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

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Bill Akins

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The two pics in my previous post aren't showing up for some reason (at least to me, links seem to be broken), so I'm posting them again.

I did notice one difference between the Nitescout P226 and the old Stoeger .22 Luger. Look carefully at the two 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.

(Later edit for info).....I contacted Nitescout and did ascertain that my thoughts were correct. That projection at the breech area is a cartridge guide that further helps funnel the cartridge into the breech. The old Stoeger .22 Lugers did not have that and it is an innovation by Nitescout to the old Stoeger .22 Luger design. No doubt it will aid feeding better.


Below, NiteScout P226 .22LR Parabellum breech. See those two cartridge guide projections on the breech just forward of the mag follower? That is a Nitescout innovation to the old Stoeger design.

i425.photobucket.com_albums_pp331_Bill_Akins_Stoeger_2022LR_2096629164df56a63573c57db873882522.jpg



Below, see the breech of the old Stoeger .22 Luger that doesn't have those two cartridge guide projections. Except for that and the difference in barrel lengths, the Nitescout and Stoeger are identical. Kudos to Nitescout for resurrecting the old .22 Stoeger Luger design and then adding their innovative cartridge guide to further aid feeding. That should cut down drastically on the jams that some of the Stoeger's had without having to polish the feed ramp and micro chamfer the edge of the breech face as I had to do on my Stoeger's to eliminate jamming (and even now they feed fine with round nose but STILL sometimes jam (but infrequently) using hollow points). That Nitescout cartridge guide should eliminate that problem entirely since the guide won't allow the nose of the bullet to come into contact with the edge of the breech where it could catch on the lead tip and jam like on the old Stoegers. Nice innovation.

i425.photobucket.com_albums_pp331_Bill_Akins_Stoeger_2022LR_20c93e40ce0daca7f4f7acb2c37cd2eff0.jpg




Here's my two aluminum frame Stoegers (5.5" barrels) and my one steel frame Stoeger (4.5" barrel) 22LR Lugers. (Same West German alpine cap I was wearing in video).

i425.photobucket.com_albums_pp331_Bill_Akins_Stoeger_2022LR_20caliber_20Lugers_20150309_032849.jpg


There are several ways to tell if your Stoeger .22 Luger is a steel frame or an aluminum frame. 1. Test the frame with a magnet. If it sticks it's a steel frame. 2. The aluminum frame ones had the safety marked in raised letters as "F" and "S". The steel frame ones (generally) had no raised letters and instead used a green depressed dot for safe and a red depressed dot for fire.

Below, see the difference in safety markings. Aluminum frame on bottom with raised "F" and "S" and steel frame on top with just a depressed red and green dots.

i425.photobucket.com_albums_pp331_Bill_Akins_Stoeger_2022LR_20caliber_20Lugers_20150309_032706.jpg


However; I have found that is not always the case. Sometimes there were no safety markings of any kind as in this below steel frame Stoeger Luger. So if you are looking at one that has no safety markings, test it with a magnet to see if it is a steel frame or aluminum frame (but you can usually tell by the grain and look of the metal if it's aluminum or steel).

Below, .22LR Stoeger Luger in steel frame but no safety markings nor dots of any kind. Seems some came from the factory that way.

i425.photobucket.com_albums_pp331_Bill_Akins_Stoeger_2022LR_20caliber_20Lugers_DSC04328.jpg





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Bill Akins

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I received the below PM from a member here who is having a problem with extracting his mag from his Stoeger .22 Luger and asked me what might cause that. For privacy reasons I omitted his name and phone number. I am including my reply to him here so that if anyone else has this problem they will know what to do.

"Hi Mr. Akins,
I enjoyed your video and your knowledgeable post convinced me that you would likely know if the clip binding up inside my Luger 22 is common occurrence or an isolated problem? I can see the clip has been worked on by someone who failed to address the problem as it must be pried out with a screw driver.
If you have the time I would appreciate any insight you have to the cause and resolution and if need be any info regarding where I might buy a new clip at a reasonable (cheap) price. If so I have included my personal information below. Thanks for your time."


My reply.....


