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Dwight Gruber · 10-13-2002, 04:03 PM

This appeared off-topic in the tailings of a played-out thread. I am bringing it back up here becuase I think it is worth a thought or two.

--Dwight

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quote:
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Originally posted by Heinz:
Hugh, Fred Datig, in his early text on Lugers states that not one Luger in a hundred is likely to have a matching magazine. Is it not amazing how matching magazines has become common in the last 40 years?
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I'm not sure that it needs to be amazing. Some speculative questioning with applied logic follows:

Of the many Lugers which have shown up with matching magazines, how many of them are Police models? It would seem that many of these guns receive a "second chance" to have matching mags due to their reissue. This relative youth (compared particularly to Imperial Lugers), the fact that the reissue is usually two (and sometimes three) mags, and their use in civil circumstances as opposed to combat; these circumstances would seem to increase the odds that at least one matching magazine would find itself carried along with the gun over the years.

Do East German and Russian reworks and dipped guns tend to retain matching magazines? A straight question, I do not know the answer but I suspect that some Forum members might.

What is the matching magazine data from other recent import floods from places such as Finland?

Is it possible that circumstances such as these represent sampling which was not available to Datig, and might increase the overall percentage?

There is another side to this coin.

Heinz, what observations prompt you to conclude that matching magazines have become "common"?

My own observations come from dealer advertising and a modest sampling from gun shows, local gun and pawn shops, my own small collection, and an occasional look at another collectors' pieces.

Dealer selections usually feature higher-end Lugers, which frequently have matching magazines--this in itself adds to the gun's high-end collectibity, and liklihood that the gun will be featured (yes, a circular circumstance).

Actual guns I observe seem to have a much lower frequency of matching magazines than dealer advertisements. And there are many thousands--tens of thousands, perhaps--of Lugers out there which go un-observed.

It is very likely that the sample which promotes the feeling that matching magazines are common is quite skewed, and Datig may very well be on the mark.

--Dwight

10-13-2002, 04:03 PM	#1
Dwight Gruber User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,908 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1,330 Times in 435 Posts	Matching Magazines This appeared off-topic in the tailings of a played-out thread. I am bringing it back up here becuase I think it is worth a thought or two. --Dwight ........................................................................ ...... quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by Heinz: Hugh, Fred Datig, in his early text on Lugers states that not one Luger in a hundred is likely to have a matching magazine. Is it not amazing how matching magazines has become common in the last 40 years? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm not sure that it needs to be amazing. Some speculative questioning with applied logic follows: Of the many Lugers which have shown up with matching magazines, how many of them are Police models? It would seem that many of these guns receive a "second chance" to have matching mags due to their reissue. This relative youth (compared particularly to Imperial Lugers), the fact that the reissue is usually two (and sometimes three) mags, and their use in civil circumstances as opposed to combat; these circumstances would seem to increase the odds that at least one matching magazine would find itself carried along with the gun over the years. Do East German and Russian reworks and dipped guns tend to retain matching magazines? A straight question, I do not know the answer but I suspect that some Forum members might. What is the matching magazine data from other recent import floods from places such as Finland? Is it possible that circumstances such as these represent sampling which was not available to Datig, and might increase the overall percentage? There is another side to this coin. Heinz, what observations prompt you to conclude that matching magazines have become "common"? My own observations come from dealer advertising and a modest sampling from gun shows, local gun and pawn shops, my own small collection, and an occasional look at another collectors' pieces. Dealer selections usually feature higher-end Lugers, which frequently have matching magazines--this in itself adds to the gun's high-end collectibity, and liklihood that the gun will be featured (yes, a circular circumstance). Actual guns I observe seem to have a much lower frequency of matching magazines than dealer advertisements. And there are many thousands--tens of thousands, perhaps--of Lugers out there which go un-observed. It is very likely that the sample which promotes the feeling that matching magazines are common is quite skewed, and Datig may very well be on the mark. --Dwight