MP40 Magazine Cleaning Brush

[tsmgguy]

Original MP40 magazine cleaning brushes have been impossible to find. I've been looking for one for 30 years! Here they are, in a repro identical to the originals. These store neatly inside of the magazine loader. Link below.

At The Front also has loaders, identically made and marked to Steyr originals.

MP40 Magazine Brush (atthefront.com)

 

[tsmgguy]

This arrived and it's very well made. The bristles are cut in a square pattern, so it fits the inside of original mag bodies and loader perfectly.

 

[Nigromontanus]

Were these brushed only made by Steyr?

 

[tsmgguy]

Were these brushed only made by Steyr?

Don't know who made the brushes as they were not marked. They were general issue, one of two 1942 measures intended to increase MP40 magazine reliability. The other was the addition of pressed-in mag body ribs in an effort to reduce internal friction and stoppages.

I know the Germans didn't use lube in MP40 magazines in very cold temperatures, but I wonder what the policy was generally. I run my MP40 mags dry and find them to be absolutely reliable but reliability seems to be more a function of ammo selection than mags. 124 gr. NATO M882 or equivalent works best. White box Winchester 115 gr. will short stroke and noticeably reduce the rate of fire.

Haenel held the patents for both the Vollmer telescoping recoil spring assembly and the double stack, single feed magazines. Royalties were collected on guns produced with these features.

 

[Nigromontanus]

Thank you very much. I enrich this thread with pics of an original brush. I almost feel ashamed when I read that you have been looking out for one for more than 30 yrs. I got it sohewhere when I bought something else and even forgot when and at which occasion. It did not mean that much to me then and I only later learned that they are thought to be very rare.

May I know the source of the knowledge that the brush was introduced in 1942?

 

[hatrick]

The At the Front repro looks really nice but now that we’ve seen an original they should be informed that it should have hooks on both ends.

 

[tsmgguy]

The At the Front repro looks really nice but now that we’ve seen an original they should be informed that it should have hooks on both ends.

Not always. Here's an original that recently sold at auction.


.

 

[tsmgguy]

May I know the source of the knowledge that the brush was introduced in 1942?

Here ya go:

Magazine cleaning brush/Reinigungsbűrste fűr Magazin MP - Die Maschinenpistole 40

www.mp40.nl

 

[biggymu]

Ah that’s my good friend Alex’s website. He’s got very rare accessories for the MP.

 

[Nigromontanus]

Thank you, this website got masterly informative. What did the brush with loader go for in the auction?

 

[Nigromontanus]

I have seen today another brush in a museum. This one had also two hooks. So it appears that hoos on both ends were standard issue.