How does one say it?
There is nothing magical about any modern 9mm pistol that makes the ammunition more effective than what's launched from Georg Luger's creation.
If you have a P.08 that runs with the ammo you're firing, each round will do as much damage as any other 9mm.
Where a modern gun tends to spank a Luger is in how finicky they are about ammo. Modern guns do tend to eat anything you feed them. They also keep eating well past when you should have cleaned them to keep the gun from getting anything it comes into contact with irreparably filthy.
So what are we getting with a modern design that we're not with a P.08?
Simplicity and ease of manufacture.
There's a reason that a market where a Luger is a $3,500 gun in shootable condition that nobody has bit the bullet and started making them again. Stoeger tried, and failed, to make that profitable.
The venerable Browning Hi-Power holds its own with modern guns for reliability and capacity; but not weight or cost. The last new Browning might be rolling off an assembly line in Portugal as I type this (probably not, it's Saturday morning in Portugal as I type this). Browning has made fewer and fewer HP's over the years and the price has been in the low four digits for a new one for a long time as well. Plus you have to compete with an 82 year old secondary market.
A modern gun is much more affordable because they're designed to be easy to crank out on machines that use the absolute minimum amount of highly paid labor. The parts are made near-net to begin with and require fewer operations to get to their final forms.
It's why everyone is using plastic for the frames. The material is more than strong and durable enough and can be made into very complex shapes that come out in finish form with a single operation! And it's inexpensive too.
If you already have the Luger and it's what's to hand when Bad Bob™ breaks into your rec room; use it!
If you don't have any pistol at all and are looking to get one, get a new gun.
Same beans, more of them, less costly.
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Also do to flex, polymer has the weight of a similar gun in aluminum, but a felt recoil on par with an all stainless gun. Plus when you can easily integrate the grips into the receiver it makes it easier to have a fat magazine in a grip you can still holds (see Beretta 92 and that measly 15 round box compared to all its smaller lighter competitors that manage with 17+ pills and a thinner grip)
ReplyDeleteAll that and the price difference, it's a no-brainer.
When my father-in-law was looking to dump his Model 66 nightstand gun, I straight up told him he should just look at M&P and Glock. He went with a Glock and was amazed what a step forward it was from his old Smith.
As a gun geek, I'm quite happy to have that old Revolver in my safe, and a 1911 in my holster, but when it comes to "I don't care what it is, I just want it to work, and don't want to spend a lot for it" boy plastic fantastics are amazing.
I haven't had any troubles firing a WWI Luger. I agree that it is complex and has low capacity.
ReplyDeleteI've seen MUCH better prices than $3500 in my area for a usable, safe to shoot Luger.
As far as handiness and particularly for concealed carry, I agree that plastic frames are great - I can carry a polymer frame 380 in a pocket holster that is so light I actually forget whether I'm carrying and have to check. My metal frame compact 22 of the same size is enough heavier that I don't forget I'm carrying it.