Magazine proof marks?

[Matt Weber]

Here is a subject that rare is talked about. Nazi proof markings on magazines! Which ones should have it, which ones should not.
Does anyone know of any website, or reference book that deals with the topic of proof markings on magazines?

In particular, I was wondering about the Radom P35 magazines. I have seen some with the proof markings "eagle 189" and some without any markings at all. I have heard from some collectors that early ones will have the proof mark, while later ones will not be marked. I also heard from one collector that all should be proof marked, and if they are not, then they are repros!? Does anyone know any facts on this?

Matt

[Matt Weber]

Found some answers to my own question!

Early Radom P35 magazines will not have the "eagle 189" proof marking. Later ones will have the "eagle 189" proof mark. So, some of them will and some of them won't.
Which is exactly as I expected.

Does anyone know about any other pistols magazine proof markings. Of course P38s and Luger mags have proof marks. I have also seen (own) a Browning Hi-power mag that is marked "eagle WaA103", but most of these will not be marked.

Matt

[badgeman]

Matt,

I was wandering the same thing about the radom magazines marked or not? I'm glad I ran into this subject. I just picked up a type 1 radom with 2 mags, that did not have any proof marks on them. Where did you find the onfo?

Thanks,

Jeff

[Matt Weber]

I asked several highly experiance collectors and dealers as well.

I too was wondering about them, since I have seen both marked mags as well as unmarked ones (for the Radom in particular, but also the Hi-power as well).

Then recently I sold off a early war Radom type II pistol. It had an early unmarked magazine with it. A fellow collector wrote to me, and told me that this mag was a repro, and not original, since it wasn't marked! That is what really caught my attention. I began to search and ask around. I found out that the early Radom mags will not have any proof markings on them! Later ones will have the "eagle 189". So if you have a type I or early type II Radom, it should not have markings on the magazine. If you have a late type II, type III or type IV Radom, then it should have the "eagle 189" proof marking.
Obviously the guy who wrote to me didn't know this at all.

Now for the Browning Hi-power it is just the opposite. Early mags will have proof markings. I found this out since every Hi-power magazine that I found with a proof mark (these are very rare, so I didn't have too many to study from!), was marked with the early Browning stamp "eagle WaA103" and not the later one, "eagle WaA 140". This tells me that early mags will have the proof marking "eagle WaA103", and later mags will not have any proof markings at all. So if you have an early gun that is slotted, or an early one with the tangent sight, (up to serial number 135xxx? I believe?) then you should have a proof marked mag. If you have a later one that has no tangent sight (serial number is 135xxx range?), then you should not have any proof markings.

Matt