Armorer's Capability?

[Croc9]

I am moving from P38s to P08s and I have a question that was not answered in a search. I have read about the swapping parts issues and how small parts for the Lugers were hand fitted. Did the replacement parts issued to the "field" armorers lack the tight tolerances or did the armorers have the capability to hand fit each replacement part? Thanks, Steve

[DonVoigt]

Yes; though not all replacement parts require any fitting.
Those that do often need only a little file or stone work

Any repairs "they" could not do would be passed up the chain for repair.

In my experience, even though parts were fitted and numbered; it is possible today to select parts that will assemble without any need to "fit" into a completely mismatched shooting luger.
Only "problem"is having enough parts to choose from.

[Croc9]

Thanks. I had an image in my head of some guy in the factory filing and polishing each part as he meticulously assembled each Luger. I am retired Army. Our armorers were good, but swapping parts was the norm. Any idea of which parts required the most work? Thanks

[DonVoigt]

Side plate - to fit the frame and take down lever.
Trigger lever- to achieve release and reset, they are hardened- so parts swapping is the order-
along with also changing the trigger as they work in concert. Sometimes you have
to change the sear bar also.

These are the most troublesome to replace, and require the most effort to fit; though sometimes
a replacement just falls into place. Tolerance is not your friend here.

[Dwight Gruber]

There are regulations--which I can't access right now--which specify what are field-level replacements and what must be returned to an armory for repair.


Dwight