vanfunk
Member
Hello All,
Considering it my duty to acquire as many WWI/WWII weapons as I can possibly afford (or not afford, as the case may be), I honorably obtained a 1918 Erfurt Luger yesterday from my local gunmonger. The piece is in original condition, with about 90% blue and plenty of straw left on the smaller parts. All numbers match (except the mag) and the pistol is mechanically perfect. The bore shows an ever-so slight darkening in the grooves which I think I can get out of there with a little JB paste. Upon getting it home and breaking it down, I began removing the accumulations of congealed oil and grease it had been layered in over the years. The internals displayed very little wear, and I remarked to myself how simple the design really is. That and the incredible attention to detail that went into the machining and finishing of the pistol. This thing is really, really well made. It also came with a black leather flap holster which I believe is WWII production.
I put a dab of Militech on the contact points of the mechanism and set off for the range. I started with some plinking at the 50 yard berm and found that the pistol seemed to print about 6 inches high from my POA. I had no trouble bouncing a small detergent bottle around out there. Ammo used was PMC "Bronze" 115 grain fodder. The recoil characteristics are unlike any other auto I'm familiar with. The PMC ammo is loaded a little light, but there was virtually no discernible muzzle flip. Recoil was a quick, light jolt almost straight back into the palm. I moved over to the 25 yard berm to bench 50 rounds through the pistol and was awarded with 1.5" 8-shot groups when I really concentrated (also about 6" high with a 6 o'clock hold). The thing is accurate! There were no stoppages of any kind, and ejection was consistent and very positive. The trigger exibits some spongy takeup, but has a clean, light break that I'd estimate to be ~4 lbs.
I am very happy with this pistol. I'd prefer a 1911 for combat, but the Luger is a very, very well made, accurate, reliable pistol that is fun to shoot. I'm thrilled to have this example in my collection.
I'll post pics if I can get some decent ones on my flatbed scanner.
Anybody else like Lugers?
Vanfunk
Considering it my duty to acquire as many WWI/WWII weapons as I can possibly afford (or not afford, as the case may be), I honorably obtained a 1918 Erfurt Luger yesterday from my local gunmonger. The piece is in original condition, with about 90% blue and plenty of straw left on the smaller parts. All numbers match (except the mag) and the pistol is mechanically perfect. The bore shows an ever-so slight darkening in the grooves which I think I can get out of there with a little JB paste. Upon getting it home and breaking it down, I began removing the accumulations of congealed oil and grease it had been layered in over the years. The internals displayed very little wear, and I remarked to myself how simple the design really is. That and the incredible attention to detail that went into the machining and finishing of the pistol. This thing is really, really well made. It also came with a black leather flap holster which I believe is WWII production.
I put a dab of Militech on the contact points of the mechanism and set off for the range. I started with some plinking at the 50 yard berm and found that the pistol seemed to print about 6 inches high from my POA. I had no trouble bouncing a small detergent bottle around out there. Ammo used was PMC "Bronze" 115 grain fodder. The recoil characteristics are unlike any other auto I'm familiar with. The PMC ammo is loaded a little light, but there was virtually no discernible muzzle flip. Recoil was a quick, light jolt almost straight back into the palm. I moved over to the 25 yard berm to bench 50 rounds through the pistol and was awarded with 1.5" 8-shot groups when I really concentrated (also about 6" high with a 6 o'clock hold). The thing is accurate! There were no stoppages of any kind, and ejection was consistent and very positive. The trigger exibits some spongy takeup, but has a clean, light break that I'd estimate to be ~4 lbs.
I am very happy with this pistol. I'd prefer a 1911 for combat, but the Luger is a very, very well made, accurate, reliable pistol that is fun to shoot. I'm thrilled to have this example in my collection.
I'll post pics if I can get some decent ones on my flatbed scanner.
Anybody else like Lugers?
Vanfunk