My guess is that the trommel magazines were serial numbered in sequence of manufacture. I am always amazed how many of these magazines are numbered in the mid 700,000 range. One of my Bing Brothers trommel magazines is 745537. If there were close to 3/4 of a million made, why are these magazines so "rare."
Eric,
Your last posted picture showed the MP18 with the snail drum magazines. I did not recognize what uniforms the soldiers are wearing. Perhaps these weapons and magazines were used up in the post WWI period.
That's my 2 cents.
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