Luger Full-Auto Problem Solved!!!

[big_al]

Hi everyone. I just joined because I figured out the true solution to the problems experienced by the WE Tech Luger. Yes, the sear and the hammer are made of zinc (with essentially the mechanical properties of cheese), but that's only one part of the problem.

The root of the issue is that the sear spring is too weak to do it's job properly as the sear wears. This is because the hammer spring is made of much thicker wire and wound to a tighter pitch. Another issue is that not enough of the sear hook engages the notch in the hammer to effectively restrain it in the cocked position. By switching to a spring of thicker wire, and by relieving the metal under the lower portion of the sear in the hammer module, I was able to achieve more positive and reliable engagement with the hammer. In testing yesterday, I shot 92 rounds (28 from two box magazines loaded to 14 BB's each, and 50 from a drum) without a single issue. Every round fed and fired perfectly, and the gun locked open on the last shot.

Here is a link to some photos on my FB page of my gun, an LP'08 Artillery Luger with the full outfit (click on the blue F at the top-right corner to see the photos):
On another note, I solved my magazine issues mentioned in my FB post by using canned Green Gas and coating the O-rings on the release valves with silicone grease. Previously, I had been filling my mags with a propane adapter attached to a gas grill tank. I believe the adapter is the problem.

I will try to take some more photos of the spring I used and the area where I removed the metal to increase the travel of the sear, and also give the spring wire thickness and pitch in another post.

Hope you all find this helpful!

Big Al

[big_al]

Alrighty then. As promised, here are some pics of the modifications and specs for the old and new springs.

[big_al]

I conducted more test firing today, about 170 rounds. This brings the round count since making my modifications up to around 260 or so. Firing slow or fast, the gun was 100% reliable, feeding, firing, and locking open on empty every time.

[big_al]

Took my gun apart today and examined the sear. There is no wear to the sear or the sear notch in the hammer. It is clear to me now that this isn't a case of poor quality control or material selection. Rather, it is a case of poor engineering, which was relatively easy to correct with only minor work and the replacement of one spring. At some point, I might replicate the sear in steel, along with the hammer, for yet greater longevity. I'll be sure to document that and post it here for future reference.

[big_al]

Here's the latest update on my Luger. I made a new trigger linkage out of steel to achieve a better trigger pull. More details in my Facebook post linked below.

The round count is close to 900 rounds now, and the sear isn't holding up anymore. Though strangely, the gun isn't firing full-auto. The hammer is just following the breech block down and resulting in a dead trigger. I therefore retract my previous statement regarding poor engineering being the culprit in the gun's malfunctions. It is clearly a multi-faceted issue, with poor engineering and material selection being the primary deficiencies. At some point, I'll work up the motivation to make both a steel sear and hammer to get ahead of the curve, and hopefully produce a totally reliable, bombproof, airsoft Luger.