Fake or Not?
At first, I suspected this was a faked end of war piece. Collectors of such things seem to prize "last ditch" German weapons. In his listing, the seller himself seems to have doubts.
I'd thought that these with the phosphate finish were seen only in the very last guns, a few with H (second series) serial number prefixes, but mostly with K (second series) prefixes. The gun in this listing has a C (2nd series) prefix. However, in re-reading my VIS Radom book, by Wm. York, there is mention of some outlier phosphate finished guns noted with A and B (2nd series) serial numbers. Which are considered rare; they are assumed to be assembled out of serial sequence at the end of the war. From pistol kits shipped from Poland that got lost or whatever. Which requires a bit of explanation.
When the Russians were close to overrunning Poland, the manufacturing equipment and contents of the VIS factory were moved to Austria. Steyr had been managing the Radom plant and making the barrels. Parts were being shipped around, trains were getting blown up, so weird things were happening.
The plain 623 acceptance mark on the slide looks correct for very late production. The little eagle proof on the barrel lug looks like it was etched on, not stamped.
Re. the holster. Initially, I'd thought that might be a GI-fabricated thing. However, also in York's book he states the Germans made several shoulder holster variations, all unmarked. Looking at the pictures again, it can be seen that the holster body has the strap on the back for belt fitting. Which shows that no matter who made the shoulder fittings, it probably had originally been made with a full flap covering and for belt wear.
The grips are a little troubling. The concentric grooves are obviously hand carved. But they look old. Typically, these were done by machine and the grooves are perfectly spaced. Then again, most of the workers in the factory by this time were Jewish forced laborers from nearby concentration camps. Maybe there was one worker in a corner who was told to make some by hand. In his book, York says sometimes wooden field replacements were made, but this gun was made so late in the war that you'd doubt it would've acquired a set of those.
So this gun may or may not be very rare, or may or may not be fake. Personal examination might clear it up. Several maybes.
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At first, I suspected this was a faked end of war piece. Collectors of such things seem to prize "last ditch" German weapons. In his listing, the seller himself seems to have doubts.
I'd thought that these with the phosphate finish were seen only in the very last guns, a few with H (second series) serial number prefixes, but mostly with K (second series) prefixes. The gun in this listing has a C (2nd series) prefix. However, in re-reading my VIS Radom book, by Wm. York, there is mention of some outlier phosphate finished guns noted with A and B (2nd series) serial numbers. Which are considered rare; they are assumed to be assembled out of serial sequence at the end of the war. From pistol kits shipped from Poland that got lost or whatever. Which requires a bit of explanation.
When the Russians were close to overrunning Poland, the manufacturing equipment and contents of the VIS factory were moved to Austria. Steyr had been managing the Radom plant and making the barrels. Parts were being shipped around, trains were getting blown up, so weird things were happening.
The plain 623 acceptance mark on the slide looks correct for very late production. The little eagle proof on the barrel lug looks like it was etched on, not stamped.
Re. the holster. Initially, I'd thought that might be a GI-fabricated thing. However, also in York's book he states the Germans made several shoulder holster variations, all unmarked. Looking at the pictures again, it can be seen that the holster body has the strap on the back for belt fitting. Which shows that no matter who made the shoulder fittings, it probably had originally been made with a full flap covering and for belt wear.
The grips are a little troubling. The concentric grooves are obviously hand carved. But they look old. Typically, these were done by machine and the grooves are perfectly spaced. Then again, most of the workers in the factory by this time were Jewish forced laborers from nearby concentration camps. Maybe there was one worker in a corner who was told to make some by hand. In his book, York says sometimes wooden field replacements were made, but this gun was made so late in the war that you'd doubt it would've acquired a set of those.
So this gun may or may not be very rare, or may or may not be fake. Personal examination might clear it up. Several maybes.
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