I'm going to have to have someone experienced look over my 1939 s/42. The extractor is not stamped but the bluing looks identical to the rest of the gun. It would be hard for me to believe the extractor was blued separately from the rest of the gun.
Being a newbie, I can't yet determine from Ted's "look at it in the bright light of day" test that the bluing was original. As I bought the gun from Ralph in "mint original" condition, I assume the blueing is original. If the gun was re-worked and re-blued, I would expect the extractor to have the "s42" replacement stamp, which is not the case. Neither the extractor nor the toggle rear axle pin is stamped.
I attribute the lack of stamping to the transition period during which the gun was produced. If the ever-efficient Germans did in fact stamp every small part on the gun, then I don't have a ready explanation why neither the extractor nor toggle axle are stamped.
Ah, the plot thickens!
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