03 July 2005, 11:38
9.3 riflemanQuestions about Luger rifles from Kettner
I was looking at rifles in the Kettner online catalog and noticed some rifles under the Luger brand. They appear to have Mauser 98 type actions and are very reasonably priced. Is this a new rifle company or are these rifles being produced for Kettner by someone else? What is the quality of these rifles? I would appreciate any information about these rifles. Thanks.
03 July 2005, 13:19
Andre Mertens"Luger" is a private label of Kettner. The rifles are probably produced by Zastava. Quality is of entry level with action dropped in stock with no fitting whatsoever..
03 July 2005, 18:40
Pete EAndre,
How would they compare to the CZ550?
Regards,
Pete
03 July 2005, 20:28
Andre MertensThe CZ are a few notches above the "Lugers" I have handled, Pete.
06 July 2005, 22:54
carcano91The Zastava rifles are cheap and serviceable, but that's about all that can be said about them in a positive sense. Rather buy a used decent rifle than a new Zastava, you'll get much more value for money.
Carcano
08 July 2005, 01:36
brainshotTo my knowledge Luger rifles are not made by Zastava but in Hungary. I own one in 22-250 and one in .223rem and both group about an inch at 100 meters. Both needed a trigger job. I use them for hunting roe deer and foxes and was never disappointed. They are cheap and when the barrel wears out with hot loads, you just buy another one. When hunting in winter or in rainy wheather I prefer them to my other expensive rifles, I just care less when they get wet or dirty.
08 July 2005, 17:47
carcano91quote:
Originally posted by brainshot:
To my knowledge Luger rifles are not made by Zastava but in Hungary. I own one in 22-250 and one in .223rem and both group about an inch at 100 meters.
If you refer to the small ("Mini-Mauser") systems, yes they are both made by Zastava (and called LK M85, I believe).
There indeeed exist a few Hungarian rifles, but not of this model. One of the Magyars is a refurbished gun based on a MN system.
Carcano
16 July 2005, 10:08
9.3 riflemanIt looks as if these rifles are the same Mark X and Mini Mauser rifles imported into the U.S. by Charles Daly. Thanks for clearing this up for me.

Other than the remarks about the handling and inuendoe, I actually owe one, so can offer some reasonable comment, a Left-Handed Luger originally in .30/06 Sprg.
The actions are rough but if you know your way around a Mauser Action and want to invest the time, fine but a left-Handed Mauser action for that price is a Lefties Dream.....back then it was DM 1100,- so about $550.00, I've never owned a true Mauser L/H action for that price!
The Kettner salesman stated they originate from the "former Yugoslavia" ask me - I really don't care where theý originate....
Net, if you are good at hobby home working buy one, spend two days with a Dremel tool and you'll end up with a pretty neat, slick action and you'll have to decide if the barrel is a keeper or not.
Immediately, as André said, either practice pitching the stock as you would a boomerang and pray it doesn't come back or use it for a piece of firewood but don't breathe the fumes beacuse it is probably impregnated with dioxines of some sort. Basically the stock is a waste of a servicable piece of walnut!
The original .30/06 Sprg barrel shot very well but I've enough .30/06's to sink a battleship so it is now a 9.3x62 Mauser in a Brownells's Steel Bed right-to-left handed coverted Bell & Carlson stock.
For a right-hander a neat piece of gear if you want to invest the time into making it what it should be in the first place but for a lefty a dream come true!