I.D. mag# 7292
 

I got this mag with my 1917 Artillery Luger.
The mag housing appears to be nickle ( turning slightly greenish-brown) with a wood bottom.
The # is 7292 with the last #2 underlined. Under these numbers is what appears to be a small cursive g or possibly a fancy capital J ( mag bottom is well worn-so it's hard to tell but looks more like the "g".
Finally under this letter looks to be a small imperial style crown.
Any of you Gents to shed some light on this? Even though the #'s mis-match, is this a correct style mag for a 1917 Artillery?
Thanks in advance,
Derek

Derek,
Erfurt made mag tubes usually have a yellow/greenish tint. Most DWM mags don't have a proof, but all Erfurt mags have at least one and sometimes two proofs (C/gothic letter). The easiest way to tell the difference is the shape of the crimp at the top of the mag. If it is flat sided it's Erfurt. If it is shaped like a D it's DWM. In either case ( stamped as you described) they would be Imperial, but a DWM mag would be more correct for your 1917 Artillery.

Differences in color and crimp shape.
Erfurt on left, DWM on right.

Thanks, Mike C. -
Using the pics you posted, it looks like I have an Erfurt mag(flat sided crimp).Any ideas on value of this mag? I will be willing to trade this mag with someone who has the matching pistol for a # that matches or comes even close to my 1917 DWM Artillery ( 6966 a ).

Early DWM mags (these with the large letters) allways have the flat side crimp like the Erfurt.

Klaus,
Thank you. I didn't know that. Are the early unmarked commercial mags the same?

Derek,
I've seen Erfurt mags sell for $150-$250 range. Condition is the key.

Hi Mike,
On the first picture we see an assortment of early DWM Luger mags; from left to right: 2 commercial, 2 first issues, commercial Navy, Imperial Navy and Weimar Navy with Imperial body. All these have the early DWM crimps which are equal the Erfurt crimps. The early DWM bodies have more lines (in German we would say: die Magazinkörper weisen ein schraffiertes Finisch auf).
Sorry for my poor English.

On the last picture are the wooden knops of two first issue mags. We can see a dot behind the numbers. These dots indicate the spare magazines. From late 1911 dated (later than suffix e) we find the well known + on the spare mags.

Regards Klaus

Klaus
Your knowledge is amazing!! I remember a thread several years ago, discussing the dot. No one knew (at that time) what it signified.
Thanks again.

Mike, nice that I could help with some informations.
Best regards Klaus