Luger P08 Feed issues and lighter recoil springs

Walther_PPK

Walther_PPK

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
215   0   0
Location
NL
Kinda new to the P08 and I'm having a feeding issue. It cycles fine when I work the toggle manually with all three mags I own but it jams almost every time when firing 115gr American eagle FMJs. It works better with 147gr Winchester FMJs but not great. It seems like the toggle is not moving back far enough as it tends to catch the round at the mid section.

I have read on other forums about people swapping out the original recoil spring for a lighter one. Anyone ever try this? I know Wolff Springs has a 36lbs or 37lbs spring they offer for the P08.
 
With Lugers, magazine fit is extremely important: the mag must feed directly into the Chamber for best feeding. The highest mag lockup possible without interefring with the bolt is desirable.

Also, ammo is very important. The Luger has a very stiff action..... and American ammo often is loaded just a tad under what the original stuff was loaded to.

SAAMI specs, US Milspec and original DWM specs are 3 very different things.

My original Luger, a 1918 DWM, ran perfectly for years on Sten Gun loads.... which I am now told are too stiff. Perhaps so, but the gun sure liked them.

I find a P-38 will run perfectly on ammo which is Jam City to a Luger. And the Beretta 92 is very strongly based on the P-38.

Hope this is a little help, anyway.

Somebody who KNOWS something should be along shortly.
 
I find my 1938 Mauser Oberndorf P.08 likes the 124gr stuff. Also, try a new made Mec-Gar P.08 magazine. I know the other finicky Lugers I've tried like those mags too.. (The cheaper P.08 repro mags are garbage though in my opinion....)
 
smellie says:

With Lugers, magazine fit is extremely important: the mag must feed directly into the Chamber for best feeding. The highest mag lockup possible without interefring with the bolt is desirable.

Also, ammo is very important. The Luger has a very stiff action..... and American ammo often is loaded just a tad under what the original stuff was loaded to.

SAAMI specs, US Milspec and original DWM specs are 3 very different things.

My original Luger, a 1918 DWM, ran perfectly for years on Sten Gun loads.... which I am now told are too stiff. Perhaps so, but the gun sure liked them.

I find a P-38 will run perfectly on ammo which is Jam City to a Luger. And the Beretta 92 is very strongly based on the P-38.

Hope this is a little help, anyway.

Somebody who KNOWS something should be along shortly.


I agree with George here. My P08s like ammo loaded to at least 1250 fps and really like it 100fps faster. I have also run Sten and even the black tipped sub machine gun ammo through mine without a hitch. Maybe not the best idea but nothing was ever damaged.

The P38 and even the P35 Browning of Inglis manufacture were totally different stories.

The P38 lost its first extractor/plunger/spring with black tipped, german made sub gun ammo. It lost the 2nd group with RG ammo. After that, I only ran North American manufactured commercial. Never had much luck with either the P08 or P38 with commercial lead loadings or personal cast loadings.

The P35 I mentioned got a bulged barrel from the same RG ammo. Talk about a PO. Good thing I had a spare barrel on hand that I had picked up on a trade. It was just never the same to me though. I sold the pistol a few months later.

George, did you ever use the black tipped German WWII sub gun ammo in your stuff???

It was easy to move back in those days as lots of folks had Stens, Mp38s and 40s along with the odd Lanchester that had voracious appetites and would gobble up this stuff without a hitch.
 
I too have used WW2 1943 dated German 9mm ammo in a Mauser Oberndorf P.08 with no problems. Shot quite well.

Here is an excerpt from a gentleman on the WAF Forum:

It is not a matter of 'hotter loading'. Mainly in that as the war progressed the germans started using 'cintered iron' composite bullets for expediancy and these caused excessive bore wear. as well in P08 pistols extraction and hence relaiblity suffered greatly with the steel lacquered cases and it was a written order to use reamining stock of brass cased 9mm ammunition with the P08 pistols. Most of the wartime german 9mm will have a blackened bullet to protect the mild steel jacket from rusting before use - as often the alloy plating on them was minimal or non existant. I have shot wads of WW2 german 9mm and found most to have suffered greatly from storage and or time. I have found most of it produced squib like qualities when fired - often not cycling a P38 , and an MP 40 I had at the time. The MP40 had a sluggish go with that 'old ammo'.
Click to expand...

Take it for what you will... I have heard ALL manner of stories about WW2 9mm ammo and whether it's safe or not for P.08/P.38/Browning/Vis.35 etc... Personally, most of that old 9mm is collectible in it's own right, so best to buy new stuff..

I think I may have to tear some of that WW2 German stuff I have apart and weigh the components... :)
 
Desert_Fox said:
I too have used WW2 1943 dated German 9mm ammo in a Mauser Oberndorf P.08 with no problems. Shot quite well.

Here is an excerpt from a gentleman on the WAF Forum:



Take it for what you will... I have heard ALL manner of stories about WW2 9mm ammo and whether it's safe or not for P.08/P.38/Browning/Vis.35 etc... Personally, most of that old 9mm is collectible in it's own right, so best to buy new stuff..

I think I may have to tear some of that WW2 German stuff I have apart and weigh the components... :)
Click to expand...

DF, the incidents I am relating to happened over 40 years ago to me. The ammo was hot, or at least seemed to be. As you say, the jackets were not copper, the cases were lacquered steel and the primers looked to be made of something similar.

You don't see much of this stuff anymore. I can remember hundreds of thousands of rounds of it coming in, packed in 640 round wooden crates with metal hinges and latches. The Waffenampts were painted over but all of the seals were still intact. The people in customs had better things to do in those days I guess. Back then, that ammo was just as fresh as when it was packed in 32 round paper boxes.

It would make sense that the sintered iron jackets or even whole bullet would be less malleable than cupro nickel/lead or copper/lead. Maybe increased the pressures???

I can tell you the P35 was in excellent condition, as was the P38. In all honesty. I was afraid of doing more damage to the pistols and never tried again after the first issues. To bad, that ammo was about as cheap as it got. Very corrosive though.

Another thing, I am meticulous about keeping my firearms clean. Both of those handguns had bone dry, excellent bores. On all three occasions, the issues occurred on the first round fired.
 
I also had a bad experience with Sten ammo(given to me by a friend).
I shot a box of it through my Wather HP (pre war P38) and it cracked the slide where the locking block engages.
Ended up replacing the slide.
Herman
 
Don't know if this will help or not but I find that the OAL of the ammo is critical. If to short, they tend to grab on the front of the magazine. I have a box of original ww1 ammo that measures 1.168 OAL and all my reloads are made to the same length. They function perfectly through my luger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom