I deja'd up this ramble I posted in rec.guns back in 2003...
My Father's Luger
After my dad died in the Summer of '98, one of the first guns I chose to
keep from his collection was his old Luger. *Not being a COMPLETE idiot,
I had no intention of shooting it. *As Lugers go, it's not anything
particularly unusual, but it's a famous, easily recognized gun. *His was
a fairly early pre-WW1 example, and I could remember him sitting at the
foot of his bed, showing it to me when he first got it in the late
'60's. *He bought it as a collectors piece, and for as long as I
remembered it, it was covered with a layer of preservative grease, the
action slow and gummy. *I had no intention of shooting it. *I'm not a
COMPLETE idiot...
* * *All I know about the Luger is what I've read. *It's a rather early
design for a semiauto, and it's number designation, P08, indicates that
it was accepted by the German military in 1908. *It was never a very
good military weapon. *It was expensive and difficult to manufacture,
and required considerable hand fitting. *Due to the complexity and exact
fit of everything, a little dirt would jam them. *They were also finicky
about what ammunition would function through them. *The Germans tried to
interest the US government in them in friendlier days before the
unpleasantness of WW1, but due to the above problems, the US was never
interested, and eventually accepted the 1911 Colt. *(A good choice.)
* * *I'd also read long ago that while the Luger was one of the most
accurate pistols made when fired from a machine rest, they were rather
difficult to shoot accurately. *They're pretty light on the muzzle end,
they have poor sights, and the trigger pull is awful.
* * *Anyway, back to the present. *Not being one of the brighter members
of my family, I kept looking at it and musing about shooting it. *I
found instructions on the web about how to field strip the thing, and
took it apart and checked it over. *I carefully cleaned the bore,
removed the layer of preservative muck, degreased and cleaned it, and
checked it over with a magnifying glass. *Then I lubricated it rather
heavily with Breakfree and let it sit a few days. *Then I took it apart
and cleaned it again. *Then again. *Then again.
* * *Finally, I took it out to the little local range to see what would
happen. *Not being a COMPLETE idiot, I was a little nervous, and I knew
I probably wouldn't be shooting my best anyway, so I put one shell in
the chamber and pointed it downrange at a piece of plywood sitting out
there. *I squeezed off a shot. *BANG. *No surprises, it seemed to work
OK. *I checked it over, and did the same thing again. *BANG. *I field
stripped it on the bench and checked it over. *Everything was OK. *I was
ready to fill the magazine. *I didn't know how many shells the thing is
supposed to hold, but it was getting a little stiff at seven, so I
settled for that. *I expected to have to pretty much cycle 'em through
by hand due to all the stuff I already said about the finickyness of the
pistol, even when new, and also, I was just shooting WalMart's cheap
bulk stuff. *BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG. *IT WORKED!! *The brass
ejects straight up and back. *German officers NEEDED those fancy hats
they wore. *Jeepers... I decided to see how accurately I could shoot it.
Admittedly, I was still a little nervous. *A 9mm isn't a cannon, but
still, it makes enough noise to rattle the walls of the little shelter I
was shooting out of, and this one has "1911" stamped on top of the
receiver... *I usually shoot at 25 yards, but I decided to cut myself
some slack and set up a target at 50 feet. *I loaded up 7 more shells.
The sights WERE kind of minimal, and the trigger pull wasn't rough, but
it was kind of heavy. *I squeezed off 7 more slow BANGS. *It shot about
4 inches high but it put 6 shots inside a group two and a half inches by
one and a quarter with one flyer. *The flyer was about halfway closer to
the target dot, but I'd still call it my fault and outside the group.
Not a bad group, really, and I WAS a bit nervous. *Altogether, 16 shots
with perfect function out of the old thing!
* * *Over the next couple of days, I cleaned the grime off of the Walnut
grips and gave 'em a boiled linseed oil finish. *The Nazis would have
probably preferred the sinister black look, but it was all grime, and
this gun was more from Kaiser Wilhelm's time.
* * *There. *I've got other guns to shoot, and I may never shoot the old
Luger again, but I'm glad I did. *I just get a buzz out of knowing it
works, and works well.
* * * * * * * * * * *Marty
It never hicupped once. We also ran a few round of Hornaday 124grn JHPs though it as well as it is going to be doing duty as a HD piece now. The accuracy was as good as any SA pistol I have ever fired, and using a modified Weaver stance, rapid fire was a dream. 
