New to me Interarms Parabellum

[rhuff]

Why isn't there a Betty Ford Addiction Center for Luger owners???? Perhaps the owners don't want to be cured!!

[Tango3]

Kurusu, DonV, rhuff,

Yup, I confess, I'm HOOKED, especially after shooting the darn thing! This was the most fun I've had shooting a pistol, ever. What's a guy to do? Obviously...purchase more Lugers, and there's so many varieties. Oh, man!!

I'm already selling one of my precious 1911s which I swore would NEVER happen. Guess where that money's going. Who'd a thunk?

Hoping the Luger market crashes in the near future!

You gents are getting quite a kick outta this too, aren't you?

Eric

[kurusu]

Originally Posted by Tango3

Kurusu, DonV, rhuff,

Yup, I confess, I'm HOOKED, especially after shooting the darn thing! This was the most fun I've had shooting a pistol, ever. What's a guy to do? Obviously...purchase more Lugers, and there's so many varieties. Oh, man!!

I'm already selling one of my precious 1911s which I swore would NEVER happen. Guess where that money's going. Who'd a thunk?

Hoping the Luger market crashes in the near future!

You gents are getting quite a kick outta this too, aren't you?

Eric

Yup.

Happens every time, but it doesn't get old.

[rhuff]

We have all "been there, done that"!!

[Tango3]

Kurusu, rhuff, I'm SO ready.

That does it! Another range trip with the Parabellum again tomorrow.

Eric

[Eugen]

Eric, I have been a Luger owner for less than a year and only have a few range trips under my belt. Each trip is as thrilling as the last. Lugers are just so special with that toggle action thing and with every round I feel like I am touching history. I guess I don't have to tell you or anyone else who has fired a Luger that it is a completely different range experience than with other pistols.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I got an artillery Luger. Oh, yeah!

[Tango3]

Originally Posted by Eugen

Eric, I have been a Luger owner for less than a year and only have a few range trips under my belt. Each trip is as thrilling as the last. Lugers are just so special with that toggle action thing and with every round I feel like I am touching history. I guess I don't have to tell you or anyone else who has fired a Luger that it is a completely different range experience than with other pistols.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I got an artillery Luger. Oh, yeah!

Eugen,
I couldn't agree more or say it any better.

Well said!

Eric

[kurusu]

Eric,

We're waiting for the pictures of the shooting sessions you promised.

[Tango3]

Originally Posted by kurusu

Eric,

We're waiting for the pictures of the shooting sessions you promised.

As promised:

Fed the Parabellum a meal consisting of 100 rounds of American Eagle 9mm (duh!) 115 gr FSJ (Full Synthetic Jacket), 50 rounds of WWB 115 gr FMJ, and 50 rounds of Herters 115 gr FMJ. All fed and fired well with not one failure of any kind. Impressive! The weapon was very precise and shot POA = POI. All 3 loads were okay with the pistol since all were precise with the American Eagle with a slight edge over the other 2.

I was very happy with my accuracy with the Para being that it's a totally unfamiliar platform (I'm a total 1911 guy), with teensy-weensy sights compared to the sights commonly used on modern 1911s and so, again, unfamiliar. For triggers, being a 1911 person, on all but one of my 11s I use straight press short triggers with crisp breaks, short resets and trigger pulls in the neighborhood of 3.5-4.2 lbs. The exception trigger-wise in my 1911 collection is a Coonan Compact (4.25") .357 Magnum semi-auto which has a pivoting trigger similar to the Para. So...I really had nooo idea how this was going down but would not be at all surprised if my first range trip with the Mauser would be, shall we say, less than stellar.

Well...much to my surprise, it was, uh, stellar, and by this I mean stellar. I already mentioned my surprise that there were no failures. The weapon felt light in my hands (for instance, my Les Baer Heavyweight Monolith .45ACP, fully loaded, weighs in at 52 oz. and is frequently my every day conceal carry piece). While I didn't measure the trigger pull, it felt light (as in my 1911s light) to me. It had what felt to be a short take up, nice crisp break, and a short reset, allowing me to easily pop off some nice, accurate double taps. Trigger wise, it felt like I was pulling the trigger on one of my 1911s. Gratifying. Being that I only have a couple of 1911s in 9mm with most being .45ACP and one in .38 Super and one in .357 Magnum, recoil seemed tame. Shocking to me, I LOVED THESE SIGHTS!!! I wear glasses and have had eye issues for the last year due to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. So I expected that the Para's sights simply wouldn't work for me. Just the opposite. I had no trouble acquiring them, focusing and centering the front blade in the rear sight notch and touching off the shot. The shots went right where I placed the front sight and grouped well right from the get-go. I had 4 range friends that I ran into when shooting the pistol who have never even held a Parabellum not to mention shooting one and they had the same experience when I let 'em give her a try. All 5 of us were amazed.

My first group of 5 rounds at 10 yards was at 2" until the 5th round flyer put it at 2.75" followed by the second group of 5, same yardage at 1.375". I thought this was good given the above.

At the same 10 yard distance:
Buddy #1 shot a 3" group of 6 rounds;
Buddy #2 shot a 1.75" group of 5 rounds;
Buddy #3 shot a 2.125" group of 5 rounds and
Buddy #4 shot a 1.875" group of 5 rounds.

I shot 30 of my last 40 rounds rapid fire with a spread of 4.5" with just over half (16) in the bull. I split my last 10 rounds in two groups of five with the last group of five at a respectable (again, for me) of 1.5" with 3 of the 5 in the bull. This is accurate for me. Oh, an an empty mag always locked the toggle back.

