First Luger purchase and need guidance

[ZZANG1847]

Hello everyone,
I've recently purchased a Mauser Luger made in 1937 and been having few problems ever since.
As a first luger owner, I'm literally lost and need some spiritual guidance.









When I bought the pistol, everything appeared to be in a working condition and couldn't find anything wrong.
However, once I brought it home and disassembled/cleaned/lubed the pistol, it started showing some weird issues.

Before purchase:
- Magazine didn't drop free, only going down few inches before manually pulling by hand.
- Toggle was easy to manipulate, requiring not much strength.

After clean/lube:
- Magazine drops free, and once fully inserted it can still move upward a little bit more (magazine base plate doesn't touch grip frame).
- Toggle is very hard to pull, almost to the point where I need to push barrel against soft surface to manipulate.

At the shooting range it had plenty of malfunctions, and they were usually toggle randomly locking back even though there are still rounds left in the magazine. I have used both 115gr and 124gr 9mms and some functioned better than others but none of them showed 100% reliability.

I'm thinking that malfunctions are caused by the old magazine, but I have no idea how toggle became very hard to pull by simple field strip an cleaning. Maybe I assembled the pistol back wrong? Perhaps there are areas that I didn't clean that caused this problem? I'm lost and have no idea what to do now.

Thank you for your help.

[Mac Cat]

Replace the magazine with a new one before you do anything else.
That will probably explain the poor fit and misfires (failure to feed ammo).

Example: Meg Gar P.08 $35 from Midway

If you have matching internal parts, you may want to replace the vulnerable parts (spare firing pins, extractors, and magazine are all readily available).

[JTD]

I would not worry to much about changing parts unless it is because of a function problem. The pistol is shooter grade due to finish issues already. It sure sounds like you should take it down and inspect it to see what is causing the toggle stiffness. If it were mine, I would do this before anything else.

[rhuff]

I am wondering if the Luger was NOT assembled correctly when you purchased it, but now it is correct. The toggle train should require a fair amount of pull strength for it to retract fully. Sounds as though your magazine is causing you at least part of the problems. Perhaps the hold open spring is another part. I would start with a new Mec-Gar mag or two. WWB, PMC, Magtec, etc. ammo should be good for you. Most Lugers don't like Russian steel cased ammo, or Remington ammo(some do).....trial and error.

[mrerick]

Double check the cleanliness of the well that the magazine hold-open fits into. It may be full of stuff that is artificially pushing it up into the path of the receiver. There could also be damage in that area.

Double check the recoil spring linkage, and proper installation of the hook that links the toggle action to the recoil spring via an "S" linkage.

The Luger is a unique action, and not that many gunsmiths are familiar with it. If someone is near you on the forum, it may be possible to get help directly. Your location is not showing up in your profile.

We have a useful reference FAQ that may have information you can use. Follow the forum links at the top of each page.

[Karl]

David,

Regarding: "Magazine drops free, and once fully inserted it can still move upward a little bit more (magazine base plate doesn't touch grip frame)."

The up and down play of the magazine you describe is normal. Most feeding problems stem from a malfunctioning magazine. As noted above, get a new Mec Gar magazine and make sure that the hold open area is clean and that the hold open operates freely. Your original magazine can likely be restored by GT.

KFS

[4 Scale]

I agree that a good first step is get a Mec Gar magazine, IMO anyone who is shooting a Luger should use those.

To verify that your pistol is operating properly, this video is the best animation I have seen. I suggest watch it as many times as needed to understand how every part of your pistol operates.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DBYV6s1lvo

This video should give you an idea of how a properly operating toggle should function. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW0qDsMIAlk

As far as replacing parts as post #2 suggests, I only do that when shooting nice collectibles to minimize value loss should a small part break. I've now shot Lugers for several years and the only part that ever broke was a small chip on the grip. The finish loss on this pistol makes it a shooter and it doesn't make sense to me to swap parts on a shooter.

All that said, a first Luger that is not functioning properly is a challenge. If a Mec Gar does not fix it, consider disclosing your location to see if there is a member near you, or send it to a Luger expert like G.T. or Tom Heller. The Luger is a balanced system and can malfunction when something is not right. However, with effort and persistence they can almost always be fixed and once fixed they tend to stay that way. It is very satisfying to fix one, I wish you success and hope you tell us how it goes.

[Sergio Natali]

If it worked before you cleaned it, perhaps you've done something wrong while reassembling it.
If I were you I would disassemble it completely, clean & lube it, then reassemble it carefully.

After all that's what the "first Luger" is supposed for.

[ZZANG1847]

I have been very busy lately and didn't had a chance to buy new mag and do a detailed clean-up.
I will do so as soon as possible and let you guys know how it works out.

Thank you.