RIA's "1902 Carbine"

[Ron Wood]

RIA was careful to describe this carbine as a “custom”…reading between the lines that indicates that it is not factory original. According to them it was made as a companion to a carbine that was sold at the previous auction;

The carbine sold at the previous auction was serial number 10110.C. and was a totally authentic Georg Luger supervised transitional piece. It was created from a 1900 Luger frame or a converted 1902 Carbine. The conversion consisted of replacing the laminated flat mainspring with a coil spring and modifying the frame by inserting a web to support the bell crank assembly required for the coil spring. The toggle assembly, bearing the distinctive GL marking, is of the new model with flat sided toggle knobs and with the transitional breechblock found in the 1903/04 Navy and French Lugers. The toggle latch on the frame was machined off even with the frame rail. The extractor has the unique narrow “ears” found only on these very early “New Model” Lugers.. Since the coil spring provided sufficient strength to operate the heavy barrel/receiver and forestock, the auxiliary spring assembly in the forestock was removed and the recess carefully filled in with a wood insert that was so well matched that it is barely discernable.

At the request of Mr. Bob McBratney, the owner of both carbines, a group of us had the opportunity to do a detailed tear-down and assessment of serial number 10112.C. at last year’s Louisville show. Mr. McBratney had contacted me earlier seeking my thoughts on the carbines and had his son, Morgan, coordinate the inspection of the carbine at the show. Bob did not want the piece auctioned off as a “true and correct” piece as stated by Ralph Shattuck if it was not. The inspection quickly revealed that the piece was a total non-factory creation. The toggle train is a standard 1906 New Model configuration and the frame web insert is not nearly as finely crafted as the authentic 10110.C. example. The barrel serial number is pantographed rather than stamped. At best it is a “custom” piece, at worst it is a deliberate fake. A representative of RIA was at the inspection and the auction description was carefully crafted to avoid any positive statement of authenticity. It is a very nicely crafted piece but not of the pedigree of 10110.C.

We will never know if Ralph was deceived by the piece himself or if he reported it as "true and correct" knowing it was not. It takes more than a casual look to spot the discrepancies.