I'll post pictures of these targets for you.

My only complaint, and it was, for me, minor was the grips. The factory grips with edges being tall vertical cliffs mildly irritated the skin between the thumb and forefinger of my shooting hand after the 175 rounds l shot. I liked the checkering on them which was just right in aggressiveness for me. I've already contacted Jim Solomon about making a new custom set for me after I've gotten some shooting time in. In the meantime, forum member hayhugh sent me to EBay for some temporary grips made to this type of Interarms Parabellum. They fit perfectly to the weapon and my hand. Thanks, hayhugh!!!

I'm so pleased with this Parabellum, my first ever, that words can't adequately express it. I love it. I've already taken it on two more range trips with another 400 rounds through her ( and still no failures). These pistols ROCK!

Pictures:

This is the target of my first two mags of 5 rounds each. Shot at 10 yards using American Eagles 115 gr FSJ. The grips on my Parabellum in the pictures have the new grips hayhugh told me about.



This target is a combo of my last two 5 group shots (upper left and upper right), the main center target with my rapid fire (as fast as I could pull the trigger on each mag) shots, and those of my 4 friends.

Sigh, can't get it to load on this post so I'll just include it on the next post. I feel dumb.

Eric

[Tango3]

Dumb #2...saw my last post with sideways picture. Sorry.

If someone can fix it...



Sigh...this one's tipped over, too, I see. Seems I don't shoot pictures well.

Eric

[Ron Wood]

You seem to shoot the Luger pretty well.

[kurusu]

Good report. Good shooting too.

Only now I fully understand your beef with the grips. I handled one of the interarms this weekend and they are disagreable alright.

[Tango3]

Originally Posted by Ron Wood

You seem to shoot the Luger pretty well.

Thanks, Ron, I try. I was very surprised by the Luger. Very!

Subsequent range trips continue to show improvement (my shooting, not the Luger). What a fun to shoot weapon.

Eric

[Tango3]

Originally Posted by kurusu

Good report. Good shooting too.

Only now I fully understand your beef with the grips. I handled one of the interarms this weekend and they are disagreable alright.

Strange grips aren't they? I can make 'em work for me if I'm willing to tolerate some minor discomfort, but why do that? Those new grips you see on it in the pictures in my range report, on the other hand, are comfortable, much like what I imagine the grips on pre-WWII Lugers must be like. Gives me additional trigger reach for my length challenged trigger finger, too.

Eric

[ithacaartist]

Yup, the coarse checkering and squarish edges make gripping an Interarms with these grips seem like holding on to a rough-cut 2" X 4". The pattern of the checkering was embossed into the skin in the web of my hand.

Jim Solomon, I, and others could round the edges and/or remove the coarse pattern and apply a finer one. Rather than mess with the original grips, I arranged for some case urethane ones and did both to them--much more comfy. Since they wind up like the eBay grips, and considering the time it took to make the changes, the $30 for those is well spent there.

Good shooting by all! All my Lugers probably shoot better than I can...

[Tango3]

Originally Posted by ithacaartist

Yup, the coarse checkering and squarish edges make gripping an Interarms with these grips seem like holding on to a rough-cut 2" X 4". The pattern of the checkering was embossed into the skin in the web of my hand.

Jim Solomon, I, and others could round the edges and/or remove the coarse pattern and apply a finer one. Rather than mess with the original grips, I arranged for some case urethane ones and did both to them--much more comfy. Since they wind up like the eBay grips, and considering the time it took to make the changes, the $30 for those is well spent there.

Good shooting by all! All my Lugers probably shoot better than I can...

David,

I'm in agreement. I thought calling these factory grips 2x4s had to be an exaggeration...until I held the weapon. All of you nailed it! Why would they build 'em that way? Why, that was way before Sponge Bob Square Hands, for the love of Mike.

Yes, the EBay substitutes I purchased look color and checkering-wise just like the ones you made and are synthetic to boot. Taken the pistol and new grips twice to the range now and yup, very nice on the hand.

Oh, I feel as you do, too, my Parabellum is more precise than I'm accurate. In this case, I'm fine playing second fiddle! Thinking of taking them to an informal tourney this coming weekend to use.

Eric

[rhuff]

Sound like to me that we have another person that is "hook-line-and sinker" addicted to Lugers.....good on ya!! There are many worse things to be addicted to then lugers. These handguns put a smile on my face at the range also. My Parabellum is the P08(non-Swiss) version and the grips were terrible!! Since there are no grip alternatives for this gun, I sent my grips to Hugh Clark and he did his magic on them. Now, they feel like a Luger should.

[Tango3]

You've got me pegged, rhuff. I've decided to sell one of my beloved 1911s to enable another Luger purchase. I said I'd never, ever do this. Never say never!

Yes, a P-08 is something that I'd like to own, too. One of many!

Eric

[Tango3]

Well, sold one of my precious (gollum, gollum) 1911s and purchased a shooter P-08. Pictures and info to follow as time allows. Very busy with the health issues due to aging of loved ones. Aging sucks!

Rick

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Tango3

Dumb #2...saw my last post with sideways picture. Sorry.

If someone can fix it...

Sigh...this one's tipped over, too, I see. Seems I don't shoot pictures well.

It's not you...It's the camera/phone/software (I don't remember which). It's a well-known bug, discussed in this forum before, but I don't recall the 'fix'.