I really like this video because it shows not only how to manipulate the Luger, but he gives some tips on how to clear an odd gun. This skill set might be more useful than you think. How many people have had to clear out the gun safe of somebody who has passed away? Lots of guns, some could be old, and you don’t know the condition of ANY of them.
-Remember the 4 rules
-Search for the magazine release if its a semi-auto pistol. Generally its a button or a tab at the base of the mag well, but you never know.
-Look for Knurling! This is an important one, as a general rule guns are made smooth where you don’t need to touch them to make them easier to clean, and less likely to snag, but where you DO need to touch them there is often knurling. The grip panels, the front and backstrap, the magazine release, any safety controls, any takedown leavers or notches, and how you manipulate the action.
Look for the knurling and see what its attached to and how it might work. Of course ALWAYS follow the safety rules with an unknown gun, odd things can happen, like actuating the safety on an old P38 Walther, or flicking the decocking leaver on an old CZ-52 could result in an honest-to-goodness ACCIDENTAL discharge if the firing pin block is broken. I remember the first time I picked up a Ruger 22 pistol. It doesn’t have a slide, so how do I open the action? Easy look at those two knurled tabs at the back of the bolt!
Good stuff, and actually not as basic when you look at it that way!
‘Course, if you get your hands on a Steyr-Hahn, looking for the magazine release gets more challenging.
There’s (if memory serves) the magazine-dump button, but that only works when you’ve already got the slide pulled back.
In the last few decades, I’ve been stopped more than once by the local constabulary for perceived infractions of the law. Whether afoot, on a bicycle, or in my gas-guzzler, I always make it a point to state upfront that I am (legally) armed.
Being armed has thankfully never caused me grief and handing my pistol to an officer on a stop has never seemed like a big deal. They have a tough job to do and I have no desire to make their job any more difficult.
Still, I tend to carry pistols that others might consider weird. Watching a cop trying to “safe” my pistols is an absolute cringefest. A heel release for the magazine is nothing new there officer Krupke, and sweeping innocents does not reflect well on you or your department.
My most recent stop was also the worst. Pulled over for rolling a stop sign, (guilty) I declared my 1911 to the officer as soon as he came to my window. He took it from me and cleared it. No problem right? Well, he went off on a 5 minute tirade that let me know that my SA wasn’t a real 1911 because it didn’t have “COLTS” engraved on the slide. I was on the verge of offering to go “pinks” with him when he got an emergency call that left me with an empty magazine for my “crappy” SA 1911.
I avoided a traffic ticket that I deserved, and Krupke got to keep his fragile limp- dicked pride. The truth is that I’ve never seen a .45 that can hold a candle to my P9s target. Krupke got lucky…this time.
Tragically, I know a guy who accidently killed himself with a luger while trying to unload it. It appears he forgot about where he was pointing the muzzle.