I saw this nice looking, but re-finished, Erfurt Artillery for sale last week. It really peaked my interest, as it is a 1914 with 1920 property stamp And a police sear safety and police markings.
I am partial to artillery lugers and police lugers, so I had to have it.
Fast forward a week, it arrived today. Gave it a quick look in the shop when I picked it up, I new it had a couple "anomalies" from the sales pictures, so home it came for a closer inspection.
Quick exam showed the expected restored finish and replace grips- both of which were visible in the pictures on line.
But a couple or three things nagged- why would a pistol with bright shiney bore and no external pitting need a re-finish, and why did a police pistol, which should have a 1 or 2 numbered mag by the time it got a sear safety, still have a like new double Erfurt inspection matching magazine with a DWM body.
Well the answer is that the entire barrel is new, with fake markings and numbers, the frame is partially renumbered, and the magazine is a total fabrication.
So how do we know this? Fortunately all we have to do on these forums is ask for help and opinions. It also helps to have a genuine 1914 Erfurt for direct comparison- which I do.
Long story a little shorter, there are "tells" that anyone can observe if one knows what to look for.
The added numbers are pantographed, not struck with a stamp or die- pantographing leaves tell-tale rounded ends and markings from the swirling of the tool in the numbers or letters, also there is no displaced metal as is seen in a stamp. You can see the pantographed numbers in the pictures below- on the magazine, barrel, the 3 and 9 on the frame are enhanced.
All the barrel numbers and the suffix are pantographed!
Compare the difference between the "7s" on the frame and the barrel; on the frame they have square ends, elsewhere they are rounded. The expected harp/square ends are clearly visible for comparison on the chamber numbers, the others should be similar- just smaller.
Notice how the inspection marking on the take down lever is faint, compared with the strong "77" and the really sharp RC and C/x marking on the barrel in close proximity.
The magazine is tougher to see in the grooves, but the rounded ends are there, and there is no displaced wood.
Also the numbers and inspections on the rear sight are not in the right places, nor are they stamped. The sight elevator clearly shows the panto-graphed numbers on the right or lower pistol vs. the fine stamped markings of the genuine 1914. Also the inspection stamps are not as small on the fake, and too "sharp".
The front sight fine tune screw, slot, and blade are a sloppy fit on the fake, compare them with the fine work and fitting of the genuine barrel which is on top/left. Even the adjustment holes are off center in the fake.
The markings on the top of the front sight are also missing on the fake, I guess they are too small to do with the tools at hand.
And the guy was too lazy or in too big a hurry to polish off the blue under the slider, notice the dark spot with the slider pushed up!
If that is not enough, the mirror bore- with non standard rifling- is a clue, and most telling is that the obduration ring in the chamber is missing, it would be present in an original 1914 barrel.
This work is scary good, from 3 feet or in online pictures.
While this work may have started out as a true and known to the owner restoration- the work was not cheap- by the time it passed to a second owner or a dealer and to me it is just a fake and an example of what we as collectors have to be on the lookout for.
Lucky for me I bought it from a dealer that stands behind his goods, so it is on the way back for a full refund.
I hesitated before posting these comparisons, lest they "instruct" the fakers; but decided the education was worth the chance that it might help them improve.
Basically it is too much trouble, and too expensive in time and tools to do a "perfect" fake job; thank goodness that fakers are lazy. JMHO.
