wooden bottom mag question.
 

My new Luger is a shooter, but it has a very nice WW1 mag in very good condition. (no dents,missing nickle and nice finish)

My question is: Should wooden bottom mags be used in "Shooter" guns or should they be conserved for colectors.

Also can any one identify the mark on the bottom of my mag and give me a little information about it. Also value.

Sorry my pictures are crappy. I spent way to much money on guns and not enough on digital cameras!!!

The mark looks like a crown over a script letter with a dash mark under the letter.

http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/magmarking.jpg

Thanks to all the forum for your help and support.

Beamersquared

-Even a fool can be a wiseman, IF, He knows when to keep his mouth shut-

If it is an original wood magazine, you may want to let it rest.

Also, many times the older magazines don't work as well.

After a while you pick up a magazine here and there and you'll have several that work.

The new Mec-Gar ones work really well. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Mr. Tinker

Sorry. I posted my picture by accident. (I have re-edited and added text.)

Thanks

Beamersquared

[img]biggrin.gif[/img] Ed, Mr Tinker was my Grandfather...Heh, heh, We just crossed the digital path and both were trying to fix things.

I just didn't let you get "done".

Ed

Thanks Ed

Im still trying to learn how every thing works in the forum.

jerry
Beamersquared

The Crown over a Gothic letter mark on your magazine bottom indicates it was issued with an Erfurt pistol as DWM didn't mark their mags with an inspection stamp. However, it should have the serial number and suffix letter (if any) stamped across the short axis of the bottom as all Erfurt mags are supposed to be so marked. I have an Erfurt pistol with a mag marked with the C/letter and no serial number but I'd never claim it to be original and correct. It's too easy to fake and according to Still's "Imperial Lugers", page 81, all Erfurt mags include the full serial number.

There's also the possibility that your mag originally had a serial number that was removed for whatever reason. Possibly during a post-WW1 rework or re-issue with another pistol. It's really impossible to say without an examination and may not be possible then.

I put my WWI mag away for rest, it looks nice sitting there. But I must confess I've used it to unload at leats 100 rounds before my repro mag came from Sarco...have to say the WWI mag is more impressive with the wood bottom and shiny metal. The black plastic bottom of the repro just doesn't quite do the gun justice.

Michael, It is also possible that your WW1 Imperial inspected (Erfurt) mag is an armour's spare that was never numbered to a PO8. I've owned several of these over the years, but with the wear on your bottom, it's hard to tell for sure. Tom H.

It occurred to me that all of us must see mags for sale at the various shows and, working together, we could all improve the value of our collections by creating a list of the numbered spare mags that we have. It could be that other members have the pistol to which these mags originally belonged. For example, I bought three wooden bottom mags at the weekend - serial numbers 4625, 6155, 9051. The last of these has a proof mark and the other two have a cross on them - are they Swiss?
Do the forum members think that this is feasible or worthwhile?

The "cross" is probably a plus sign, the Imperial military marking for the extra magazine.