I've myself had a similar problem with extracting the mag from one of my Stoeger .22 Lugers. In disassembling and looking for what caused the problem, I noticed that the little tab on the mag that you depresses to move the follower down to load cartridges in, can in some instance become floppy and loose. It is that same tab that also exerts pressure against a part that causes the toggle to hold open on firing the last cartridge. I found that because the tab was floppy and loose, that it would not exert adequate pressure against the part that raises to hold the toggle open after the last shot fired. I also found out that same tab when floppy and loose would bind and cause the mag to not want to release. What happens is the tab fits into a recess of the plastic follower and eventually that plastic recess gets worn and allows the tab to become loose and floppy even though it still stays in the mag and doesn't fall out. Sometimes the plastic follower section that holds the tab will get so worn out that the tab will completely fall out and get lost. I received a mag like that with the tab missing on one Stoeger .22 Luger I bought on Gunbroker and when I contacted the dealer/seller, they gave me a $39.00 allowance to buy a new mag off E bay. In one instance, I made a new tab on my lathe, installed it in my mag, and that fixed both problems so that my mag easily released and the toggle held open after the last shot fired. I have also bought several replacement mags online on E Bay for $39.00 and had no problems with them. Replacements generally have a green plastic follower and original mags have a white plastic follower. It's likely that tab (or more correctly, the plastic follower that captures it) that you push down on the side of your mag to load is your problem. You can try this to make sure it is the problem (which it probably is). This is best accomplished by using a rod or long thin screwdriver thin enough to fit into the top of the unloaded mag and push the follower down. Once you have pushed the follower down the tab should align with a larger cut hole in the steel mag body. Now holding downward pressure with the rod/screwdriver, align that tab with the larger cut hole in the steel mag body and lift the tab out. (You reassemble it the same way). Now that the loading tab is removed, the only thing holding your plastic follower from coming out the top of the mag is the feed lips. Sometimes if those feed lips have become spread, the plastic follower can be pushed out by the spring and come completely out the top. Once the tab is removed, carefull load the mag into your pistol and then try to extract the mag. It probably will come right out now. If that's the case, the problem is the plastic follower that your tab fits into has become routed out making the tab loose and floppy and causing it to bind and not allow the mag to come out. Since it is almost impossible to find a brand new, non used mag follower for this pistol, and since most of the used mag followers will ALREADY be worn somewhat, I simply made a new steel loading tab that had a larger circumference so that it fit tighter in the round hole in the mag follower, and that stopped my newly made tab from flopping around, binding and also not holding the the toggle open on the last shot. My homemade tab fixed all that. The only other way is to get a new plastic mag follower, which as I said, will be almost impossible to locate a brand new non worn one. The only other fix is to buy a new mag on ebay or gunbroker. I've done both. I hope this helps you. Please respond and let me know if your mag will come out once you remove that loading tab off the mag.

Bill Akins


(I just added this below portion today. It was not in my PM reply to that member, but I hope he sees it here.)
Take a look at the below pic of two of my Stoeger Luger mags before I made my own loading tab to replace the one that is missing on the top mag that was missing the loading tab as well as the spring when I bought it.

i425.photobucket.com_albums_pp331_Bill_Akins_Stoeger_2022LR_20caliber_20Lugers_pix872090329.jpg


The mag with the white plastic follower (that is missing the loading tab that you push down to aid you loading the mag as well as is missing the spring) is the factory mag that came with the gun when I bought it used. The one with the green plastic follower is complete replacement mag. See the large hole cutout in the bottom of the slot on the side of the mag? You take a long skinny screwdriver or skinny rod or something that will fit into the top of the mag and press down on the plastic follower until that metal loading tab on the side aligns with that hole cutout and while holding pressure against the spring with your screwdriver or rod, you lift the metal loading tab out. Then you can see the hole in the plastic follower that the metal tab fits into. The metal tab has a larger portion that fits into the hole in the sheet metal and also that fits into the plastic follower. There is a flat on the follower and the metal tab so that the tab won't rotate in the hole of the plastic follower. There is a circular ridge cut into the metal tab that keep it captured by the long slot in the mag and won't allow it to fall out unless it is pressed down to where it aligns with the large hole and is lifted out while you are holding pressure against the follower and spring. Otherwise it shouldn't fall out ordinarily. Now....what causes the metal tab to get loose and floppy is the metal tab eventually wears on the hole in the plastic follower and that causes the metal tab to get a bit loose and floppy in the hole in the plastic follower. When that happens, it can cause two problems.

