Magazine awareness!

G.T. · 03-04-2021, 01:31 PM

In my little piece of heaven workshop, I get all kinds of Luger mags to repair, with all kinds of issues, mostly binding and failure to feed consistently. Improper fit is a close second, and most time both fit and function need attention. When you have worked on so many over the years, a pattern emerges that I have observed and will pass on to the membership. It has to do with what i would call, "gray area function" Meaning magazines even when new, were probably not the best choice for fit and function. The two most common mags in this category are, first, a/an old period copy of a DWM 1920 commercial mag. At first glance it looks good enough, and if you are not careful you will certainly mistake it for an original? But, it's not, and actually far from a decent functioning mag. The tells on it are, a very small and crude follower button and the biggest tell is a solid follower! You can see this with a light inspecting it thru the follower slot. And those are the two best parts on the mag, all the rest is terrible, and after many tries, also not repairable.
The second is the so called Finland magazines. They are almost all with wood bottom and a blue tube that is formed and welded on the rear spine. The problem with these, is nothing interchanges with the original for repair, plus the tubes are very soft and the follower stick and catch no matter how much you polish the interiors... Not to mention they are very crude and not worth the usual purchase price... At any rate, now you know, make your next magazine purchases with this little bit of knowledge at the ready! Best to all, til.....lat'r....GT...

03-04-2021, 01:31 PM	#1
G.T. Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Chandler Arizona Posts: 3,523 Thanks: 1,321 Thanked 3,707 Times in 1,012 Posts	Magazine awareness! In my little piece of heaven workshop, I get all kinds of Luger mags to repair, with all kinds of issues, mostly binding and failure to feed consistently. Improper fit is a close second, and most time both fit and function need attention. When you have worked on so many over the years, a pattern emerges that I have observed and will pass on to the membership. It has to do with what i would call, "gray area function" Meaning magazines even when new, were probably not the best choice for fit and function. The two most common mags in this category are, first, a/an old period copy of a DWM 1920 commercial mag. At first glance it looks good enough, and if you are not careful you will certainly mistake it for an original? But, it's not, and actually far from a decent functioning mag. The tells on it are, a very small and crude follower button and the biggest tell is a solid follower! You can see this with a light inspecting it thru the follower slot. And those are the two best parts on the mag, all the rest is terrible, and after many tries, also not repairable. The second is the so called Finland magazines. They are almost all with wood bottom and a blue tube that is formed and welded on the rear spine. The problem with these, is nothing interchanges with the original for repair, plus the tubes are very soft and the follower stick and catch no matter how much you polish the interiors... Not to mention they are very crude and not worth the usual purchase price... At any rate, now you know, make your next magazine purchases with this little bit of knowledge at the ready! Best to all, til.....lat'r....GT...