Magazine damage from Walther safeties

[Don M]

From a recent thread on Jan Still's forum (http://luger.gunboards.com/showthread.php?t=26965), I learned that at least one of the reasons the Walther magazine safety was abandoned by the German police was that it caused unacceptable wear on magazines. While this may have been known by other collectors and researchers, it was news to me.

The provenance of this information is very credible and I have no reason to doubt its accuracy; however, it would be interesting to identify some evidence supporting it.

It seems to me that there should be some examples of this type of damage on some of the many police magazines out there. These probably would be magazines that were used with Walther safeties for only a short time before the safeties were deactivated or removed and sustained only minor damage. I have checked my meager collection of police mags and have not found such damage; however, some of you have much more extensive collections.

I request that readers check any police mags they own for such damage. The black mark in the photo below shows the approximate area where I believe the damage may be found. It may be in the form of scratches or a groove in the body or perhaps a bending of the lip. Photos of any candidates would be most helpful.

Thanks for considering this request.