Warning....repro panzer mounts

[Artie in Miami]

I wanted to warn everyone about the new cnc panzer mg34 front sight/bipod mounts and antiaircraft sight mounts that are coming in from a machinist in France. These are the type that clamp on the panzerlauf (panzer bbl) when the tank is damaged and the mg34 is needed for ground use (they are part of the "ground kit" shown in Folke's book). The front sight/bipod clamps are marked "cnx" and also have an eagle w/ WaA 20 or 28 (I cannot make it out from the pic) and the anti aircraft mount is marked WaA 87.

They are much differant than the front sight bipod mount that I got from Sarco...the Sarco version have either "cnx" or the WaA marks...not both on the same part...the repros have both on each part. Also, on the top, behind the front sight mount post...there is a flat area. On the repro from France, this flat area has a sharp edge...on the original from Sarco...there is no sharp edge, and you can see the forging marks. The real sight mounts are forged, while the repros are cnc milled.

since these are expensive items, I wanted to warn everyone. If anyone would like to see the pics of the repro versus the Sarco originals...please email me at irish83397@bellsouth.net and I will be happy to oblige...maybe someone can post these pics to save our fellow collectors from a brutal "sting". I just learned this last night...apparently, this guy in France reproduces lots of WW2 field gear/accessories.

artie in miami

[JBaum]

yup, the guy in France reproduces recoil spring tubes and sells fake flab-handle cocking slides (among other things).

[bergflak]

He's been around for quite some time. Look out for what you think should be "one-of-a-kind" items, photographed on a blue background. His list of items manufactured includes ZF41 mounts for G41 rifles, sights and foldable stocks for Kampfpistole and the postwar Jugo vice front sight adjuster (don't ask me why, maybe he copied it thinking it was original!)

[Bil]

Thanks for the heads-up,guys!We need to keep on top of these guys. ---bil

[bmwr12]

you should put pics on here so all can see.

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

[bergflak]

I can go one better Darivs!

Here is a link to the "machinist"s ebay shop:

http://shop.ebay.com/miminana83/m.html? ... ksid=p4340

Maybe someone with a lot of time on their hands should download some of his photos and put them up in a "warning" thread!
He hasn't got the Panzermantel collar among his current offers, but boy has he got some scary stuff!
The MGz box appears to be an original with heavy tampering/restoring. The Granatwerfer optic box in tan is pure fantasy! Those boxes never had belt loops EVER!
Check also the MG34 bolt box he has made! Very clever, if it wasn't for the WaA it would fool most collectors!
I gotta hand it to him though, he knows his machinery!

[Artie in Miami]

Is this the guy that posts the scope mounts on ebay, and lists his location as Lisle France or something like that ? I remember seeing a zf41 mount that sold and a month later, he had another ! I try not to buy anything outside the US...I ordererd a bunch of mp44 parts from a guy in the Ukraine (via poland) and all I got was an empty box, with a hole in the side of it ! Luckily, I paid via paypal and the vendor charged me insurance (with the shipping) and kept the money. That helped paypal decide that he was a crook and I got the money back...I never complain about paypal fees since that happened !

I will try to post the pics...Darin, I can email them to you if you know how to post them (you said "this thread needs photos"), as I don't know how.

artie

[Artie in Miami]

here is one pic of the repro panzer clamp on sight mount from the french guy on ebay

artie

[Artie in Miami]

here is another view of the repro

[Artie in Miami]

this view is the most important one...on my original, the flat area behind the rear sight, does not have crisp, sharp edges. This one obviously does. I was told the originals were forged, then machined and there are forge marks on the edges...the fakes are cnc and were not forged.

artie

[Artie in Miami]

I also realized that my originals from Sarco are marked two ways...either with the three letter maker code "cnx" OR with a waffen amt with numbers under it. The repros have both these markings on them...I am told it should be one or the other...not both. After reading this, he will probably change over, but his definately have both...and they should only have one...that...plus the crisp edges on the flat area are a dead give away. This proves that the Sarco mounts did not come from this french guy.
I will take some pics of the sarco mounts and when you compare them, the differance is obvious.

(chris....I am pretty sure that we are ok with the ones from Sarco...compare the edges and let me know what you think asmith1@dadeschools.net)

artie

[Schnee]

And here is a photo of the fake AA bracket. I traded the guy in France some parts for this and the bipod bracket Artie listed above. The French guy admits he made them and offered me 40 of them! He has been auctioning them as originals for about a 8 months now and sells them all over Europe. There is a seller in Poland who has them and coats them in nice dark brown grease to give them that just found look. The original bipod brackets are made from a forging so there will be rough spots on them and not completely machined. The original aa brackets are machined all over and harder to differentiate but the French guy uses the wrong WaA#, well at least for now he does.

[Schnee]

Another veiw....

[Schnee]

And another....

[Bil]

Thanks,Artie and Ryan! ---bil

[Artie in Miami]

here is a pic of the two varieties of panzer mount from sarco...notice the flat area, it does not have a sharp edge and there are forging marks on the edge...also...the sarco version either has the "cnx" or the waffen amt...the french repro has both the cnx and the waffen-amt

[Artie in Miami]

another view of the sarco mounts..note the edge of the flat area on them...no two are the same. compare with the pic of the french repro...the repro has a sharp edge with a definate border...these have no edge and show forging marks. the french repros are cnc machined...these obviously are not.

[Artie in Miami]

I had hoped that these pics would show the edge better....maybe if you blow them up larger ? here is the last pic that I took...if you wish, I can take one with the macro lens to show the edge better...let me know

artie

[bnz]

Artie,
Can you say why there is a brownish color under neat the blue of a few of the brackets? Is it paint or were these hardened and then blued over? It seems a bit odd that both the fake and the Sarco brackets are missing the front sight posts. Could it be Sarco got some better made fakes?

Bnz