Hi,
As some of you may know, I mainly collect Lugers with 2 matching magazines. Jan Still is most certainly correct with his comments on matching magazines. Very few have the correct, original issued magazine. In other words, most matching two magazine rigs are FAKED.
The true, original rigs are drying up and are almost impossible to find these days, even with all the vets passing on.
And Tom A, they do FAKE the wood bottom Imperial navy magazines also.
I think most of the two matching magazine Lugers you find today have gone through a re-issue here in the states. There are people who study the magazine bases and that is what you need to do to protect yourself from being taken. The faked ones are sometimes easy to tell if you know the correct acceptance marks, pins and color of the pins, type of tubes, and ect. Trouble is the guys faking these also all know this and it is becoming harder and harder to tell the true examples from the really good faked ones. The good thing is that not too many of these guys are capable of doing this kind of work.
Another point of interest is the blank bottom magazines. You just do not find them anymore. The blank aluminium bottoms are the ideal item for these craftsmen as they do not have to do anything to them. The dies have been available for numerous years.
The only advice one can suggest is that you study and learn your stuff. Anytime you find a Luger with a matching magazine and especially two matching magazines, you had better give it an extra examination. Also, if both magazines are correct, you are going to pay a huge premium, which makes it especially tempting for the fakers.
Here is an example of a 1939 Banner E/C that I bought from a well known dealer about 10 years ago. It had two matching HS magazines with the blue tubes and the side logo's and convex pinned. The "W" on the base did not look correct to me, and the serial numbers looked to be a little smaller than normal, had 1 and 2, and had the E/C of the police on the base. I kept the Luger as I need that variation, but never felt the magazines were correct. Don Hallock produces a magazine list and on one of the lists, there was a blue rolled police magazine with #2 on it, my serial number, and the correct "W". I quickly disposed of the two HS magazines. The sad part of this story is that someone had taken two nice blank HS convex pinned, side logo magazines and ruined them. You guys have to start thinking that very few in the collecting business do it for the love of collecting, and the majority are in it strictly for the money. There are some good ones out there, but they are hard to find. Doug Smith of Portsmouth, Ohio has treated me especially well, to mention one. Good collecting and keep you guard up!
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