1. The metal tab will no longer exert enough pressure upward on the piece that causes the toggle to lock open after the last cartridge is fired.

2. When the metal tab get floppy, it will cause the mag to bind and not come out unless you forcefully push it out from the top by pushing a slender rod or screwdriver down into the top of the mag, forcing the follower down as far as it will go and then continue pressing until the mag comes out.

The problem actually isn't the metal loading tab itself, the problem is the hole in the plastic follower where the metal tab is captured by the follower, has become worn and isn't tight against the metal tab anymore. I hope I've explained this clearly so people can understand what I mean.

Three ways to fix this.

1. Get a new plastic follower. But it is almost impossible to find a new unused plastic follower for the old Stoeger .22 pistol and anyone who tells you it is "unused" is probably not being honest and the hole on it will probably be just as worn as the hole in your plastic follower is. The pistol and its FACTORY mag been out of production for decades and there is no real source for brand new followers ONLY....(although complete green follower replacement mags are available).

2. Get a new replacement magazine. Which is the best bet for most people that don't have a lathe. New replacement mags are available on Gunbroker, Ebay and I think Brownells has them too.

3. Like I have done, on your lathe, make your own replacement metal loading tab and make sure you make its larger round portion that goes into the plastic follower tight, so that it fits very tightly into the worn hole in the plastic follower so it doesn't flop around. You can't really do anything about the hole in the plastic follower being worn larger, so you just lathe your homemade metal loading tab's larger diameter larger, to fit more tightly into the worn hole of the follower. That worked fine for me and stopped my mag extraction problem as well as stopped my problem with the toggle not holding open after the last shot. Hope this helps someone with the same problems.

If you're missing the mag spring, I have heard of people taking a spring out of the mag for a S&W 22A magazine and putting it in the Stoeger .22 Luger mag, but have not personally tried that myself. As with the replacement mags, sometimes the old Stoeger .22 Luger mag springs are also available on gunbroker and ebay. The Ruger MK2 mag springs MAY work too but I haven't tried that either.
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James Alfred Erlandson

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I received the below PM from a member here who is having a problem with extracting his mag from his Stoeger .22 Luger and asked me what might cause that. For privacy reasons I omitted his name and phone number. I am including my reply to him here so that if anyone else has this problem they will know what to do.

"Hi Mr. Akins,
I enjoyed your video and your knowledgeable post convinced me that you would likely know if the clip binding up inside my Luger 22 is common occurrence or an isolated problem? I can see the clip has been worked on by someone who failed to address the problem as it must be pried out with a screw driver.
If you have the time I would appreciate any insight you have to the cause and resolution and if need be any info regarding where I might buy a new clip at a reasonable (cheap) price. If so I have included my personal information below. Thanks for your time."


My reply.....


I've myself had a similar problem with extracting the mag from one of my Stoeger .22 Lugers. In disassembling and looking for what caused the problem, I noticed that the little tab on the mag that you depresses to move the follower down to load cartridges in, can in some instance become floppy and loose. It is that same tab that also exerts pressure against a part that causes the toggle to hold open on firing the last cartridge. I found that because the tab was floppy and loose, that it would not exert adequate pressure against the part that raises to hold the toggle open after the last shot fired. I also found out that same tab when floppy and loose would bind and cause the mag to not want to release. What happens is the tab fits into a recess of the plastic follower and eventually that plastic recess gets worn and allows the tab to become loose and floppy even though it still stays in the mag and doesn't fall out. Sometimes the plastic follower section that holds the tab will get so worn out that the tab will completely fall out and get lost. I received a mag like that with the tab missing on one Stoeger .22 Luger I bought on Gunbroker and when I contacted the dealer/seller, they gave me a $39.00 allowance to buy a new mag off E bay. In one instance, I made a new tab on my lathe, installed it in my mag, and that fixed both problems so that my mag easily released and the toggle held open after the last shot fired. I have also bought several replacement mags online on E Bay for $39.00 and had no problems with them. Replacements generally have a green plastic follower and original mags have a white plastic follower. It's likely that tab (or more correctly, the plastic follower that captures it) that you push down on the side of your mag to load is your problem. You can try this to make sure it is the problem (which it probably is). This is best accomplished by using a rod or long thin screwdriver thin enough to fit into the top of the unloaded mag and push the follower down. Once you have pushed the follower down the tab should align with a larger cut hole in the steel mag body. Now holding downward pressure with the rod/screwdriver, align that tab with the larger cut hole in the steel mag body and lift the tab out. (You reassemble it the same way). Now that the loading tab is removed, the only thing holding your plastic follower from coming out the top of the mag is the feed lips. Sometimes if those feed lips have become spread, the plastic follower can be pushed out by the spring and come completely out the top. Once the tab is removed, carefull load the mag into your pistol and then try to extract the mag. It probably will come right out now. If that's the case, the problem is the plastic follower that your tab fits into has become routed out making the tab loose and floppy and causing it to bind and not allow the mag to come out. Since it is almost impossible to find a brand new, non used mag follower for this pistol, and since most of the used mag followers will ALREADY be worn somewhat, I simply made a new steel loading tab that had a larger circumference so that it fit tighter in the round hole in the mag follower, and that stopped my newly made tab from flopping around, binding and also not holding the the toggle open on the last shot. My homemade tab fixed all that. The only other way is to get a new plastic mag follower, which as I said, will be almost impossible to locate a brand new non worn one. The only other fix is to buy a new mag on ebay or gunbroker. I've done both. I hope this helps you. Please respond and let me know if your mag will come out once you remove that loading tab off the mag.

