This business of all-matching numbers on guns opens many doors to dishonesty. Years ago when I collected WWII U.S. small arms, I knew a fellow who went around buying up inexpensive non-original Garands and carbines. He would disassemble them and pair up the matching trigger assemlys, receivers, etc. ala Winchester, Springfield, International Harvester and sell them off as original issue at a premium price. An original issue Garand or carbine is almost an impossibility, since almost all of them were wartime arsenal reworks. So, why were the Germans any different? Maybe a lot of so-called matching Lugers are arsenal reworks or just plain "gotcha" guns put together by an enterprising crook.
|