After examining the toggle photograph in high magnification...
At point "A" we can see that the last two digits of the serial number is 81 as shown on the extractor... There is a faint trace of a two digit serial number remaining on the toggle... the number can't be an 81 because the bottom of both digits is rounded and not flat as the bottom of the one should appear.
At point "B" it appears that the chamfer or bevels that normally appear on the top sides of the toggle have been reduced in size (probably by milling or surface grinding... this would account for the lack of a manufacturer's stamp in the middle of the toggle... the fact that there is a trace of the serial number digits but no manufacturer's mark indicates to me that the grinding operation was not perfectly in a plane with the flat surface of the toggle... in other words, the serial numbered end of the toggle was just a tad low when the grinding operation took place... so the toggle ends up with a new flat surface but not in the same plane as the original...
At the opposite end of the toggle (point "C"), we can see uneven marks where the milling or grinding operation ended near the toggle to breechblock joint...
So, my conclusion (read that OPINION) is that based on the auction photograph, this toggle has been replaced by one of WW2 manufacture and the mark to identify the maker has been removed to hide that fact from the uninformed...
This would not be a something done by a previous owner with a file... this had to be done by a machinist or a gunsmith with appropriate power tools.
Because of reflection, there is no way to determine how close the new finish matches the finish on the rest of the gun.
I classify this gun as a very nice looking SHOOTER... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> not a collectable (at this point in time).
That's my
and I'm stickin' to it... unless someone can come up with a really good reason to change...
<img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />