Mp44 mags

[SGAmmo]

Hey guys, I picked up a mp44 recently and it came with one mag but I would like to have a few more. Does anyone know of a source for original mags other than gunbroker? I see some aftermarket mags for $90 each. Has anyone used these to see if the work as they should?

[honkl]

I believe Jerry has some over at ReconOrd, but i dont believe they are original? and quite pricy.

[Colt Chopper]

Dennis Todd in PA had several original mags at the Show of Shows.

[SGAmmo]

I ordered a few of these $89 ones, if anyone cares, I'll test them in a week or so

[Beatone]

My understanding is those 90.00 mags have to be modified to work with a MP44. There was a guy on gunbroker (MG34gunner  i believe) who was modifying the feed ramps to make them work properly. He sold them a few years back for 149.00. I haven't sean him sell any lately. I did buy one but haven't got around to testing it. 

[FreeinAZ]

My experience has been poor. Bought 2 from the company mentioned and neither would fit into the mag well of my MP43. Sent them back.

Bought 2 more at a higher price from Legacy, they fit into the mag well, but do not feed at all. All rounds point down. You could tell this was going to happen just by loading them. 

If anybody knows of a source of reliable mags, I'm all ears. Paying $700+ for a mag sucks. 

[reichstall]

what is hard to believe is they made so may where did they all go. Just like the reising mags there has to be a giant box somewhere full of them.

[MPFiveO]

They're overseas somewhere, possibly Ukraine or Africa. It just depends on what war was going on at the time and what the buyer was willing to pay at the time out of desperation. There are plenty of magazines and ammo out there, it's just not available here. One has to understand that in most countries, weapons are tools and not collectible like they are here. Here they are a luxury and there they are a necessity.

[sswift]

My $90 repro works fine when loaded to 25 or less.  Absolutely doesn’t work above 25.

[gftiv]

Privi ammo does not work well in my gun. The cartridge is about .010" smaller than WWII ammo at the base of the neck. This causes the cartridge to not point up as much as needed to feed right. 20 rds work ok. reloads work OK because the brass is blown out that .010" needed to feed right.

[Chef]

On 4/13/2025 at 8:24 PM, reichstall said:

what is hard to believe is they made so may where did they all go. Just like the reising mags there has to be a giant box somewhere full of them.

Probably stacked in a warehouse with all the Japanese type 96 and 99 LMG mags. 

It seems like when servicemen in WW2 were bringing them home, they just took the gun and left the mags and pouches behind for some reason.
Because it's not like every one of these wasn't issued with 6 extra mags and two pouches, because they were.
And when a GI came across a dead German soldier carrying a MP44, when he went and picked up that rifle, the mags and pouches were right there as well.

[gftiv]

My understanding about Japanese guns. The GI could keep the gun, but the mags went over the side of the ship.

Who knows what happened to all the warehoused supplies in the islands and Japan?  Probably ransacked and the leftovers destroyed. Magazines, who needed them.

[JBurke]

On 11/12/2025 at 6:03 PM, gftiv said:

Privi ammo does not work well in my gun. The cartridge is about .010" smaller than WWII ammo at the base of the neck. This causes the cartridge to not point up as much as needed to feed right. 20 rds work ok. reloads work OK because the brass is blown out that .010" needed to feed right.

I run PRVI/PPU exclusively and I have multiple original magazines. I have no reproduction or even postwar 1001 magazines. Yes, I have had the occasion failure to feed and random stovepipes, but it is fully dependent on the magazine being used. Now that I've tested all 15 of my original magazines, I've determined which magazines perform best (as in flawlessly) and which need tweaking. Loading to the full 30 and the rifle feeding and running flawlessly is no issue either, but again, it's all due to which magazine I'm using. 

[Bill in Bama]

On 4/14/2025 at 8:52 PM, MPFiveO said:

They're overseas somewhere, possibly Ukraine or Africa. It just depends on what war was going on at the time and what the buyer was willing to pay at the time out of desperation. There are plenty of magazines and ammo out there, it's just not available here. One has to understand that in most countries, weapons are tools and not collectible like they are here. Here they are a luxury and there they are a necessity.

In my experience, some will turn up sometime when an importer discovers a warehouse or cave full of weapons and mags/ammo and can make a deal for it.  It doesn't happen as often as it once did, but as you say, stuff is still out there, and while a lot of it is slowly being destroyed in wars, the supply is still there.  Since the advent of the AK and the ease of manufacture, lots of ragtag armies are using these guns and MG34's, MP44's, MP40's, UZI's, and the like are stored away and sold off when they need money.  I still have an old FedOrd newspaper detailing an amazing find of guns and ammo in Israel sometime after the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur conflict, lots of British .303 ammo that was desperately needed by collectors in the US since they had no source to feed their Enfields.  So be patient and it will show up.  Prices will sometimes be affected if enough of any item flood the market, but the MP44 mags just keep going up and up.  I sold some for $500 each a few years back.