Recommended ammo/load for WWI Luger 08

M

mapsjanhere

New member
My last Luger 08 was a soviet X frankengun that I never got to work well. Now I snapped up a matching numbers 1916 Erfurt. Is there a commercial load that mimics the old German loads well? I keep getting contrary information from "don't shoot it with modern loads, too powerfull" to "needs high power submachine gun rounds to work well, modern stuff to weak".
 
I have a .30 Luger, and the loads I shoot are 85 grains at 1150fps.
If velocities drop below 1100, I will get some stovepipes.
That's a much weaker load than any factory 9mm, so you should be able to run just about anything.
The original German 9mm load used a 124gr bullet, but I don't think the weight matters much.
I'd try some bulk pack or "white box" 115gr hardball, and see how it runs.
 
The original 9mm Luger load is reported to have been a 124gr FMJ at 1050fps from the 4" Luger.

A few years before WW I, the load was changed to a 115gr FMJ at 1150fps. This is what a WW I Luger should run on.

I have run my 1936 mismatch on American Eagle 124gr and 115gr with few problems. NOT "no problems" few problems, mostly feeding, which right now, I feel are magazine issues.

Stay away from the guy who says you need HOT SMG ammo to run a Luger. Stay FAR away!!!!

Most "modern" loads are not good choices, particularly anything loaded with a JHP. #1 the Luger was never made to feed hollowpoints. Some will, many won't, yours might. #2 JHP loads today are intended for personal defense and are loaded warmer than what I am comfortable with for a Luger.

AVOID EVERYTHING marked +P!!!!

A matching 1916 Erfurt is a sweet gun, but shooting the now 100yr old beauty is always a risk, even with the right ammo. If you break one of the numbered parts (like the firing pin, for example) you have just turned a $2000+ collector Luger into a $1000 +/- "shooter" Luger.

The safest thing to do, value wise, is to get replacement parts for all the numbered parts you can, and install THOSE parts into the gun for shooting use. If one of them breaks you still have an all matching Luger when you put the original parts back in.

The toggle action design is very efficient and pretty strong, BUT the rest of the parts aren't that strong, and with a few rare exceptions, the newest ones are over 70 years old, with many over 100. The metal isn't what is used today, plus what ever it has gone through over the years means things break, even under what is proper and period correct conditions (like using the right ammo). It happens. And of course when you go beyond what the gun was built for, the breakage rate goes up, DRASTICALLY.

Get some American made "plain jane" ball ammo, something with a listed velocity in the 1100fps range. NOT military surplus ammo! And not European military ammo of any kind! I say this because there is no guarantee that the surplus ammo is what the package markings say it is.

One friend of mine had his High Power battered to the point the locking lugs were being peened, because he shot 9mm "surplus" ammo that was much hotter than what his gun was made for, but not marked as such in any way. And, IIRC it was only a couple boxes of the stuff that damaged the gun.

NOT something to put in any Luger!!

Carefully worked up handloads might be your best option, if suitable commercial ammo can't be easily found.

Good Luck!
 
My 1913 DWM (mixed parts shooter) functions extremely well with value 115g FMJ like Federal Champion and Winchester WB - using Mec-Gar magazines. Since I bought it in 1975 I've used value priced ammo in the P.08 with good results. Weak springs in the original magazines caused feeding problems but they're too valuable in original condition to replace the springs. Get new Mec-Gars instead. Shooting thousands of rounds since 1975 has broken just one part, the big rear toggle pin. That didn't disable the Luger, it continued firing and I discovered the problem during cleaning. Easy fix, too, if any part breaks that's the one you'd want!
 
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Thanks, I go for the Winchester WB and give it a shot. The price was more on the shooter side than the collector end, so I'm not too worried. I just collect guns, not gun shaped art objects, so everything gets tried at least once.
Admittedly, one of my friends isn't selling me any guns anymore "you did what to that gun????"
 
The best reliability results I ever got with a Luger, a 1938 Mauser, was with the Federal American Eagle 124 grain RN ball ammo. This ammo is very mild and chronographed only 1017 FPS from the Luger. The Federal AE 115 ball gave 1086 FPS, but for whatever reason did not work as reliably as the 124 grain. I once got to almost 100 rounds without a malfunction with the 124 grain AE. Had to use a new Mec Gar Luger magazine to get to that "sterling" level of performance though;)

I'd always heard that Lugers functioned best with 9MM ammo that is a bit warmer. Not in my case. Reliability with Winchester NATO 124 grain ball (1200+ FPS) was terrible. I don't think I ever successfully fired more than a round or two in a row using the NATO without a feedway malfunction.........ymmv
 
Hi, 44 Amp,

Do you know the mfg date of that High Power? Wartime guns often have soft slides and/or barrels, as the Belgians sabotaged production by spoiling the steel, skipping heat treatment and the like; the guns would get by German inspection, but would quit working pretty quickly, sometimes in less than a magazine.

Jim
 
Every Luger I've had or tried has run fine on standard Federal FMJ and Winchester WB......both of which are readily available at any Walmart that still sells ammo.
 
I've never had an issue with good old WWB,S&B and Fiocchi 115gr in my 1936 Mauser P08. 124gr and +p, not so much. Nothing but stove pipes with that hotter and heavier ammo.
 
Hi, James K

Sorry, I don't know the exact vintage of the damaged Hi Power. The incident happened back in 88 or 89, and I saw the gun once (after repair) when the owner told me about what had happened. IIRC the gun was a blued, wood gripped commercial model, I think from the late 50s or sometime in the 60s.

High Powers are fine guns, but the only extra "meat" they have is (IMNSHO)the magazine disconnect. :rolleyes:
 
If you are shooting an oldie the rule should be gradually increas the load until the gun functions properly , then stop !
 
The WWB runs fine in both of my P08s. I reload now so I am using 115 gr bullets with 4.0 gr of Titegroup. No issues at all and it is pretty soft shooting.
 
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