The next item on my Luger to-do list was to find two magazines that were as close as possible to what was originally issued with the gun. Tom Heller advised me that the wood-bottomed magazine that came with my Luger was probably from the Weimar period, and Don Hallock's writings were a revelation in this area of Luger expertise. In fact, for my own use I cleaned up and edited an essay that Don wrote on the subject back in 2004. Don didn't really give the piece a title, but I think that
A Standard System for Describing Mauser Military [MM] Luger Magazines, 1934-45 works nicely. Here are the closest magazines I could find in a search that lasted several months. (I know, I know รข?? some of you have been searching years, even decades for a magazine that matches your Luger's serial number. Blessed are those who stubbornly defy the laws of probability.);
A 1940 42 code Luger in the
b-block could have been issued with either the rolled, blued, solid aluminum-based SE/655 magazines (2-MM-SE5 using Don's system) or the extruded type, blued, concave pinned aluminum-base, 122 over SE/37 magazines (3-MM-122 in Don's system). I decided to go with the latter type, which some members here have found to function more reliably than the earlier design. While I couldn't find anything in the
b-block, an
a-block and a
c-block (the
c-block mag marked as a spare) weren't too bad, especially in this condition.
About this time I finished and fit a set of replacement grips to the Luger so as not to put more wear on the originals (which are numbered to the gun and stamped SE/655). Don't worry Hugh; the originals are stored carefully away in a climate-controlled space that's not in direct sunlight!
One final detail involved the loading tool;
The tool is stamped SE/655, but it's a light strike that's very hard to see in a photograph without a touch of white paint. It surprised me that there are so many faked and reproduction loading tools being sold as originals. Ed Tinker's writing on how to spot the originals from the repros was extremely helpful here, but, as Ed himself has said, "It takes time and looking at a lot of pictures and actual tools to get a feel for what is good and what isn't." Since I don't know anyone else who owns a Luger, much less a collection of original and repro loading tools that I could examine, I decided to go with a reputable dealer for this item. Bob Simpson at Collectors Firearms/Simpson Ltd. was very patient with me when I phoned, and he took care of my small mail-order as if it was the most important sale he made that day. As with the holster, I admit that as soon as the loading tool arrived in the mail I immediately took it down to my basement shop and measured the thickness with a vernier caliper. The loading tool came out a winner; 2.5mm in thickness at all points.
So here's my "rig", carefully assembled with the combined help and advice of most of the moderators and experienced people here whether they knew it or not;
And yes, I have taken my Luger to the range, (with a couple of trusty Walmart Winchester "white boxes" of 9mm ammo, 115 gr. FMJ), and it is an absolute joy to shoot. In fact, I have yet to experience a single stove-pipe jam, failure-to-feed, or failure-to-eject. I've also completely disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled the pistol several times, and every time I am impressed by the quality of the workmanship and the close tolerances of the machining. Somebody here whose name I can't recall once referred to his Luger as "the Queen of my collection." I agree.