Video review of 2 of my 3 .22LR Stoeger Lugers

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Bill Akins

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I thought some of you might enjoy this video on the fun to plink with, long out of production, .22 Stoeger Lugers.
Stoeger has owned the copyright to the name "Luger" on a product, since the 1920's. These .22 LR caliber Lugers are not an exact P08 parabellum as designed by Georg Luger, but they legally are a Luger and they are (debateably) close in resemblance as well as have a working toggle which does somewhat retard (delay) the otherwise straight blowback bolt. So it is correctly termed as a retarded/delay blowback action as opposed to the P08's action being recoil operated.

Some people claim these are not Lugers. But they legally are Lugers. They just aren't constructed exactly the same as the P08 was designed originally by Georg Luger. My all steel frame one has the heft and feel of a P08 while my aluminum frame ones are much lighter.

The Stoeger Luger is superior to the .22 cal Erma P08 style which was made of questionable pot metal with a steel sleeve for a barrel encased in pot metal and most of the other parts as well as the Erma's frame are zinc type "Zamac" pot metal. These being the only working toggle .22 caliber Lugers and Luger (type) pistols mass produced (not including .22 conversion kitsfor larger caliber lugers), it therefore is common for some people to confuse the Stoeger.22 Lugers and the Erma .22 P08's and to even think they are the same pistol. Both have been out of production for decades.

The Erma looks a lot more like the P08, but the pot metal parts commonly crack and break. The Stoeger, even with the aluminum frame version, holds up excellent. I know. I have two alum frame ones and one steel frame one and I have been inside them and worked on them to smooth up their operation. Most complaints on these fine pistols are made by people who do not know what to do, such as polish the feed ramp, micro chamfer the breech edge so it won't catch the head of the bullet and jam against the breech, bend (if necessary) the mag feed lips to aid feeding. Replace a worn extractor spring. Most of the public will not know these things nor do them and that, along with incorrectly lumping them in with the inferior pot metal Erma's, is why some people call them "Jam-a-matics". But they aren't. If they did the things I mentioned like I have, their Stoeger .22 Lugers would work fine.

The .22 Stoeger Luger's toggle assembly is steel as is the bolt which rides in steel recesses not in aluminum recesses as well as the entire barrel is all steel, as opposed to the Erma barrel which is a steel sleeve encased by zamac pot metal. So all steel where it was needed was used in the aluminum frame Stoeger and the aluminum frame was rated at 82000 psi. So it is very sturdy. The Stoeger steel frame ones are even sturdier and feel just like a regular P08 in weight and heft. It is a pleasure to shoot both Stoeger frame types.

The Stoeger company of today, is not the same Stoeger company which produced these .22 caliber Lugers although they still own the copyright to the name "Luger" on a product. Unfortunately, records of the old Stoeger company were lost or not kept, as to the exact production date of each individual Stoeger Luger. So all we can know is the aluminum frame Stoeger Lugers were made from 1969 to 1979 and the Stoeger all steel frame ones were made from 1980 to 1985.

Hope you enjoy the video. Also FYI, that is NOT a Nazi uniform. It is a West German army (Nato ally) shirt and cap from the 1960's/'70's. I added the Jodphurs (riding pants), suspenders and riding boots so it would look more "old timey"....Nicht Wahr? Lol.

Here's my video links.

http://vimeo.com/118525608

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxYxbi5CobM



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Seadog

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That is one nice long lengthy Write up. I've been looking to get my hands on one of those for quite a while. Every once in a while one pops up and I procrastinate too long. They are a neat little 22 pistol
 

Seadog

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That is a good looking gun. I can't tell for sure but it looks a lot like the stoger Luger to me. Not much info out there in it
 

Raoul Duke

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Seadog

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Any info on what they are made of? I like the way it looks and think my collection would need one of these if they are a quality weapon
 

Bill Akins

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It appears that the P(parabellum)22-4/P22-6 are available for FFL's to order here:

https://dealers.interstatearms.com/storefrontCommerce/categorybrowse.do?category_name=Nite+Scout&path=¤tPage=1&numResults=20





I called IAC(distributor) and they said their FFL Dealer price on these is $319, so i'd expect to see the street price for these to be in the $350-$375 range.

Thanks for sharing that Raoul, I wasn't aware of someone else resurrecting the Stoeger Luger .22 design. I'm happily amazed to see that. Having taken my three Stoeger .22 Lugers apart many times, it appears to me that Nitescout P226 is an exact copy of the old Stoeger .22 Luger. The Nitescout mag is an exact copy of the Stoeger Luger .22 mag too. It also appears to be a steel frame rather than aluminum, and with it being available with a 6 inch barrel, that's 1/2 inch longer than the longest available barrel (5.5") that the Stoeger .22 Luger had. The Nitescout appears to be an exact copy of the .22 Stoeger Luger steel frame, with the exception that it says "Parabellum" on the side instead of "Luger". Nice to see these being produced again, even though by another manufacturer. Hence the reason it says "Parabellum" on the side instead of the copyrighted name of "Luger" that Stoeger still owns.



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Bill Akins

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I went to the NiteScout website and they don't even list their P226 Parabellum, (which is an almost exact copy of the old Stoeger .22 Luger). So I joined their facebook page by "liking" it and saw it posted there.....https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nitescout/582894048405787?fref=photo

I posted at their facebook page telling them that it isn't listed at their main website. On facebook they said it was available from AmChar wholesale, but it isn't listed at AmChar either nor at any of their other dealers they list at their main website. Just for everyone here's info, I did notice one difference between their P226 and the old Stoeger .22 Luger. Look carefully at the pics below. See the two projections at the breech of the P226's barrel? Then look at the pic of the old Stoeger .22 Luger that doesn't have those two projections. I theorize they most likely are an extra cartridge guide to aid the cartridge in chambering, but am not 100% sure. If so, that might be a good thing since the Stoeger .22 Lugers are picky about ammo and an extra cartridge guide to better facilitate chambering would be a welcome addition. Except for the markings on the side of the pistol, that's the only difference I can see between the NiteScout P226 and the old Stoeger .22 Lugers. Otherwise, it appears to be an exact copy.

Below, NiteScout P226 .22LR Parabellum breech. See those two projections on the breech just forward of the mag follower?

11053833_10153178519470070_2701612226576204582_n.jpg


Below see the breech of the old Stoeger .22 Luger that doesn't have those two projections.

21248_10153194943265070_1515609742125959815_n.jpg





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