Until it happens to you!

[G.T.]

Hi to all, I've repaired all sorts of magazines, and most work good, some don't, but if all else is correct, and the magazine still has some life to it, it will work fine in most lugers. There is a couple of exceptions to this, and the worst of the bunch is the modern Mause Parabellum magazines with the black plastic bottom and MAUSER stamped on the lower rear spine!
First of all, the follower spring is bear strong and usually requires the loading tool to get the last of 8 rounds into the mag!
This is because I believe, (my opinion only!) That Mauser found a stiff follower spring cured a few deficiencies, and a weak spring caused some?? This in and of itself can be lived with, but, the extra tension of the extra strong follower spring puts added pressure on the "cheezy" plastic bottom and it's not long before the whole mess drops out at the range while shooting the Luger!!! or just comes apart in the box... Well, I have a cure for the problem listed above. On an existing Mauser mag, I can swap out the Mauser bottom for a Nylon reinforced Mec-Gar mag bottom, and it will last forever! If you want extra shooter mags, I can take a new Mec-Gar and replace the spring with a wolfe +10% spring and it will work well in all the Mauser offerings... I'm going to cut the navy rings out of the Mec-Gar bottom so it better replicates the original? The cost, using your mag, would be $35.00 each including return postage... The cost using one of my Mec-Gar mags, would be $100.00 shipped! Let me know if you're interested at: gctomeks@msn.com best to all, til.....lat'r....GT

[velodog455~]

GT:
I have one of those modern Mauser-marked mags with the plastic bottom that you are referencing. I bought it from an auction house where I bid $25 (+$5 shipping) and was the only bidder.

Once I got it I tried inserting it in all 7 of my Lugers, which include DWM, Erfurt, and Mauser specimens. The mag wouldn't go into six of the mag wells without using what I felt was excessive force in either insertion or removal.

However, I have one 1928 DWM 7.65 commercial model in which the mag works perfectly. Normal force to insert and drops free when the mag release is actuated. Obviously the mag is now paired up with this particular P.08. As to why it alone works is a mystery to me. Go figure.

BTW, Mec-Gar mags go into all 7 of my Lugers and function just fine, but I note that they are just a tad undersized so no surprise there. l think for 30 bucks the Mauser-marked mag makes a fine spare for the time being but if the plastic bottom fails catastrophically then I will probably avail myself of your excellent services once again.
-Bob

[G.T.]

Hi Bob, You have just entered the Luger twilight zone! You would think they could have gotten just that one thing right, but nooooo, some fit, and some don't! I'm glad you got it paired up with a Luger! I like to say, "I can't catch the Luger gremlin, but i know where he lives!" best to all, til.....lat'r....GT..

[rhuff]

I have one of the modern Mauser mags that GT replaced the plastic bottom for a wooden Navy type bottom, and numbered it to my Post War Mauser with a 6" bbl. It looks and works great in my gun. Thanks again.

[STEINBVG]

My Interarms Russian commemorative Mauser came with 2 of those.
They are stiff. I wonder if they contribute in kicking out the spent shell 25 ft in the air.

I had another issue with them - they were falling out of the well, while shooting at some point.
I fixed that by prying the catch area slightly out. and eventually I bought t2 Mec- Gars just not tu use the original. Had no idea about their plastic bottoms were flimsy.