Bill Akins


(I just added this below portion today. It was not in my PM reply to that member, but I hope he sees it here.)
Take a look at the below pic of two of my Stoeger Luger mags before I made my own loading tab to replace the one that is missing on the top mag that was missing the loading tab as well as the spring when I bought it.

i425.photobucket.com_albums_pp331_Bill_Akins_Stoeger_2022LR_20caliber_20Lugers_pix872090329.jpg


The mag with the white plastic follower (that is missing the loading tab that you push down to aid you loading the mag as well as is missing the spring) is the factory mag that came with the gun when I bought it used. The one with the green plastic follower is complete replacement mag. See the large hole cutout in the bottom of the slot on the side of the mag? You take a long skinny screwdriver or skinny rod or something that will fit into the top of the mag and press down on the plastic follower until that metal loading tab on the side aligns with that hole cutout and while holding pressure against the spring with your screwdriver or rod, you lift the metal loading tab out. Then you can see the hole in the plastic follower that the metal tab fits into. The metal tab has a larger portion that fits into the hole in the sheet metal and also that fits into the plastic follower. There is a flat on the follower and the metal tab so that the tab won't rotate in the hole of the plastic follower. There is a circular ridge cut into the metal tab that keep it captured by the long slot in the mag and won't allow it to fall out unless it is pressed down to where it aligns with the large hole and is lifted out while you are holding pressure against the follower and spring. Otherwise it shouldn't fall out ordinarily. Now....what causes the metal tab to get loose and floppy is the metal tab eventually wears on the hole in the plastic follower and that causes the metal tab to get a bit loose and floppy in the hole in the plastic follower. When that happens, it can cause two problems.

1. The metal tab will no longer exert enough pressure upward on the piece that causes the toggle to lock open after the last cartridge is fired.

2. When the metal tab get floppy, it will cause the mag to bind and not come out unless you forcefully push it out from the top by pushing a slender rod or screwdriver down into the top of the mag, forcing the follower down as far as it will go and then continue pressing until the mag comes out.

The problem actually isn't the metal loading tab itself, the problem is the hole in the plastic follower where the metal tab is captured by the follower, has become worn and isn't tight against the metal tab anymore. I hope I've explained this clearly so people can understand what I mean.

Three ways to fix this.

1. Get a new plastic follower. But it is almost impossible to find a new unused plastic follower for the old Stoeger .22 pistol and anyone who tells you it is "unused" is probably not being honest and the hole on it will probably be just as worn as the hole in your plastic follower is. The pistol and its FACTORY mag been out of production for decades and there is no real source for brand new followers ONLY....(although complete green follower replacement mags are available).

2. Get a new replacement magazine. Which is the best bet for most people that don't have a lathe. New replacement mags are available on Gunbroker, Ebay and I think Brownells has them too.

