Gew Fakery

I've been seeing a lot more faked Gewehrs lately, mostly from a certain seller on gun broker. I was thinking it might be a good idea to post pictures of the flaws and point them out to others? If this is a dumb idea please feel free to delete.

First example. This stock has been sanded, probably refinished, and definitely renumbered. The old numbers are obvious underneath the new, deep numbers. Also, why would the German army restamp a new number over an old if they were just going to also stamp a new number? makes no sense.

I agree this is a bad stock, - exposing bad rifles is always a good thing.

1916 Danzig; bolt and stock look bad.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=231780680

I know many have a low opinion of this seller, he sells questionable rifles, - and good ones, but I think this one is good. The bolt is Danzig made, looks ok to me, and you can see what appears to be the top of a suffix under the 404 receiver serial.

Hard to say on the stock but probably good too, certainly could be ok, but I would have felt better if no renumbering was done on the smaller parts, #92 to match the earlier stock serial, or matching to the Danzig (salvaged), but hard to say and just random parts are ok too. Of course just an opinion.

All said, this seller does the one thing that makes his activities ok by me, - he images his rifles well and doesn't hide things, some of his commentary is ridiculous, but that is typical on GB..

If someone gets snookered on his auctions, it is because they are buying something they shouldn't be buying (they are not knowledgeable enough, and should be buying books, reading threads, or seeking more experienced advice before buying – these days there is no excuse for being snookered when the seller does enough "good" images.)

Paul, you're right! I hadn't looked carefully enough to notice the suffix on the barrel and receiver. The stock is all over the place, but I figure someone wanting to put together a fake would at least try to change these numbers. Plus there is a rework indicator on the buttplate. I retract my opinion that it has been faked.

I've bought two Gewehrs from the seller and he was very good to deal with both times; he even gave me a partial refund after I found one had a slightly sanded stock. A lot of people dislike that he sells fakes, but you're completely right about his good images, he's not hiding anything. I've even heard someone say they thought he faked the guns he sells, but that can't be true, the problems with the guns he sells are never consistent.

Cyrus, I have heard the same things about this seller, he buys what he finds, regardless of originality, and sells it on GB or ebay. I doubt he is altering them himself.

I have heard from quite a few people, knowledgeable collectors who are happy, sometimes thrilled by their purchase, and the occasional inexperienced buyer who got stuck with a stinker.

I think that experienced collectors can do well with his auctions, but an inexperienced person should be wary of bidding.

Current thread

My own experiences with the seller have more been as a seller as opposed to a buyer but I believe he simply puts the stuff up as he buys it and I believe that. Now some of his descriptions are off the wall but if you follow the image trail, then you get what you pay for and so 'caveat emptor'.