{"product_id":"original-imperial-german-bulgarian-contract-pre-wwi-to-wwi-leather-rifle-ammunition-pouch-collection-with-prussian-guard-wurttemberg-unit-markings-lot-of-8","title":"Original Imperial German \u0026 Bulgarian Contract Pre-WWI to WWI Leather Rifle Ammunition Pouch Collection - Lot of 8","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginal Item: Only One Available. This is a particularly interesting study group representing several generations of ammunition-carrying equipment, ranging from the Prussian M74\/87 system through Gewehr 88-era pouches and the familiar M1909 Gewehr 98 pattern. Several examples retain desirable maker, regimental, battalion, and company markings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pouches are in varying states of preservation, with most showing substantial age and service wear while remaining sound enough for normal careful handling and display. One example is somewhat more fragile than the others and would benefit from gentler handling due to the condition of the aged leather.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the earliest German examples is a Prussian M74\/87 ammunition pouch, representing the later modification of the M1874 pattern. The interior retains its characteristic twenty individual leather cartridge sleeves arranged in two rows of ten. The reverse incorporates the later central rectangular suspension ring and modified belt attachment arrangement associated with the M74\/87 configuration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf particular interest, this pouch retains a well-worn interior unit marking which appears to read:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e3.G.R.z.?.F. 2.B. 5.C.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe marking may relate to the 3. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß (3rd Guard Regiment on Foot), II Battalion, 5th Company, a Prussian Guard infantry formation, although this cannot be confirmed with certainty. The abbreviation 3.G.R. appears consistent with the regiment designation, while the remaining characters are partially obscured and not fully legible. As a result, the unit interpretation should be regarded as plausible but not definitively established.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso included is an unusual Mannlicher Model 1894-type leather ammunition pouch consistent with examples manufactured in Germany under contract for Bulgaria. This example does not contain rows of individual cartridge loops. Instead, the interior features a distinctive spring-loaded metal retaining mechanism designed to hold loaded cartridge clips. Two long leather belt loops are present on the reverse. An impressed shield-form marking is also visible inside the pouch. The design within the shield may contain intertwined letters, but it is too worn for us to identify the maker with certainty, so we have left the marking uninterpreted.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFour additional Imperial German single-body leather ammunition pouches are broadly similar in outward form; however, their surviving dates and markings indicate that they span more than one production phase.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne is maker marked:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eJ. M. ECKART\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eULM\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJ. M. Eckart of Ulm\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e was a manufacturer of Imperial German military leather equipment. The same pouch bears a worn Württemberg unit marking that appears to read approximately “\u003cb\u003eV. Württ. Inft. Regt.\u003c\/b\u003e”, followed by a “61” that appears to have been applied separately. If the principal inscription has been read correctly, “V. Württ.” would be consistent with an association with the 5th Württemberg Infantry Regiment, later known as Grenadier-Regiment “König Karl” (5. Württembergisches) Nr. 123. The accompanying “61” does not correspond to that regiment’s official Imperial German number and may instead represent a later property, inventory, or issue marking. Because the impression is worn and its individual elements may not all have been applied at the same time, the precise unit attribution remains open to further research.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA second old handwritten label gives essentially the same attribution in English. These labels appear to be later collector identifications rather than original military labels and are retained as part of the pouch's collecting history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother pouch is prominently unit marked \u003cb\u003e120.R\u003c\/b\u003e., together with a boxed \u003cstrong\u003e1888\u003c\/strong\u003e date and what appears to be II.B. for II. Bataillon. The marking identifies the pouch with Infanterie-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm, König von Preußen (2. Württembergisches) Nr. 120 and dates its marked service to 1888.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA further pouch is particularly desirable for its multiple period unit markings to Grenadier-Regiment Königin Olga (1. Württembergisches) Nr. 119. The clearest exterior stamp reads \u003cb\u003e119.R. 1883 F.B\u003c\/b\u003e., identifying Regiment Nr. 119, the year 1883, and its Füsilier-Bataillon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the Imperial German single-body ammunition pouches has clear maker and date marking, which appears to read:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eSTECHER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFREIBERG\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e1914\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMoritz Stecher of Freiberg, Saxony\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, was an established manufacturer of leather goods and military accoutrements, and the 1914 date places the pouch at the very beginning of WWI, when the German Army was mobilizing on an enormous scale while still drawing heavily upon equipment patterns and manufacturing traditions established before the war. This example has a broad, box-like body with internal divisions intended to organize ammunition carried in clips or packets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompleting the collection are two Imperial German M1909 (Patronentasche 09) ammunition pouches, the pattern most closely associated with the Gewehr 98 and the German infantryman of the First World War. Adopted only a few years before the outbreak of the war, the M1909 divided the soldier's ammunition among three separate external compartments, each protected by its own flap. German infantrymen normally wore these pouches in pairs on the equipment belt, one to either side of the buckle, producing the distinctive arrangement seen in countless photographs of German troops from 1914 onward. The compartmentalized design kept ammunition organized and readily accessible while also distributing its weight across the front of the soldier's equipment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese eight pouches provide a clear, physical timeline of German infantry equipment from the late Imperial period into the First World War. The earliest pieces date to the 1880s, when equipment was still closely tied to individual regiments and regional identities within the German Empire. The M74\/87 pouch, with its rows of individually formed cartridge loops, show how ammunition was carried as single rounds, each stored in its own leather loop. As repeating rifles and their loading systems developed, so too did ammunition carriage. Soldiers increasingly used loading clips, allowing multiple rounds to be carried and inserted into the rifle far more quickly. The Stecher of Freiberg pouch dated 1914 shows this transitional moment: still built in the traditional heavy leather style of the prewar German Army, but already adapted to a modern system based on grouped ammunition rather than individual rounds. Its date also places it at the dramatic turning point of 1914, when a peacetime army was rapidly expanding into a mass wartime force.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, the two M1909 Patronentasche 09 pouches complete the evolution. Designed for the Gewehr 98 and its five-round stripper clips, their three-pocket layout represents the fully standardized equipment of the WWI German infantryman. Compared to the earlier looped and transitional designs, they show a fully modern system in which ammunition was pre-organized into clips and distributed across purpose-built compartments for speed and efficiency.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Original Items","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45556088078405,"sku":"ONAC25SD1099","price":295.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1524\/1342\/files\/ONAC25SD1099__01.jpg?v=1786721238","url":"https:\/\/www.ima-usa.com\/products\/original-imperial-german-bulgarian-contract-pre-wwi-to-wwi-leather-rifle-ammunition-pouch-collection-with-prussian-guard-wurttemberg-unit-markings-lot-of-8","provider":"International Military Antiques","version":"1.0","type":"link"}