Magazine That Came w/Toy Gun

[sheepherder]

Bought a 'toy' gun off GB last week...It came with this steel magazine...

One of those plastic 1:1 replicas...Something like that Mattel MMP I bought a couple months back...Looks like toys are all I'll be collecting for some time...

I took the magazine apart...It's all there and in good condition...

I'm still scratching my head, wondering how this got mixed up with a plastic toy...Is there a real gun out there with a plastic cap firing magazine???

[pitsword]

Richey, what are you building now Brother? Is that mp 38/40? I still owe you pics of the GSG 5 guts. Just got through heart surgery and getting back on my feet. Good news/bad news: They found I have a heart, also cranial rectitus. So asprin and exlax for a while.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by pitsword

Richey, what are you building now Brother?

Building???No, no building...Displaying. Been making stands for various rifles so I can look at them occasionally, instead of standing them in closets...

Is that mp 38/40?

Yeah, was looking for a plastic model of a Luger that I had back in the 60's and saw the MP40 and put in a lowball bid on it...and got it...

Just got through heart surgery and getting back on my feet.

Woo, that's tough. I got a bunch of Little Johnny jokes that we used to tell heart patient buddies...

A bit on that Luger model from the 50's/60's...I actually had two, in different years...they were a green plastic model, kinda flat compared to a real Luger, and the grips were integral with the grip frame. It didn't shoot anything, but was advertised as being faithful in form & function to real Lugers. It was also a bit bigger than a real Luger.

I don't recall who made it, and both of the ones I had were a struggle to rack the toggletrain...I even Vaseline'd one of them, but that didn't help...

They came like any model; plastic parts attached to 'trees', with an assembly instruction sheet...It used steel springs and screws too, as I recall...I don't remember if the magazine was separate or not...

I been looking for one for years...A bit of my wasted youth...

[alanint]

Take a close look at the follower. If you can see any daylight through it, or can see into it in any way, then it is a replica.

Real MP 40 magazines have nicely made, fully formed followers that you cannot see through or into. Replica followers are just a folded over strip of metal.

Replica magazines are also slightly oversized and will have trouble fitting into a real MP40.

They are even copying all markings and waffenampts on replicas today.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by alanint

Take a close look at the follower. If you can see any daylight through it, or can see into it in any way, then it is a replica.

Real MP 40 magazines have nicely made, fully formed followers that you cannot see through or into. Replica followers are just a folded over strip of metal.

Replica magazines are also slightly oversized and will have trouble fitting into a real MP40.

They are even copying all markings and waffenampts on replicas today.

Would they stamp waffenampts inside the baseplate??? Or on the side of the follower??? It looks fully formed from here...

Hard to figure a Japanese company would make an all-plastic replica and then make an all-steel magazine...With markings that would not normally be seen...

It could be from another company...There doesn't seem to be a 3-letter maker stamp anywhere (but then I don't know where to look)...

Edit: Duh to me! The maker stamp "kur" is on the top of the mag - as seen in pic in first post...

[alanint]

Your magazine looks like original wartime manufacture. Value is $80, give or take. Assuming you bought Your réplica gun used, a previous owner may Have broken the original mag and replaced It with a gunshow purchase.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by alanint

Your magazine looks like original wartime manufacture. Value is $80, give or take. Assuming you bought Your réplica gun used, a previous owner may Have broken the original mag and replaced It with a gunshow purchase.

There's a bunch on GB right now for ~$150, with a few dreamers looking for more...Lots more...

I signed up at one of the model gun forums, and there was an interesting post that said Sten mags would fit some of these plug-firing-cap replicas...I vaguely recall that the British copied the MP40 to make the Sten...or was it vice versa??? I know the Germans also made a copy of the Sten late in the war...I even have a pic of an officer inspecting one...Looks like a Sten but with the mag on the bottom...

I used to have a Sten mag...It seems to have grown legs...Or maybe just CRS again...

[sheepherder]

Pic of the dummy/plug-firing-cap cartridges for these replica guns...'Detonator' pin is in the chamber, with bolt being flat (no firing pin)...No real cartridge will chamber, but plug-firing-cap has enough pressure to work the [very weak] recoil spring/assembly...

[kpf]

The mag looks good to me!

Regards

Kai

Norway

[sheepherder]

I got an MGC68 magazine; same external dimensions as the magazine above, but was used to hold the PFC cartridges shown in oic above...MGC [Model Gun Corp/Japan] also made a steel MP40 replica...

Here's a comparison of the 'real' mag with the MGC68 mag...

They would be easy to pass off as original at a gunshow unless you knew what to look for (of course, the stamped 'MGC68' is an easy tip-off)...

The MGC69 mag is about 1/8" shorter that the 'real' one, and the 32 rd indicator holes are located differently...(The MGC68 PFC cartridges were oversize so as not to feed in a real MP40 and vice versa)...The backstrap is also a separate piece of steel sheet spot-welded on...And the 'real' MP40 mag has the back of the feed lips butt welded (the MGC68 is not)...

The spring is shorter but interestingly is the same wire diameter.