Authenticity Issues

Heydrich · 07-06-2002, 01:27 AM

I have been reading some of the older posting threads in this forum concerning the strongly debated issue of firearm authenticity. Looks like this topic has caused lots of problems. Being so new here, I hope that nobody minds if I make my own (hopefully!) objective comments:

I can't state strongly enough that this issue is not inclusive to this forum. Or this type of German collectable. Authenticating the various models of German WW2 weapons such as pistols, rifles, submachine guns and the powerful squad level machine guns is something that has brought about very hotly debated episodes in ALL the various collector markets. I can't emphasis this enough. To be quite blunt, there is a lot of money at stake here. Many people say that money is the root of all evil; in this case its a prime example.

Lets be honest, there are a lot of fakes out there. In his book, “Hitler’s Garands”, Darren Weaver devotes an entire chapter to spotting G/K43 fakes. Not only that, in the various other chapters he gives notes on spotting fake individual components for this collectable rifle (like bogus ZF4 sniper scopes). The market is full of counterfeit G43s it would seem. And anyone who has a G43 for sale will expect you to drop down a lot of money for it, whether they know it’s a fake or not. And as many of you are surely aware of, many neo-Nazi groups in the USA routinely counterfeit Third Reich items to scam people and make some good money.

Weaver notes that it is a very few dishonest dealers who taint the entire G43 market. I’m sure this is the case with German vintage pistols. As some of you might know from my initial posts, I enjoyed collecting a few K98 rifles before I stumbled upon the DWM Luger I purchased at a pawnshop. Even in the “low end” market of bolt-action rifles, (about 12 million K98k rifles were manufactured during WW2) there have in recent years been cases of outright fraud concerning even these items. Particularly the snipers, which can sell for thousands.

It has gotten to the point were I am truly souring on the German collectable market. I doubt I will ever buy another Luger pistol again. This may sound like sacrilege to members of this forum, but it is simply not worth it overall. I have now entered a stage in my life were I am simply happy dragging around my beat up old 1944 K98 shooter rifle through the woods, and shooting at tin cans with it. Isn’t that the point of becoming a collector of anything in the first place, to have fun?

-Curt Jensen

07-06-2002, 01:27 AM	#1
Heydrich Banned Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 181 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Authenticity Issues I have been reading some of the older posting threads in this forum concerning the strongly debated issue of firearm authenticity. Looks like this topic has caused lots of problems. Being so new here, I hope that nobody minds if I make my own (hopefully!) objective comments: I can't state strongly enough that this issue is not inclusive to this forum. Or this type of German collectable. Authenticating the various models of German WW2 weapons such as pistols, rifles, submachine guns and the powerful squad level machine guns is something that has brought about very hotly debated episodes in ALL the various collector markets. I can't emphasis this enough. To be quite blunt, there is a lot of money at stake here. Many people say that money is the root of all evil; in this case its a prime example. Lets be honest, there are a lot of fakes out there. In his book, “Hitler’s Garands”, Darren Weaver devotes an entire chapter to spotting G/K43 fakes. Not only that, in the various other chapters he gives notes on spotting fake individual components for this collectable rifle (like bogus ZF4 sniper scopes). The market is full of counterfeit G43s it would seem. And anyone who has a G43 for sale will expect you to drop down a lot of money for it, whether they know it’s a fake or not. And as many of you are surely aware of, many neo-Nazi groups in the USA routinely counterfeit Third Reich items to scam people and make some good money. Weaver notes that it is a very few dishonest dealers who taint the entire G43 market. I’m sure this is the case with German vintage pistols. As some of you might know from my initial posts, I enjoyed collecting a few K98 rifles before I stumbled upon the DWM Luger I purchased at a pawnshop. Even in the “low end” market of bolt-action rifles, (about 12 million K98k rifles were manufactured during WW2) there have in recent years been cases of outright fraud concerning even these items. Particularly the snipers, which can sell for thousands. It has gotten to the point were I am truly souring on the German collectable market. I doubt I will ever buy another Luger pistol again. This may sound like sacrilege to members of this forum, but it is simply not worth it overall. I have now entered a stage in my life were I am simply happy dragging around my beat up old 1944 K98 shooter rifle through the woods, and shooting at tin cans with it. Isn’t that the point of becoming a collector of anything in the first place, to have fun? -Curt Jensen