Are you looking at the right FAQ?
http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthre...threadid=13121
25) Difference in real or fake loading tools:
Regarding your question; yes the totally reproduced tools aren't up to standards. I have posted a picture showing an original tool, on top, and two reproduced tools. Note the thickness differences and the detail on the edges. An original tool should measure 2.5 mm in thickness. This is according to military specifications. The entire tool had to made to spec, the point of the bend on top, the width of the grooves on the back the length of the tool, etc. Over or under would be cause to reject them. The other two in the attached picture are oversize. The bottom one is 3mm thick. Also note the difference in the length of the material at the bend of the tool on the bottom.
One would think that something as simple as a loading tool shouldn't provide any mysteries but that isn't the case. They have been, and continue to be, faked, boosted, enhanced, what ever. Sarco has a decent total repro tool that is selling for $5.65 unmarked and $12.50 stamped with an E/63 acceptance stamp. It isn't a bad effort, wouldn't fool the knowledgeable, but if you want a tool to stick in your tool pouch, it serves the purpose. However, while some of these tools are totally bogus, others are original blank tools that have had bogus acceptance stamps applied . I have heard reports from credible sources and have seen pictures of crates of unissued WWII vintage blank tools that were purchased in Europe after the fall of the East Block and brought into the US. Figure: using stamps that are readily available (a year or two ago, sets of WWII German proofs and numbers were advertised in Shot Gun News, either as sets or individually) and you can turn an unmarked tool into a high grade $100+ E/135, E/2 Luft, Kreigs, etc., simply with the strike of a hammer.
So what is the answer? Usually, advice that a new collector doesn't want to hear. It takes time and looking at a lot of pictures and actual tools to get a feel for what is good and what isn't. And with that said, I am certain that there are tools out there that would fool me and most other collectors. I have approx 50 tools, mixed WWII and Imperial, that for various reasons, I feel are legit, however, and there are a couple that, depending on my frame of mind, cause me to wonder. I have a half dozen or so bogus tools that I have picked up to use as a quid. A couple, I will admit, I bought thinking that they were legit.
Pictures of your pistol would show me if it had a sear safety, although this same FAQ discuesses that also
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