Luger Magazine numbering

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by mrerick

The everyday soldiers were unlikely to care much if the magazines worked properly.

I think just the opposite - The user cared very much if the pistol worked properly. I do.

Much of the swapping had to take place at unit level cleaning parties where things just got mixed up if keeping track of them didn't matter...

My guess would be in the storage facility. The magazine was likely not stored in the pistol but nearby. Then would be issued with the pistol for duty. But as long as you got a magazine/two magazines with the issue, no one would much care. But the number would be in a record (even if it was different from the pistol number) so that if the count was off (and the Germans loved to count things) then the individual that was last issued the missing magazine could be...questioned...

I've carried an M1911 and an M9. Neither had numbered magazines. We just kept count of how many you had. They were also considered 'expendable' items IIRC.