When people hear the word Luger, they likely picture a Nazi officer complete with a death head cap, a black trench coat, and a snarling look to him. That ignores the reality that the Germans used the Walther P38 during World War II, and the Luger supplemented it in relatively small numbers. Regardless, you likely don’t picture an American-produced ‘Luger’ chambered in .22LR. The Stoeger Luger is precisely that.
Stoeger
Nowadays, most people associate the name Stoeger with budget shotguns. Stoeger is a brand now owned by Beretta that imports Turkish shotguns. They import a few handguns, but they’re mostly known for shotguns. Stoeger started life in 1924 in the Garden State. Like the Stoeger of today, they mostly imported guns, specifically from Europe.
This includes early variants of the Stoeger Luger. Eventually, Stoeger began manufacturing the Stoeger Luger in the United States. My specific model is marked Made in the USA. Stoeger produced these guns from 1969 til 1985. The original guns used forged aluminum and machined frames; later, the firearms used steel. This is an older model with an aluminum frame.
These types of guns were marketed towards hobbyists and recreational shooters. The idea of taking a reasonably famous weapon and converting it to a .22LR remains popular even now. We’ve seen them do it with STG 44s, MP5s, ARs, AKs, and more. The guns sold for about $70 in the 1970s. They came with either a 4.5 or a 5.5-inch barrel and weighed 30 ounces! The weapon holds ten rounds in its relatively long magazine. It is simple but unique as far as rimfire pistols go.
The Stoeger Luger – To Togglelock Or Not
The Stoeger Luger is a direct blowback semi-auto. There is no way to build a locked breech .22LR. The gun still features a toggle-esque slide, but it’s only for looks and doesn’t lock the breech.
Like a Luger, it moves upward and delivers a novel appearance. Instead of acting like a toggle lock, it is a slide that extracts and ejects the spent casing and picks up the next round in the magazine. I give Stoeger full credit for making this a feature. It is novel and a lot of fun for a simple blowback pistol.
The gun features what appears to be realistic Luger controls and ergonomics. The knobs on the toggle lock slide are used to cock the weapon and provide enough grip to make it easy to manipulate. Stoeger placed the front and rear sights accurately.
The safety has a longer throw than a standard Luger, but it’s still placed on the left side of the gun for easy manipulation with the left thumb. The magazine catch is the same, and the magazine has two pinch-point knobs which makes it easy to remove.
The Stoeger Luger even features the same grip angle as a real Luger. The grip wears a set of checkered walnut grips. Stoeger Luger pistols would later use smooth wood grips. The hefty 30 ounces also accurately match a real Luger’s 31 ounces.
The Stoeger Luger – Shooting A Classic
Why isn’t the Stoeger Luger well-known today? Why isn’t it a favorite plinker? Well, because it sucks. Historically, the gun has had tons of reliability issues, so many that it was always known as an unreliable gun. According to the manual, it can reliably shoot both standard and high-velocity rounds. That’s a lie because it doesn’t fire either type of ammo reliably.
Reliability
I used Winchester Whitebox and Aguila Super Extra, but neither worked well. The Super Extra functioned a little better in terms of reliability. I had lots of failures to load. When the gun fired, it usually ejected the empty case. Upon closer inspection, it seems like the feed lips are slightly deformed, which might be the main issue, but I doubt it.
Sometimes, it would fire five to ten rounds without a failure; other times, it would choke every other round. When it fired, it was a ton of fun. A 30-ounce .22LR isn’t going to move from recoil. The little gun just burps and wiggles a bit. The Stoeger Luger can be a ton of fun when it works.
It’s also reasonably accurate and capable of creating nice, tight little groups at 15 yards and hitting a B8 consistently at 25 yards. The front sight can be a little tricky to see. The rear of the gun is busy with a lot of different little knobs, so finding the sights isn’t always quick. A little white fingernail polish would likely make it much easier to see, but I won’t do that to my old Stoeger.
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The Experience
I’ve only had one chance to shoot a real Luger, and it was years and years ago when I was a wee lad. I can’t say accurately how close the Stoeger Luger is to a real Luger, but it looks and feels fantastic. The reliability certainly leaves a lot to be desired. Stoeger did a great job capturing the vibe of a Luger but didn’t capture the most critical aspect of its performance: reliability.
According to Firearm Blog writer Sam S., there is speculation that the chambers are spec’ed to European .22LR and too tight for American .22LR. I didn’t know there was a difference. Legend has it that having the chamber polished can help with reliability.
I may also be having some magazine issues. The feed lips look banged up like they’ve been shot to death and back. I’ve ordered a new magazine, and that may help. The toggle lock slide might be part of the issue. The force required to make it move may be too much for the humble .22LR.
The only good news about reliability comes down to the gun’s price. Even though it’s an old gun with a novel design and look, it’s still cheap. I paid a mere $200 for the little Stoeger Luger. The reputation of these guns has kept the price low, and it’s understandable.
I’m still happy with my purchase. I’m more prone to look at it than shoot it, and it does the job well for looking purposes.
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