[lugerholsterrepair]

Nick, If it's so hard, how do you explain the proof being so deep? I just did a test with some mild steel and a mumbering die. I whacked it with a 3# hammer. I could get it to mark OK with a pretty good strike, a good solid heavy strike produced a clear number. No way I could dent the steel like that shown on your tool. The only way I could get a deep strike like yours was on brass....
These proofs were struck with a hand held die and a hammer by the Germans I suspect and that's why many originals you see are lightly stamped.
Do you have any known original tools to compare with?
I fool with tools and tool pockets of holsters a lot in my chosen trade...even ONE insertion of a tool into a tool pouch and the interior mushroomed steel stud on the underside will mar the hell out of a tool as it scrapes the front apon insertion and extraction.
I don't ever see this mark on yours!
Jerry Burney