A WWII classic, this luger is a joy to shoot simply to watch the cocking mechanism pop up and cycle on each shot just like the real steel. Excellent finishing make this definitely a collectors item. Good power to boot too! Metal parts included: adjustable rear sign, trigger, magazine catch, magazine, safety, back slide mount and cocking mechanism.
Design:
The Luger pistol was manufactured to very high standards and thus has a very long service life, in excess of 100 years with proper maintenance and care, albeit dependent on the number of rounds fired. Luger pistols are extremely accurate due to precise engineering, ergonomic grip angle and shape, decent trigger pull, and a design that allows the barrel to remain aligned with the axis of the frame during use. This is in contrast to some other designs which cause the barrel to tip during recoil, such as Browning's M1911. Luger pistols function reliably when properly maintained, but their close mechanical tolerances are not suited to dirty battlefield conditions since much of their firing mechanism is exposed. Many soldiers who have used the Luger Pistol praise the 55 degree angle of the handle, as they find this handle configuration to be ergonomic and intuitive.
Method Of Operation:
The Luger uses a jointed arm mechanism (the joint is called a knee, or in German Kniegelenk (knee joint); it is also called a toggle-action, as opposed to the slide actions of almost every other semi-automatic pistol. The toggle-action mechanism is explained as follows: after a round is fired the barrel and toggle assembly (both locked together at this point) travel rearward due to recoil. After moving roughly one-half inch (13 mm) rearward, the toggle strikes a cam built into the frame, causing the knee joint to hinge and the toggle and breech assembly to unlock. At this point the barrel stops its rearward movement (it impacts the frame), but the toggle and breech assembly continue moving (bending the knee joint) due to momentum, extracting the spent casing from the chamber and ejecting it. The toggle and breech assembly subsequently travel forward (under spring tension) and the next round from the magazine is loaded into the chamber. The entire sequence occurs in a fraction of a second.
In World War I, as submachine guns were found to be efficient in trench warfare, experiments with converting various types of pistols to machine pistols (Reihenfeuerpistolen) were conducted. Among those the Luger pistol (German Army designation Pistole 08) was examined; however, unlike the Mauser C96 which was converted in great numbers to Reihenfeuerpistole, the Luger proved to have an excessive rate of fire when used in full-automatic mode, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luger_pistol)
Investment: R2500.00
Accessories Available
Takana Gas Drum Magazine
