why so many unmatched mags

[trevor87bikes]

hi i want to buy a radom and have found a lovely example but it all has matching numbers exept the magazine ....why do so many guns have non matching mags ..........regards ,,,,matt

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Matt, your Radom is most likely an ex Russian capture, hence the non matching mag.

Cheers, Ade.

[phild]

I never knew that Radoms (maybe the very very early ones?) ever had numbered mags? Many really most German hanguns did not and sometimes the handguns used by the police had mags numbered post-factory.

Mags are very much utility items and soldiers tend to take a very utility approach to thier weapons, equipment and uniforms...that is they do what makes sense and to some degree is the most practical.

Mags would get exchanged by sometimes the Germans and very the GIs capturing the handguns for all kinds of reasons.....most could care less about the serial numbers even if they ever noticed them at all.

By mid-war most every mag and its respective model handgun was completely interchangable..a fact not so true with earlier Lugers...for instance...although 90% of these or very interchangable...some few will not work real well with just any mag...hence the reason that they were numbered to begin with.

[Chad1]

surrender

Aside from normal usage, I would think the original magazine for any pistol would be ejected from the gun and forgotten if the pistol was handed over during a surrender, rendering it useless (or close to it).

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Phil, your post prompted me so I have just been and looked at my Radom P35 (P) it only has a Russian electro-penciled number on the mag.

Cheers, Ade.

[TerryK]

I bought my radom off of a vets brother. His brother brougt it back after the war and gave it to him. With it was a
P38 mag modified for the radom. It shoots nice with it and he said it was in the gun when he got it from his brother. Neat how they modified it to fit. Its numberd to a 1942 P38 8226b
Terry

[phild]

IMO the whole thing with this all matching firearm thing has become a little crazy. Many people seem to have lost all reason and perspective on what they are dealing with particularly with 20th century military weapons.

All of these weapons were mass produced and they were assembled from bins of parts to begin with. Yes, there was gauging and function test involved in most every step and when fit and function was verifed the parts were numbered...somtimes all of the them (early German typical) and sometimes only the receiver (like most U.S.) and most were numbered somewhere in between like the major components only.

From there, as these went into the field some substitution could and often did take place...it was just another fact and phase of thier usage.

Very often both during and after the war many of these weapons were completley rebuilt at various maintenance levels. Somtimes this was all the way back to a factory level, more often is was at a depot or arsenal and somtimes it was at even a lower level. The level of the rebuild would often determine the extent of the re-build and maybe the cosmetic quality.

At any level of a re-build each part was again gauged, checked for function and often re-numbered...but not always. Weapons were generally re-finished as well.

There is a big difference when one talks of a few parts being replaced or when a weapon as been through a formal military re-build than just slapping a bunch a random parts together to make a firearm....as out of parts piles.

The slang term "forced match" is interesting in that it is generally a misnomer. Military rebuilds were not forced matched at all, they were rebuilt generally to the same standards and sometimes better than they were the first time around. They have in a sense been double checked and finished.

In the end, every modern firearm is just a bunch of parts...some have been made once and some have been made multiple times. I agree that it is very desirable to find all factory original matched near mint firearms, but they are not the only game in town. There is nothing to apoligize for with any military firearm that is in original military condition including goverment rebuilds.

[trevor87bikes]

this has helped me alot guys i also have a 1938 luger with mismatched mag and the little round pin inside .escuse the description i am an amatuer with guns . i thought it was not worth much for that reason ............thanks .matt

[b jay]

hi i want to buy a radom and have found a lovely example but it all has matching numbers exept the magazine ....why do so many guns have non matching mags ..........regards ,,,,matt

I had a vet tell me that when they boarded the ships they had to turn in their mags and then when they got ready to leave the ship they were issued the mags back but they were mix matched. Hope this helps.


B Jay

[andrew.r]

Radoms and matching mags not issued

The Radom P-35 pistols, whether Polish pre-war or of German produced never had matching numbered mags issued.

The only ones you might find are the KM issued variants although still unlikely and rare to find. The electro-pencilled mag numberings can be attributed to VOPO (East German police) issued Radoms.

[mkb42h]

i have seen photos of surrender piles of weapons where the firearms are in one pile, the mags in another, the mag pouches w/ extra mags in yet another and so on. personel on both sides had bigger fish to fry!

[GerColctor]

Andrew is correct, Radoms P-35 were not issued with number mags. Your mag was numbered after the War by "somebody", it was not captured with the gun that way. Many of the P-35 mags were not even proof marked, while others were.

Joe