Erma Werke Germany

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  • Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    I was going through my pistols and pulled out my Erma Werke 22LR Pistol.

    I was curious if anyone else had anything from Erma Werke as well.

    I had purchased this in 2016 without much research other than I had heard about some low end 22 Pistols from various post war production in Germany.
    This was for sale at a GS I frequented on the eastern shore and at a low price. I took the chance on it and found that it was finicky on the type of ammo I had. I forgot to take notes but I do recall bringing 4 types of ammo and it only liked one of them. Seemed like some smoothing of the action would help with the stove pipes I was getting. I never did the work on it and just cleaned and oiled it an put it away. Initially, I did research that these were built and imported from 64-67 so in 2016 I knew it was either C&R or about to turn so it would be easier to sell if I did not want to keep it. Did some digging and turns out the date of MFG is part of the proof stamps in it. This one is 1965 so its older than I am.

    These are cheap pot metal made and are no Colt Woodsman or even a Hi Standard.
    A guy had started doing some research on Erma on Gunboards
    http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?152438-Erma-information-wanted

    Here are some other links to read on them
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erma_Werke

    https://mattwong92.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/review-erma-la-22-luger/
     

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    K-43

    West of Morning Side
    Oct 20, 2010
    1,881
    PG
    I have one too!
    They are generally hated or disliked because they are finicky. The only thing mine would extract reliably is CCI MiniMag.
    Mine had been in a tackle box for some years before I bought it for $65, Beat up, little finish, banged to heck. I stripped it down, GunKoted it, smoothed it up, and use synthetic oil. It still is finicky with anything but MiniMag. Better, but not super reliable with generic 38-40 grain 22LR.
    One ironic thing is that Erma, who made Lugers for decades, couldn't call these Lugers. Stoeger owned the rights to the name at the time and he had an import 22 that sort of looked like a Luger. It was ugly and less "Lugerish" than the more authentic Erma pistols.
    Erma's centerfire Lugers are genuine and reliable steel Lugers.
    Stoeger even sued Interarms over the name. Hence, Interarms labeled their Mauser made Luger imports Parabellum.
     

    Jimbob2.0

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 20, 2008
    16,600
    Ive almost bought a few of those........

    I think there was a US branded version but I cant remember who labeled them.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,734
    Socialist State of Maryland
    I had both the Erma version of both the Luger and the PPk. It took a lot of polishing and spring adjustments to make them work as they should. You had to use full power ammo for the most part or they would hang up. Like most fixed barrel pistols, they were pretty accurate though.
     

    Mark75H

    MD Wear&Carry Instructor
    Industry Partner
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 25, 2011
    17,174
    Outside the Gates
    Ive almost bought a few of those........

    I think there was a US branded version but I cant remember who labeled them.

    Not Stoeger, Beeman. Same guys who import a lot of airguns.

    I have a KGP68, the .380 version. A little more steel than the all pot metal .22. Less finicky than the .22 and the softest shooting .380 I've ever had in my hand; probably because the toggle makes it a semi-delayed blowback instead of a real blowback. What makes it a good .380 is probably what makes it a not so good .22.

    And oh yeah - the combination firing pin and ejector makes for funky ejection. Cases go exactly straight up out of the breach. If you hold it straight, the cases actually come back down on the gun or your hand. A very slight tilt either way sends them to one side or the other.
     

    j8064

    Garrett Co Hooligan #1
    Feb 23, 2008
    11,635
    Deep Creek
    Interesting pistol Melnic. Not something you see every day.Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

    The Erma Luger is different than the Stoeger Luger. I'm pretty sure JAGGUY had an Erma a few years ago - but I think he sold it. I got a Stoeger Luger pretty cheap on a GB auction about the same time he bought his Erma.

    My Stoeger comes out to play at Hooligan shoots once in a while. It's simply a novelty and pretty accurate with CCI Minimags. Beyond that - it's a safe queen.

    ;)
     

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    Mark75H

    MD Wear&Carry Instructor
    Industry Partner
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 25, 2011
    17,174
    Outside the Gates
    Not Stoeger, Beeman. Same guys who import a lot of airguns.

    I have a KGP68, the .380 version. A little more steel than the all pot metal .22. Less finicky than the .22 and the softest shooting .380 I've ever had in my hand; probably because the toggle makes it a semi-delayed blowback instead of a real blowback. What makes it a good .380 is probably what makes it a not so good .22.

    And oh yeah - the combination firing pin and ejector makes for funky ejection. Cases go exactly straight up out of the breach. If you hold it straight, the cases actually come back down on the gun or your hand. A very slight tilt either way sends them to one side or the other.


    A Beeman marked Erma on GB right now.

    https://www.gunbroker.com/Item/740787290
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    So, I found notes on my Erma LA22.

    I had ejection issues on various ammo but found Remington Target worked the best. I also noticed in the manual I posted the magazine is supposed to be 8 rounds. I had previously been loading it to 10 rounds "cause it fit". I took it apart this weekend I also found that the chamber design has the lands contacting the bullet about 1mm or so depending on the 22 ammo I used. Remington designs the 22 so that the bullet is further from the lands and CCI is about the closest. Just grabbing various ammo types, I can see that bulk ammo does not slide into the chamber easily. I think the wax that builds up when bouncing the ammo around thickens up the case and makes a tighter fit. I think its so tight on this gun that is part of what feed issues one might experience. Remington Target, Ely and Geco ammo slid right in there the best.
    According to my notes, I had my High Standard out the same day and noted that the High standard too all the ammo I fed it except Winchester X and bulk 333.

    I am thinking If I so desired I could smoothen some of the tool marks on the bolt and maybe tune the magazine to release or hold on to the bullet sooner or longer to make it feed better. Comparing my modern 22 mags, I'd say the erma LA22 mag design leaves much to be desired. I can see why it would frustrate people.
     

    K-43

    West of Morning Side
    Oct 20, 2010
    1,881
    PG
    I replaced my magazine spring with one for a S&W 22A pistol magazine. It fixed the failure to strip the next round from the magazine. Didn't help with the extraction of course, but it did make it reliable with CCI MiniMag.
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    Who would have thought that thunderbolts would be liked by this pistol?

    4732845480311ed88537e036ef42d428.jpg



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

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