Is this a P08 Luger Magazine from WWI/WWII?

S

Skarekrow88

New member
My grandfather recently passed away and I found this in the basement along with an assortment of other magazines. I know he had a WWII era Luger and an Artillery Luger at one point in time but sold them both. Is this an authentic war time Luger magazine?

There appears to be a barely visible and half faded "63" just below the Eagle stamping. Not sure if this is significant but thought I would mention it.

https://imgur.com/a/p0s5yPW
 
Last edited:
German P.08 production ended in 1942. Some Lugers has their magazines serial # to the gun ( usually last two digits of the gun's serial #) the "Eagle over 63" is one of the German military acceptance marks. There are other numbers as well.

with the aluminum base and those marks I would put the magazine in the 1930s era made for the German military, not commercial sale.

So, yes I would say it is an authentic "wartime" P.08 magazine.

But I'm no expert...
 
German military Luger serial numbers were done in blocks, starting at the beginning of each year. 0001-9999, then started over with a letter suffix 0001a-9999a and so on.

So its entirely possible to have two (or more) Lugers with the same serial number, but made in different years.
 
The Eagle stamping is the Kaiser's. Nazi stuff has a wee swastika in a circle on the bottom of the eagle.
That eagle is known as The Breech block Proof. Found on W.W. I and earlier pistols.
Net search 'PO8 Luger serial numbers' and you'll see a .pdf titled Standard Catalog of Luger - Self Defense Fund.
 
Germany has used a lot of different eagle stamps with different variants within specific stamps. Many but not all of the stamps used during the Nazi era had that "wee swastika" and some of the ones that did were struck so poorly the mark is incomplete.

A number under the Eagle (swastika or not) refers to the office issuing the proof stamp. During the Nazi era there were several, as each factory often had its own inspector (and staff) assigned.

I have the Standard Catalog of Luger book and it gives several possibilities that match your magazine. Blued body and aluminum base was the common one in the 30s. Magazines were marked with either a droop wing eagle 63 or stick wing eagle 63 (what you have) or E 83. This is the military acceptance mark and not the same things as the WaA Pruf eagle with swastika and inspector number.

One POSSIBLE match for your mag is the 1936 s/42 pistol. Mags were serial numbered to the gun and the serial number range was from 5000f to 4500p. appriox 89,500 pistols made.

Hope this helps.
 
The stick wing eagle on that magazine looks like the one on the matching number magazine in my 1937 S/42 P08. My understanding is that some time in mid to late 1937 they transitioned to the droop wing eagle at the Mauser factory. The “+” means it was the spare magazine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top