[Marvin]

Rick,


I assume you are refering to the "RC" over Crown. This is the stamp for the Reichs Testing Commision. If a part did not meet the requirements of the Waffenamt inspector it was relegated to a recycle bin for rework or scrapping. Many of these parts did not pass for various reasons and some were good parts, but did not pass due to a tolerence being off. This small infraction would not effect the usefulness of the part, but the inspectors would not pass them as they would be held responsible for a bad pistol even if it had problems in the field. The German Government formed this Commision which could over-ride the Waffen inspector and allow the part to be used. Once this stamp was on the part, the Waffen inspector would not be held liable for any future problems. There is no problem with the pistol as far as it's ability to perform, but was not up to the high quality standards of the German Government. I have noticed that most of the probelems appear to be cosmetic. I have a 1917 Erfurt that has this stamp on the barrel, frame, breechblock, middle toggle link and the rear toggle link. The pisto is all matching too and the only problem I see is the finish on the metal is not very good.


Marvin