.22 Luger

[RPNelson]

Years back I bought a .22LR that looked just like a german luger. The firing pin was damaged and I ended up selling it. However,I cannot remember who made it for the life of me. This was after I got out of the service so I am talking like 25-30 yrs ago. My question is..does anyone have an idea what kind of gun I am talking about? I realize I dont have much information to help out, but I would really like to find another one...it was a blast shooting it.

 

[chud333]

Maybe a Stoeger Luger. My brother had one and i inherited
from his widow when he passed. Run a search on Gunbroker
for Stoeger Luger and see if thats it.


chuck

 

[310Pilot]

It was an Erma Luger, imported by Stoeger from the late 60s through the late 70s, if I recall correctly. They had a cast pot metal frame, and varied in quality from poor to fair. Parts are no longer available, and were tough to find even when they were in production. Interesting little guns, primarily due to their resemblance to a real Luger. If I recall correctly, Erma was a German company, don't remember what the name stood for (Erma Works or something similar). Some are probably still around, although finding one in good condition may be difficult.

 

[JcMack]

Yeah. There was one for sale at Cabelas down the street a couple weeks ago. $250

 

[Dr.-d]

None of them never seem to work consistantly and are ammo sensitive.

 

[enfield]

It was an Erma Luger, imported by Stoeger from the late 60s through the late 70s, if I recall correctly. They had a cast pot metal frame, and varied in quality from poor to fair. Parts are no longer available, and were tough to find even when they were in production. Interesting little guns, primarily due to their resemblance to a real Luger. If I recall correctly, Erma was a German company, don't remember what the name stood for (Erma Works or something similar). Some are probably still around, although finding one in good condition may be difficult.

ERMA Werke, with the ERMA standing for Erfurter Maschinenfabrik.

 

[RPNelson]

Thanks for the help...sounds like maybe I should have held onto it? Hi Sue...lol What city..maybe its still there. Probrably a nightmare to get it sent to me..Just a thought tho, there is a gander here wonder if they would ship to them so I can buy it? hmmm

 

[deadin]

Most of the Erma Lugers I've seen function so poorly that they are more curiosities than collectibles.

 

[cowart]

I see a bunch of them for sale on Gunbroker. Prices range from $125 to $1,850!

Several people selling firing pins too.

 

[Frederick]

My son has one. It looks great but shoots bad. I think the problem might be that European .22's were higher power than American. Therefore, our under powered ammunition doesn't work the action correctly.

 

[310Pilot]

ERMA Werke, with the ERMA standing for Erfurter Maschinenfabrik.

Ah yes, it came to me earlier today. It was 0 Dark 30 when I read the original post, and I couldn't remember fully.

 

[310Pilot]

My son has one. It looks great but shoots bad. I think the problem might be that European .22's were higher power than American. Therefore, our under powered ammunition doesn't work the action correctly.

I used to get a lot of them brought in for repair when I owned a gun shop (in the 70s, while they were in production). The problems stemmed from poor quality parts and manufacturing, rather than under powered ammo. In fact, the most frequent problems were broken firing pins and broken toggle arms - more powerful ammo would have broken those parts even faster. They looked neat, but were completely unreliable. Cheap cast parts, poor tolerances and a lack of quality control were the culprits. I worked on one my brother had for a long time in an attempt to get it to work reliably, and finally gave up, the basic components were just too bad, and pot metal castings don't respond well to machining. They had a poor reputation when they were new, age hasn't improved them. Too bad, they would have sold like hot cakes if they had been decently made and reliable guns.

 

[mike from st pete]

ERMA made it in 380ACP too.
They were a real carp shooters too.

 

[2152hq]

Bob's Gun Parts has parts for the .22 Erma Lugers
There's 3 different variations of the .22cal 'Luger'
There is also a 22cal version of their 380/32 Erma Luger ,,KGP-69 .22

You have to make sure which model you have as not all parts interchange.

http://www.gun-parts.com/index.html/
scroll down and click on 'Erma'
All the different models are listed in among the parts headings. He just bunches them together, but when you email specify which model you have.

I've bought parts from them to fix up one of the 380 Erma Lugers quite a while back. Never worked on one of the .22cal versions.

Numrich might well have parts also, but I' never checked then.
The 380/32 cal pistols weren't to bad.

 

[bobf]

The ERMA and Stoeger were different. This is my Stoeger.

 

[2152hq]

I thought the Erma Lugers were banned from import in '68 (didn't make the point total needed).

Stoeger then imported the Erma parts, but not the the receiver, after '68. The new receiver being made in the USA to get around the import problem and the Stoeger pistols were assembled (made) in the USA.

Stoeger Corp could legally put 'Luger' on the pistol as they owned the rights to the name in the US since the 1920's when they were the sole importer here.
..and then again I may be all wrong!

 

[bobf]

Thanks for the explanation.
Bob

 

[RPNelson]

Thx guys...kinda glad I got rid of it. It was fun while I had it.

 

[windjammer]

I had one, Erma, years ago. Didn't keep it long. It was a jam-o-matic. Paid $65 for it.

 

[RPNelson]

Thats how much I paid for mine..then the firing pin was wore and off center so I sold it for 100.00. I got my moneys worth and made a profit. No complaints here. It was fun while I had it...