3. Like I have done, on your lathe, make your own replacement metal loading tab and make sure you make its larger round portion that goes into the plastic follower tight, so that it fits very tightly into the worn hole in the plastic follower so it doesn't flop around. You can't really do anything about the hole in the plastic follower being worn larger, so you just lathe your homemade metal loading tab's larger diameter larger, to fit more tightly into the worn hole of the follower. That worked fine for me and stopped my mag extraction problem as well as stopped my problem with the toggle not holding open after the last shot. Hope this helps someone with the same problems.

If you're missing the mag spring, I have heard of people taking a spring out of the mag for a S&W 22A magazine and putting it in the Stoeger .22 Luger mag, but have not personally tried that myself. As with the replacement mags, sometimes the old Stoeger .22 Luger mag springs are also available on gunbroker and ebay. The Ruger MK2 mag springs MAY work too but I haven't tried that either.
.
 

James Alfred Erlandson

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Bill: Have had Stoeger Luger for 30 years and have never been able to stop it from jamming. You have a lot of great infor here. Is it possible to modify the Stoeger so it has the 2 projections on breech like the Nite Scout P226 has?
 

Bill Akins

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Bill: Have had Stoeger Luger for 30 years and have never been able to stop it from jamming. You have a lot of great infor here. Is it possible to modify the Stoeger so it has the 2 projections on breech like the Nite Scout P226 has?

James, I do not own a Nite Scout P226, so I could not say for sure. I haven't even had one in my hand to inspect close up. Sorry I can't help you with that. But I might be able to help with your Stoeger Luger jamming. But first you'll have to tell me HOW it jams. Does the tip of the bullet jam against the edge of the breech? Or does it jam some other way?
 

michael williams

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Hi, my name is Mike Williams and I have a Stoeger Luger that I bought new in 1970. It has had minimal use but now it is jamming on loading. The bullet nose is catching on the lower rim of the breech. Not sure if this a problem with the original magazine or what.
Would appreciate any help ideas!
 

mightymouse

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Hi, my name is Mike Williams and I have a Stoeger Luger that I bought new in 1970. It has had minimal use but now it is jamming on loading. The bullet nose is catching on the lower rim of the breech. Not sure if this a problem with the original magazine or what.
Would appreciate any help ideas!
Mike, if you will quote one of Bill's postings (like post#15, just above your post), he will be alerted next time he logs on. Otherwise it may take him some time to see your post.
 

Wyn Bryant

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Does anyone know anything about where and by whom the Nite Scout Parabellum .22 was manufactured? I've only ever seen one (which I bought at a local gunshow several years ago), but never found them on the Nite Scout site or seen any for sale on any of the auction sites. It would be interesting to know how many were manufactured/imported. Apparently, they're either very very rare or thousands of people are holding on to the one they bought!
Incidentally, there are more differences than the additional cartridge guides between the Stoegers and the Parabellums. For one thing, both sides of the frame are milled in a way that is much more like the original P-08s and the screw (on the Stoeger .22) that holds the trigger in place is missing.
I decided that the pistol would look even better with grip panels that looked more like the real thing, so I had small pieces welded to the bottom of the frame and then made and checkered grip panels that looked more authentic.
Latest Luger project 001.JPG
Latest Luger project 003.JPG
 

Seadog

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Does anyone know anything about where and by whom the Nite Scout Parabellum .22 was manufactured? I've only ever seen one (which I bought at a local gunshow several years ago), but never found them on the Nite Scout site or seen any for sale on any of the auction sites. It would be interesting to know how many were manufactured/imported. Apparently, they're either very very rare or thousands of people are holding on to the one they bought!
Incidentally, there are more differences than the additional cartridge guides between the Stoegers and the Parabellums. For one thing, both sides of the frame are milled in a way that is much more like the original P-08s and the screw (on the Stoeger .22) that holds the trigger in place is missing.
I decided that the pistol would look even better with grip panels that looked more like the real thing, so I had small pieces welded to the bottom of the frame and then made and checkered grip panels that looked more authentic.View attachment 137422 View attachment 137423
Those night Scouts came out about three maybe four years ago. They look pretty freaking cool and I wanted to buy one but I think the business that was either making them or importing them went out and closed almost overnight. They also made a funny looking MP 5-ish looking pistol but it used straight Uzi looking mags and was stubby. Not sure what happened to them but I was a little too slow to pick one up. They are just cool looking and especially that was a 22 and the price and the mid 300s price looked very tempting to me. Sorry but other than that I can’t really contribute much
 

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