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HELP Luger reassembled incorrectly

966 views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  ArsenicWheat 
#1 ·
I purchased my first Luger on Saturday, the 29th. As part of the inspection process, I used the Gun Digest Automatic Pistols book to guide me in the field stripping of the Luger. The owner said he had never field stripped it. After reassembly, I did a function test and found the toggle will operate, but the trigger would not engage after cycling the action. I tried to field strip it again and found the take down lever will no longer release. I assume I failed to properly position the coupling link in front of the upper arm of the recoil lever, but I have no idea how to fix this problem. I don’t want to force the take down lever. I did an internet search for disassembly of the Luger hoping to find some tips about what to do if you screw up, but came up empty. I hope I have not really screwed the pouch here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.




If there is no God, then everything is just politics.
 
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#3 ·
Pooch...you screwed the pooch.

If you can get the muzzle back a bit, the take-down lever will bear a good bit of force.
 
#5 ·
Thanks Jonny c.

Not only did I learn how to spell pooch, I also used your advice to apply a little more force to the take down lever. Once I did that, the upper came off. Put it back together the correct way, function tested it and ran dummy rounds through all the mags with no problems. Now to shoot it. Again appreciated the help.
 
#6 ·
Does the trigger reset? If so, you're golden. Do a live-fire test to be sure. They sometimes act differently during dry and live fire.
 
#7 ·
Just a word of advice, bring a few different brands of ammo with you for the test fire.

Luger's are notorious for being picky on ammo, especially in the 115gr loading, in my experience the 124gr loads are a little more forgiving.

I have had some factory ammo that would jam on every shot and others that function 100%.

My gun hates 115gr Fiochi 9mm FMJ, but loves Independence (speer I think) 115gr FMJ.

Just FYI.
 
#9 ·
Thanks guys. The prior owner said it shot well with 125gr ammo, but did not mention any specific brand. I have some Winchester 124 FMJ that I will try. I will also scout around for some other brands/grains to try. I have a P-38 that eats everything, including 147 grain HP. I sure would like to get that lucky with the Luger, but I am not holding my breath on that.

If there is no God, then everything is just politics.
 
#12 ·
That 147 grain stuff was originally made for modern submachineguns like the UZI. Not sure that I would shoot even the downloaded stuff in an older WW-2 pistol. The Luger was designed to shoot a 124 grain FMJ bullet. The Remington stuff isn't quite hot enough to completely cycle the action of many PO-8's. Mine doesn't like lead either...
 
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