9mm or 30 Luger mag?
 

I recently picked up a 1918 Erfurt shooter grade. The wood bottom mag was a little sloppy so I put in a spare wood bottom mag I have. This mag was very tight going in and coming out. I miked the depth, the sloppy one was 1.100", the tight one was 1.120". Is this variance within normal tolerances? Can one possibly be a 30 Luger mag, or is there even a difference between the two? I read in one of the other topics that they can be interchanged.

Bill, As far as I know there is no difference between a 9mm and a 30 Luger magazine. You should contact G.T. and have him check your mag's out. Give them a going over. I'll bet they will work better.

Hi Bill & all! 1.110" is about the max overall front to back,(seam stretch) for a Luger mag. to even have the chance to fit correctly, 1.104" to 1.106" is infinitly better, and pretty close to the original spec. As the difference between 1.100" and 1.110" is at the end of the tolerance on both parts, mag outside & frame well inside... also, on rare occasion I have seen the frame mag well distorted right at the rear web attach point which makes a large dimension mag shell drag about half way in! A key place to also look for a hanging point, is the width of the rear part of the mag. behind the mag. seam, this area tends to spread at both the top, and the bottom...
with a little careful squeezing and tapping, they can all be tamed... Most after market Luger mags are made 1.100" or under (As much as -.020")
because, it cost a BUNCH to make forming dies, and once you commit, thats what you get!! So they won't even come close to correct dimensions... hence the feeding problems...cuz if they're reduced outside..they're also reduced inside... Case in point, post war Erma mags, are pretty loose... considerably undersize...will fit in anything!!! Work in most! Swiss 06/29 mags are perfectly to spec... in fact, I think these are the very best mags available for shooting the P.08...yes, even better then the "fxo" (personal preference) .... If more specific info is needed, feel free to drop me a note anytime... If you can't tame it yourself, I'd be happy to take a shot at it! best to all! til...lat'r...GT <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" />

GT, Thanks for the Mag tutorial! You know your stuff!I agree about the Swiss mags. They are great for shooting and are relatively inexpensive. Jerry Burney

Hi Jerry! no problem! Any thing we can do to keep these old dogs working! Some of those old mag's are pretty tired! Best to you, til...lat'r....GT

GT, I hope you realize that you just "upped" the value of Swiss mags that are for sale or auction by about 25 percent by your evaluation... :)

...and maybe reduced the value of the Extruded type by a couple of percentage points...

To paraphrase an old "E.F. Hutton" financial services commercial:

...when G.T. talks, ...people listen! (at least 2300+ people do!) :D

Hi John! Thanks for the vote of confidence! BUT, My kids don't hardly ever listen to me anytime...My wife, never! And my dogs do only if there's something in it for them! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />
I'm a'waiting for the time when I can visit Roadkill, sip on a'little Jack D.. and discuss how it is we all come to like Lugers! <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />
BTW, I really do think the Swiss had it figured out at the end! Best to you John! til...lat'r....GT <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" />