Rebarreling a luger?

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Looking for everyone's thoughts/opinions on rebarreling my Luger...

I have a 1920's commercial model DWM Luger with 4" barrel....the problem is, it's chambered for the .30 Luger. .30 Luger ammo is difficult to come by, is expensive (over $1/rd), and only one domestic manufacturer makes it (Win), and who knows for how long.
I don't have any "safe queens"....the guns I have I like to shoot, hunt with, ect. I didn't pay a lot of money for this Luger, so I doubt it is a collectable one. I really would like to take it to the range more.
I have checked into reloading for it......no jacketed bullets available in it's prefered configuration (93 grain); cast bullets are difficult, if not impossible, to find; Lyman no longer makes a 93 grain mold for the caliber, and there isn't exactly a dearth of reloading data out there for the caliber. To gear up for reloading this caliber will take a fair chunk of change.
I currently have 2 handguns chambered in 9mm Luger, and I reload and cast for the caliber as well. I checked on a few sites, and there are 9mm luger barrels available. Here are my questions/concerns:

1.) while this gun appears to have no collector value now, I'm not sure about the near future.....If I have the gun rebarreled, but then later decide to have the old barrel put on, will it still decrease any collector value or will it remain intact?

2.) Any idea of the cost to do something like this (assuming I have the barrel already)?

Looking forward to any thoughts/input....thanks in advance.

[Jack]

I am not a collector, but, before I did anything with that pistol I'd find out about collector value. Lugers often bring a good price.
As far as reloading for it, it may be easier than you think. I did about 2 minutes worth of searching, and found 2 jacketed bullets for the 30 Luger- one made by Hornady, one by Sierra. They aren't exactly 93 grains, but they're close enough. Winchester and Fiocci sell loaded cartridges for it. Winchester and Starline sell 30 Luger brass. Dies are available from RCBS, Hornady, and Redding.
So, reloading for the 30 Luger isn't going to be terribly difficult.
The 30 Luger case head is the same diameter as the 9mm Luger, and the case is the same length,which means 2 things: (1) no modification of the gun, other than replacing the barrel would be needed, and (2) if Winchester and Starline both discontinued brass for it, you could neck down 9mm brass.
I bet it would be cheaper to set up to reload for it than it would to rebarrel the pistol.

[Gil Martin]

I would try to find bullets to reload for the .30 Luger. Another option would be to cast lead bullets and reload them. So it depends. All the best...
Gil

[skeet]

Other than the bbl you will have to redo the recoil springs too..as the 9mm has more recoil impulse than the 30..but as Jack said..it really isn't hard to reload for the 30. Rather than ruin any collector value i would reload for the 30 Luger. I had one..they really do shoot.

[skeet]

Mr 16.. I have been thinking about the bullets available for the 30 Luger. There is one bullet that I had forgotten about that should work. One that i load a bit in the 30-30. The 100 gr plinker bullet from Speer..It is kind of a half jacket bullet that should work in the 30 Luger. Yep it's a bit heavier than factory ammo(93 gr??) but it will work. Velocities will of course be a bit lower and point of impact probably a bit higher..but you will be able to shoot the 30 Luger. There is also a way to lighten the bullet. I have a little tool for the 22 LR that you put the loaded round into it and file the nose off a bit. Should be pretty easy to rig something like that. Every Luger (in 9mm) shot round nose and flat pointed hollowpoints pretty well..so..check it out. For funsies..try the plinker in your 30-30 too. with about 9 gr of unique..it shoots just fine..very cheap...errr economically! BTW if you can't find the plinkers..let me know.. I do have a stash..

[Adam Helmer]

Mr. 16 gauge,

If I were in your position, I would trade that .30 Luger for a 9mm Luger. There are many ads for Lugers, both buy and sell, in the "Shotgun News." I would chat with a Luger collector/dealer and swap out the .30 for a 9mm.

Adam

[skeet]

Mr 16... Never sell a Luger..unless they want to make you rich...especially an older model

[powell&hyde]

If you reload and can get ahold of 9mm winchester magnum cases, you can use these after running them thru a 30 luger die and trimming to 30 luger specs. This one is pretty straight forward. If your interested, I can e-mail the conversion chart to you.

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I did about 2 minutes worth of searching, and found 2 jacketed bullets for the 30 Luger- one made by Hornady, one by Sierra. They aren't exactly 93 grains, but they're close enough. Winchester and Fiocci sell loaded cartridges for it. Winchester and Starline sell 30 Luger brass. Dies are available from RCBS, Hornady Redding.

I have found those bullets as well.....but no loading data for the .30 Luger. The Hornady bullet has no crimping cannelure, and the gun has fixed sights. Winchester ammo is almost $1.50 per round, and that means that I'd be shooting less. Reloading isn't difficult, but I would have to lay in a new stock of dies, bullets, molds, ect.......all will cost $$$$$$.

I think I will take it to the gunsmith and see what he says as far as value....the prices have seemed to skyrocket since I bought this gun 5-6 years ago. If that is the case, then I can use it to fund some other firearms that I am interested in right now.

The 30 Luger case head is the same diameter as the 9mm Luger, and the case is the same length,which means 2 things: (1) no modification of the gun, other than replacing the barrel would be needed, and (2) if Winchester and Starline both discontinued brass for it, you could neck down 9mm brass.

Actually, I've already checked into this....you can't resize 9mm brass to make .30 Luger cartridges; they are too short. As P&H said, you need 9mm Win. mag cases, and when was the last time you saw a bunch of them laying around?