Luger stove pipes

[sfnamvet]

I have a friend who just got a 1916 Luger in 30 cal. It stove pipes on every round. I gave him some old Remington rounds that I had and he bought some new Fiochi and they both do the same. He had another magazine, same results. You can work the action by hand and it functions perfectly. The fired round stovepipes on the face of the barrel and the incoming round is jammed up under it. Even though we have changed both, I still tend to think it is an ammo or mag problem. Someone suggested that since American rounds are not as powerful as the rounds originally loaded for the Luger, that taking a coil or two off the recoil spring might work. Will either 9mm and 30 cal magazines work equally well in this pistol.
What say you?

thanks

sfnamvet

[suum cuique]

Originally Posted by sfnamvet

I have a friend who just got a 1916 Luger in 30 cal. It stove pipes on every round. I gave him some old Remington rounds that I had and he bought some new Fiochi and they both do the same. He had another magazine, same results. You can work the action by hand and it functions perfectly. The fired round stovepipes on the face of the barrel and the incoming round is jammed up under it. Even though we have changed both, I still tend to think it is an ammo or mag problem. Someone suggested that since American rounds are not as powerful as the rounds originally loaded for the Luger, that taking a coil or two off the recoil spring might work. Will either 9mm and 30 cal magazines work equally well in this pistol.
What say you?

thanks

sfnamvet

As far I know, there are no different magazines for .30 cal or 9
mm lugers, they are the same.
I guess, the problem could be the main spring.
But this is a Q for the real luger experts in this forum.

[Vlim]

Well, if the pistol has a 1916 chamber date, it didn't start out as a .30 luger, but as a 9mm.

So if this is the case, then someone, at some time, converted it. Since the main spring lay-out (and that of the magazine spring!) differs between the .30 luger and the 9mm it can be a bit of a challenge to get it going.

I would start by installing a .30 luger main spring and a good MecGar magazine (as these magazines function quite well with all calibres and guns, I have used the same magazine in a 9mm P08, a 9mm LP08, a .30 luger Mauser Parabellum and a .30 luger Swiss 06/29.

[jonnyc]

I would actually suggest something more serious. Bite the bullet (forgive the pun) and have a 9mm barrel installed. Why not return it to its original configuration? It might fix the reliability issue and it will make the pistol much cheaper to shoot. The caliber conversion will pay for itself in ammo savings.

[sfnamvet]

I completely disassembled the Luger and got it all back together except for the main/recoil spring. How in the heck do you get it back in?

Thanks

sfnamvet

[mrerick]

The mainspring installation question was just answered in another post:

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=23714

Marc

[sfnamvet]

I cut a couple of coils off the mainspring, thinking it might have been low powered ammo like some have suggested, but did not seem to have helped any. I am reluctant to take any more off although that seems to be the problem, the slide comes back far enough to eject the fired case but not back far enough to pick up the next one. Brownell's sells a lower power Wolf spring for the Luger, I am going to order one of them and see what happens.

sfnamvet

[Sieger]

Originally Posted by sfnamvet

I cut a couple of coils off the mainspring, thinking it might have been low powered ammo like some have suggested, but did not seem to have helped any. I am reluctant to take any more off although that seems to be the problem, the slide comes back far enough to eject the fired case but not back far enough to pick up the next one. Brownell's sells a lower power Wolf spring for the Luger, I am going to order one of them and see what happens.

sfnamvet

Hi:

Since you have already cut off two, try two more.

The original 7.65mm spring was a 17 ringer.

Sieger

[sfnamvet]

Thanks, I will try that.

sfnamvet

[sfnamvet]

I have not cut any more coils off the main spring yet. It still has about 20. It seems to me that the toggle is going back far enough to eject but not far enough to strip off the next round, but if that is so, why does it go back far enough to lock on the last round?

sfnamvet

[Sieger]

Originally Posted by sfnamvet

I have not cut any more coils off the main spring yet. It still has about 20. It seems to me that the toggle is going back far enough to eject but not far enough to strip off the next round, but if that is so, why does it go back far enough to lock on the last round?

sfnamvet

Hi:

You are enjoying the typical Luger jam. The toggel is jaming against the next cartridge in the magazine, about half way up its length.

This perplexing little problem can be caused by several factors:

1) Recoil spring is too strong.

2) Recoil spring is too weak.

3) Magazine spring is too weak.

4) Cartridge OAL is too short.

All of these factors must be in perfect balance before a Luger is ready for reliable function.

Sieger

[Lugerdoc]

VET, I'd first check your extractor and ejector that they move freely and have the proper spring tention to work properly. Since you have already tried a variety of ammo & mags, next would be installing the proper power recoil spring. Also check the toggle to recoil system (S shaped) link, if it is deformed or from a M1900 luger, your toggle will not open the full amount. TH

[sfnamvet]

Well I finally got the Luger shooting. Someone had taken a real nice matching number 1916 Erfurt and put a 30 Kal. Luger barrel on it,and it was jamming every shot. Changed magazines, no improvement, changed ammo, same result. Started cutting coils off the spring with no improvement. Stopped after taking 3 coils off to get more advice. Someone wrote me and said that his 30 Kal. Luger only had 17 coils on it and I realized that I had taken 3 coils off and still had 22 coils left. So I took it down to 19 coils and tried it and it ran like a sewing machine. How someone got that spring in the pistol, is a puzzle to me. Took me 2 days to get back in after I took it out the first time.

Remember nothing is foolproof as fools get more creative when challenged.

Thanks to all who gave me advice
sfnamvet

[Sieger]

Originally Posted by sfnamvet

Well I finally got the Luger shooting. Someone had taken a real nice matching number 1916 Erfurt and put a 30 Kal. Luger barrel on it,and it was jamming every shot. Changed magazines, no improvement, changed ammo, same result. Started cutting coils off the spring with no improvement. Stopped after taking 3 coils off to get more advice. Someone wrote me and said that his 30 Kal. Luger only had 17 coils on it and I realized that I had taken 3 coils off and still had 22 coils left. So I took it down to 19 coils and tried it and it ran like a sewing machine. How someone got that spring in the pistol, is a puzzle to me. Took me 2 days to get back in after I took it out the first time.

Remember nothing is foolproof as fools get more creative when challenged.

Thanks to all who gave me advice
sfnamvet

Hi:

Your spring was probably a replacement, as I know of no originals with 25 rings.

Anyway, enjoy shooting your Luger!

Sieger