MP38 u. 40 slab-side magazines

[Willi Z.]

Going through some stuff I had stored and found these. Haven't seen this style at shows in a while.

[koenig.blix]

According to Claus Espeholt who has an extensive database on German small arms and magazine etc. the slab sided MP38&40 magazine account for only 11 percent of the total number of magazines in his database. The ayf 41 is a bit more uncommon than the 98E 41.

[me6_130]

How about pre-1940? Slab and after-ribbed, without the "MP38&40" on them?

Carles

[jonathanseverin]

98e 42

On the subject of Mp40 mags does anyone know for sure if you can find ribbed 98E 42 dated ones? Claus's site says you can find them, on the other hand in the book The Schmeisser Myth it says that the manufacture of ribbed mags at Steyr started when the code changed from 98E to kur. It states and I quote 'Only type B kur42 mags exist. Only type 0 exist with the marking 98E.
It goes without saying you will find 98E 42 type A.
I am guessing a 98E 42 type B would be pretty uncommon?
Jonathan.

[koenig.blix]

The database I was referring to is this one:

http://claus.espeholt.dk/mediearkiv/mag40_c.pdf

[me6_130]

Here is a list of stamps on the mags I had, sometime ago:

slab-side
122 39
98E 40
122 40
98E 41
fxo 41
ayf 41
bte 41

ribbed & after ribbed
122 39
98E 40
122 40
27 40
fxo 41
98E 41
bte 41
fxo 42
gqm 42
ayf 42
kur 42
bte 42
kur 43
gqm 43
ayf 43


Carles

[Willi Z.]

Great mags Carles!

Great discussion as well, which is always my goal when I start these threads.

[Willi Z.]

On the subject of Mp40 mags does anyone know for sure if you can find ribbed 98E 42 dated ones? Claus's site says you can find them, on the other hand in the book The Schmeisser Myth it says that the manufacture of ribbed mags at Steyr started when the code changed from 98E to kur. It states and I quote 'Only type B kur42 mags exist. Only type 0 exist with the marking 98E.
It goes without saying you will find 98E 42 type A.
I am guessing a 98E 42 type B would be pretty uncommon?
Jonathan.

Jonathan, what is your opinion on that book? I haven't purchased it yet.

[me6_130]

You can always have a look at this other website:

http://www.mp40.nl/index.php?page=magazines


He is a member here also.

Carles

[jonathanseverin]

Mp40 Book

Hello Willi,

It's a very good book in my opinion, and covers the history of the development of the machine pistol as well as the Mp38 and Mp40 itself. Related to this post you get an entire chapter on magazines. At least one (I think more) forum members have contributed to the book. I have a few books on the mp40.
Mp38 and mp40 by Alejandro De Quesada (not a fan of that one)
The mp38,40,40/1 & 41 by Guus de Vries and Bas J Martens
Blitzkrieg by Frank Iannamico
The Mp40 by Mike Hedges.
I like them all except the first one, however The Schmeisser Myth is in my opinion the bench mark now. I think it is the best book on the subject (that I know of) by some margin. Collector grade have some fantastic books on firearms and The Schmeisser Myth is no exception.

Jonathan.

[jonathanseverin]

You can always have a look at this other website:

http://www.mp40.nl/index.php?page=magazines


He is a member here also.

Carles

Hi Carles,

He also wrote the chapter on Mp38 & Mp40 manuals in the book, the other forum member who added his knowledge is Reidar (Bergflak) who wrote the chapter on transport and storage chests.

Jonathan.

[me6_130]

Hi Carles,

He also wrote the chapter on Mp38 & Mp40 manuals in the book, the other forum member who added his knowledge is Reidar (Bergflak) who wrote the chapter on transport and storage chests.

Jonathan.

Don't remind me about the transport chest...I was outbid by Reidar in that auction at Ebay.. All my mags came from Reidar also.


Carles

[bmg17a1]

Since the “slab” sided mags were prone to jamming due to the friction of the rounds against the inside walls, the ribs were pressed into the walls to reduce the friction. This eliminated the unreliability of the earlier slab sided mags, at least from that cause. As a shooter, the slab sided mags are just collector’s item. Surprising how long it took for the designers and manufacturers of the slab sided mags to deal with that problem. FWIW