Strangely numbered Mag on EBay
 

Purely a guess, Herb, but the "22" may be a property or inventory number. I don't have my books handy as I'm at work but the serial number appears to be legit.

Doubs, my guess also. Look again, the serial number runs length wise rather than across. I have seen only one like that before but it had no 'property' number.

I'm going to expose my relative lack of detail magazine knowledge and note that some early Luger magazines were numbered lengthwise (particularly Navys), can't tell you specifics of which.

I'm reasonably certain that a blued tube is not correct for any of them.

Maybe Ron Wood will weigh in here...

--Dwight

I have no positive evidence, just conjecture. The large numbers running lengthwise is indicitive of an eary military style marking as Dwight observed. I would also guess that the 22 is a property number (rack number that matched the property/rack number of the Luger). Somebody had an early military magazine with a very nice wood base and lousy tube. They put the base on a blued tube. I don't think that the radius of the tube cutout matches the radius of the base knobs even considering shinkage and the pin has been battered by improper installation. Put the base back on the proper tube, using the proper pin and careful installation, and you have a nice magazine.

The long wise marking indicates that it is pre-1911; I would surmise that the 22 is a "rack" number.
I agree that it is a very nice bottom, but on the wrong tube.

Tom A.

The tragedy here with this hybrid magazine is that it is getting bid up by people who either do not know it is a hybrid, or just want the original early, and rare, bottom, perhaps to add to the "proper" tube. Let's remember the four digit number as it may reappear as a "rare early Imperial Luger magazine" later.