[Ron Wood]

I have shown the photo of this tool that I came across in my parts box to a couple of folks that are way smarter than me. They said that it may be authentic. The shape and the wide thin cutout that hooks on the magazine follower button are typical Simson characteristics.

But, I have a couple of reservations. The raw edge of the blank when it is punched out of the sheet stock is usually smoothed down with a file. This tool has a very pronounced rough ridge along one side that didn’t get cleaned up. This is cosmetic and does not affect the function of the tool. The other thing is the Eagle/6 mark. There is an indent on the lower left side of the mark. This sometimes indicates a reproduction die, but the indent from a repro die strike usually goes completely around the mark. The Eagle/6 looks pretty authentic and it could be that it was stamped a little skewed so that the end of the die left an indent on the lower left of the mark. Both of these “flaws” might be attributed to Simson being primarily devoted to the production of military goods. The finish on Simson Lugers is not super smooth and possibly this tool was not worth a lot of effort to them to make it pretty. If it worked, it was OK.

An authentic Simson tool is scarce and a bit expensive. The tool does not fit in with my collection so I would like to sell it to someone that needs it if it is genuine. If it is a fake I’ll just toss it back in the parts box. I am posting it here to get a general consensus.
Thanks.
Ron