I recently picked up this 42 byf luger, holster, two mags and the E/135 accepted loading tool. I know everyone says “Buy the gun, not the story”, but this story is compelling. Peter was a tank driver on an M10 tank killer towards the end of WWII and he says that he had the opportunity to accept the surrender of a number of German soldiers. He said this rig was handed over to him as is and has been together since then. The gun is a nice example of a 42 byf luger serial 2070d with some honest holster wear on the edges. Completely matching and correct even down to the nice E/135 accepted wooden grips. The barrel also has the 8.88 bore gage marking on it for those keeping track. The pistol came with two identical, fxo, extruded mags with black plastic bottoms and each one is E/37 accepted in two places. The loading tool is E/135 accepted and is in primo condition. How scarce are these tools and what are they worth? Lastly the brown holster is jhg 41 marked on the back and is WaA286 accepted. The only bummer is that someone cut part of the inside front edge of the holster away to make removing the pistol easier. Pete mentioned that this is how he received it, so I wonder if a German soldier may have cut the holster back to be able to grab the pistol without having to use the removal strap arrangement.
You may notice that one of the mags has the black, plastic base broken and a tiny dent in the tube about .5 inches from the end. I need some advice here as to the best way to handle this mag. Are the original black plastic bases available separately and is there someone good out on the forum who could repair the mag for me, for a fair price? Or should I just leave it alone?
In my opinion, I don’t see any thing from this rig to indicate that it wasn’t issued together and surrendered as a complete rig. Opinions??
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