Luger Mag, is it Genuine?

[Roy W]

In amongst a box of bits I got hold of today there was this magazine.

My uninformed eye suggests it is a 9mm Luger mag. The base is wooden, but is this a genuine period mag, or a modern repro?

Any opinions greatly appreciated.

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Information

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[browningautorifle]

It looks good, but there should be marking on it. There should be SOMETHING... Unmarked mags could be between war commercial too.

[Roy W]

thanks Jim

No markings on this one

[browningautorifle]

There'll be others along in a minute...

[Flying10uk]

There are some "wear" marks on the metalwork and damage to the wood cap which, in this case, is a good sign although this patina/wear can be faked.

[butlersrangers]

It looks like a WW1 original to me. I could use one like that in my 1917 DWM Luger, (which now has a WW2 Nazi marked magazine).

Please PM me, if you are interested in selling it.

[Roy W]

Happy to sell it, but not sure what they are worth. Also, are we safe to export Mags to the USA?

[no4mk1t]

The walnut bases were used up into the 1920's, then they changed to aluminum bases sometime in the early 1930's if memory serves.
Each Luger was issued with two magazines which were serial numbered to the gun. The "spare" magazine was stamped with a "+" marking. Any magazine that is unnumbered is a replacement magazine not originally issued with a pistol.
Any magazine that has a plastic base and/or follower is a post war commercial mag.

[Flying10uk]

I believe that the question of exporting a mag from the U.K. to the U.S. surfaced on this Forum a while back. If I remember correctly the consensus seemed to be that extreme caution was required in order to get the procedure/protocol right, especially in the current climate, or risk losing the mag to U.K. or U.S. customs or law enforcement. Personally, I have had no experience of exporting such items and so am not able to offer much more advice.

However, I do remember seeing a piece earlier in the year on Sky News?, I think, concerning a former British soldier turned artist. Basically he had got hold of several U.K. deactivated A.K.47s/Ms, legal within the U.K., and transformed them into "works of art" by sticking flowers and bank notes onto them. He may have also done further deactivation to them??? He then decided that it would be an excellent idea to display his "works of art" internationally at art exhibitions. Things turned a little sour when he arrived in the U.S. in order to attend an art exhibition and U.S. Customs decided that they wanted a sneak preview of his "works of art". U.S. Customs did seize the "works of art" and I never heard if the chap got them back. His main argument, as far as I could tell, seemed to be that they were "works of art" not weapons and so he couldn't understand why they were being seized.

[butlersrangers]

I have purchased target sights sent to U.S.A. from ebay vendors located in the U.K. (Packages were labeled "diopter").

I don't know if there is a restriction on sending a Luger magazine in the British Post.

The U. S. Post and State of Michigan have no restriction on the shipping of an unloaded pistol magazine. Of course discrete labeling, like "antique auto part", is probably wise.