough shape before machining, drilling, rifling and chambering...
Any of the collectors of Artillery Lugers out there know the answer? I have my own suspicions about the answer, but I would like to solicit others opinions before I begin theorizing in print
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regards, -John S "...We hold these truths to be self-evident that ALL men are created EQUAL and are endowed by their Creator with certain UNALIENABLE rights, and among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness..." |
07-09-2003, 04:52 PM | #2 |
Lifer
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Jim Oehlenschlager, owner of Mentor Arms, had a machine shop in Cleveland. I believe he told me that he made his LP08 barrels from .30 cal barrels. The above business has since shut down and Jim has gone into the witness protection program (a joke).
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07-09-2003, 05:07 PM | #3 |
Lifer
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George,
He Probably went into the witness protection program just to get a shorter and easier to spell last name Did he make (drill and re-rifle) 9mm barrels from those .30 caliber barrels? Do you remember what he charged and what time period he made them?
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regards, -John S "...We hold these truths to be self-evident that ALL men are created EQUAL and are endowed by their Creator with certain UNALIENABLE rights, and among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness..." |
07-09-2003, 05:26 PM | #4 |
Lifer
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JS, the one time I visited him, he had just finished a 9mm Luger carbine that he'd made from a 1923 commercial. The carbine price was $2500 and it was a fantastic and accurate copy of the post war carbine. He made a C96 Red Nine for me from a a model 1930 .30 cal broomhandle, it too was fantastic. As the red nine was select grade, it cost $600. This visit took place in 1998 or 1999.
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07-11-2003, 03:55 PM | #5 |
Lifer
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anyone else know anything about my original question?
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regards, -John S "...We hold these truths to be self-evident that ALL men are created EQUAL and are endowed by their Creator with certain UNALIENABLE rights, and among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness..." |
07-13-2003, 11:48 AM | #6 |
Lifer
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Just got an answer to my question from a fellow Luger enthusiast (Jan Balcar) in the Czech Republic who is a member of Jan Still's Axis pistol's forum...
here is what he reported: </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">"Lugers barels (and Artillery probably too) were machined from round steel rod. At first the barrels were drilled, then machined outer sufaces, then rifled and at last the rifling was polished. Polishing was made with very interesting process: Steel rod 6 mm diameter pushed into the barrel, then was a part of barrel inner space filled with small volume molted lead. So become a casting the same measure like barrel about 1" lenght. Then lubricated with oil & emery and polished in special machine. Cartidge chamber was a last operation. I heard it from former Czech slavic workers they are in 1940�´s "Totaleingesetzt" in Mauser factory."</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Hope you all found this of interest.
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regards, -John S "...We hold these truths to be self-evident that ALL men are created EQUAL and are endowed by their Creator with certain UNALIENABLE rights, and among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness..." |
07-13-2003, 02:37 PM | #7 |
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John,
Reading the answer closely, I would say that your original question is still open. --Dwight |
07-14-2003, 12:10 AM | #8 |
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John,
My first thought went to forging but after seeing "A Family Heirloom"(another post) it becomes obvious to me that I was in error and because I made too quick of a judgement I just deleted my error. Because after due consideration, I would presume that the barrels were drilled and rough turned from round stock, before being stress relieved and returned to the shop for the final machining, etc. ViggoG |
07-14-2003, 11:00 AM | #9 |
Lifer
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Dwight, I agree that the story doesn't fully answer the question... but the fact that the story relates the recollection of workers at Mauser during WW2 regarding the manufacture of Luger barrels... I would say that the information is a nugget worth remembering...
I think it is increasingly seldom that we get much insight into the methods used by the craftsmen of the time when Lugers were manufactured... My recent inquiry to both Mauser and the Weapons Museum at Oberndorf resulted in a answer that there are no historical photographs of the manufacturing processes... and the only photographs that they still have of Mausers of the 1970's are marketing type photos...
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regards, -John S "...We hold these truths to be self-evident that ALL men are created EQUAL and are endowed by their Creator with certain UNALIENABLE rights, and among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness..." |
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