Simson magazine

[Edward Tinker]

Don Hallock has put out a listing of peoples magazines for many, many years. Recently he and I were talking and he mentioned some Simson numbers that were not in the simson book. One of those numbers was 542. I thought, that number seems familiar. Then in contacting the owner of #542, he was less than 20 miles from where I am working! I talked to him on the phone and he told me about the magazine. It was restamped years ago, he felt by the police. I made arrangements to see him this weekend, took 3 or 4 simson magazines with me as a possible trade. Here it is, and yes, we traded straight across.

Good trade?
Foolish since it is a restamp?
What in the world is that "L" ???





My 1925 dated Simson, serial number 542...

[G.T.]

At some point in it's original history...that mag was, almost without a doubt, with that gun... looks right to me... I'd be plenty happy with a find like that...Best to you Ed, til...lat'r...GT

[Pete Ebbink]

Am I missing something here...???

Mag has evidence of early, smaller SN stampings.

The "police-added" SN of 542 is in the bigger number font. The "542" over-stamps the earlier, smaller set of SN numbers.

Does the Luger have other "police"modifications ???

If not, how can one conclude a police mag that was renumbered "goes" with a Luger that is not police modified with sear and/or mag safety...?

[G.T.]

It's a simson mag, from / for a simson gun... It may have not started out with the gun in question, but I think there is a better then even chance they crossed paths! I guess you have to ask yourself, how many 3 digit ones do you think there were? After WW1, there were a whole lotta leftover guns marked in many, many ways long before they put sear and mag safeties on them... It might be wrong...but as I said, it looks right to me... I've seen a few simson reworks that were in there original WW1 configuration, with the exception of the E/6 repair parts, you would never know they were re-issued... If it were a fake, you would think it would have been with the gun to begin with?? Guess it just depends on how you want to see it.... Best to all, til...lat'r...GT

[Edward Tinker]

thanks for the replies;

My feeling on it is that it started life as a Simson (the spine is not marked, thus probably an armorers replacement magazine). The "542" could also be for 542a, not all the "a" suffix mags were marked that we've seen.

Being police, well, I don't know. The luger has no sign of being a police, but the luger was issued in 1925 / 1926 time frame and sear safeties were not required until the 1930's, and not all police were equiped with sear and/or magazine safties.

Who knows, but not a likely 'faked" item.

Pete, rough night or no wheaties to help the day go better

[Pete Ebbink]

Ed,

My night and morning were both excellent...BTW...

I just did not think GT's comment of :

"...that mag was, almost without a doubt, with that gun..." should go totally un-challenged...

One should conclude that the magazine did not ORIGINALLY start out with that gun...

[Edward Tinker]

Originally posted by Pete Ebbink


"...that mag was, almost without a doubt, with that gun..." should go totally un-challenged...

One should conclude that the magazine did not ORIGINALLY start out with that gun...

true, whenever restamped, there is a 1 in what, maybe 1 in 100 chance that this re-number was made for this gun. (take all known serial numbers that could be 542, well I was going to say those after 1925, but it could be for an erfurt or DWM, so maybe 1 in 200 chance?

Someone who cares can figure it out, I will never sell 542 as a "matching" rig, but except for me having a number put onto a blank base, the closest I am likely to get.

That said, I think it started as a Simson armory replacement magazine; and whether renumbered or not, how often do you find a era correct, inspector stamped magazine base?

PS: Those of us that are willing to post items from our collection, do expect criticism & comments or we wouldn't post. I have found these comments sometimes helpful, sometimes not.

[G.T.]

As Ed has said, it is pretty rare to find a matching numbered Luger mag for any P.08 where the mag and gun have parted ways almost a century ago... I know some collectors, who have been searching for 25 years, and they're still looking... With the modern internet, it gives us a new tool to pursue these pesky matching magazines.. and although quick communication and huge amounts of data are now at ones fingertips.. It does nothing to bring back the lost forever magazines that suffered attrition of war and went thru decades of use where no one cared if they survived intact or not... Many are just plain lost to time... stuck away in who know's where.. So, finding a mag that is of the time frame, at least puts you in the game, the same number a bit closer, the same proof a bit closer yet... The numbering on the mag bottom, even though police style could further tie it into a specific date range... I think it more possible then not.. That is just the way I se things.. If the mag was in the gun when Ed first got it, it would more then likely be taken as fact that it did belong to that gun at sometime, and was correct..Ed's an honest guy, that's why we see it here now, for our discussion... It is here that I wish to clarify my view of original history... All the time the Germans had it up and thru WW2, is original history to me, Germans working on German guns... They may have numbered two mags to that gun the day it came off the assembly line, and maybe 10 more over the twenty years it was in there care.. Who knows??
So, I tend to believe.. and I would be quite happy with that combination, especially from that era... Best to all, til...lat'r....GT