How do you tell one magazine from another?

[flightsimmer]

We had a local auction in which some 2000 or so guns were auctioned off and some bright people had apparently removed all of the magazines for some !@#$%^& reason or another.
So I hear some guy at the auction bought a big box of magazines for around $1800.00 or so.
Anyway my question is, how the heck do you tell which gun a magazine goes too, especially if you don't have the gun to begin with?
I don't have any that are marked with any identification marks or numbers so would it just be trial and error guessing?

 

[gunnutery]

Post pics on THR . That's probably what I'd do, by superimposing numbers next to each different mag to make it easier for people to identify.

That was pretty stupid of the auction house from a gunners point of view, but it brought $1800 more than what they wouldve otherwise brought in from a business point of view.

I like going to auctions, but I'm usually working when they have the big gun auction near me.

 

[larryh1108]

I once bought a bulk box of asst magazines. I think it was about 300 of them, unmarked.

Some mags have the make and caliber. Mec Gar is good for that.
Some I knew from experience.
The 1911 mags were easiest to identify although a lot of guns take similar looking ones.
A lot are marked with the maker but not the model like S&W or whatever. That makes it easier to narrow it down.
I had about 100 left that I had to look up on Gunbroker and Ebay. I was able to figure out the caliber so I searched by caliber. It was a royal pain, maybe 1 or 2 a night we figured out.
I had about 30-40 that I had no idea. They were older, cheaper models like Iver Johnson, Stallard, Davis, etc. I sold those to Numrich for $7 each in a package. I paid about $10 each but the good mags offset the junkers so it was worth it but a real pain with the last 100 or so. I'd do it again, though.

 

[jonnyc]

You mean that people bought 2000 guns without mags??? Wow!
If you could separate them by caliber (at least come close), and then post group pics, you might get a good number ID'd here.
Another good place to start might be to try to match some to the guns that were in the auction catalog/listing.

 

[medalguy]

I'd think the auctioned guns probably brought more than $1800 LESS then they would have brought with the correct mag. I know I'd have a real hard time buying a lot of autos without mags since many semi factory mags are nearly impossible to find, depending on the gun.

How much more would you pay for a Luger with a matching mag for example?

 

[plmitch]

Buying a gun with out a mag? just seems wrong.

 

[berettaprofessor]

That was pretty stupid of the auction house from a gunners point of view, but it brought $1800 more than what they wouldve otherwise brought in from a business point of view.

No, from a business point of view they probably lost more money/gun than they could have gained by including the mags. It was stupid from both points. Wish I'd been at the auction though, might have been some cheap guns.

 

[HankR]

1. Set up a popular gun-related website
2. Take pictures of the unknown mags
3. Use the mag pictures as the captcha as users register or log on
4. Profit

Alternately,


Post the picture with the emphatic statement that it fits XXX. Sit back and wait to be corrected?

 

[flightsimmer]

Alternately,


Post the picture with the emphatic statement that it fits XXX. Sit back and wait to be corrected?

Now that I like, and I'm sure it would work.

 

[Mk VII]

Sometimes familiarity tells you. I can spot Beretta Mod.34 or P38 magazines confidently as I have owned those guns, but I would struggle with just any magazine.

 

[Stope Rat]

Hoosier Gun Works has a great website for identifying magazines at

http://www.hoosiergunworks.com/catalog/magazine_id_pistol.html

There's also ammoclip.com

That and a set of calipers, a magnifying glass, and a ton of patience and you can identify a lot.