Hobacher or Steinhauer & Luck

[RKarum]

Hey friends, going through my CCC collection and I'm at the cross roads with the maker to this one. Examining Thom's book I think it's a Hobacher. Both the Hobacher and S&L have similar characteristics as far as the hinge, slim pin and catch. I do not see the flaws to my badge for the Hobacher so then is it the S&L? OR...could it be another unmarked manufacturer?

Thanks for the help

[RKarum]

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[Tom Yanacek]

Examining Thom's book I think it's a Hobacher. Both the Hobacher and S&L have similar characteristics as far as the hinge, slim pin and catch. I do not see the flaws to my badge for the Hobacher so then is it the S&L? OR...could it be another unmarked manufacturer?

Hello,

It is neither Hobacher nor S&L. It is a Funcke & Brüninghaus of Lüdenscheid. If you look closely above the catch you will see the inverted F.&B. L. maker mark.

Best regards,
Tom

[Tom Yanacek]

maker mark here:

[Thomas Durante]

Indeed, F&BL clasp. Maker mark is tiny as Tom noted, a typical characteristic of all original F&BL clasps.

The blood gutter of the bayonet is very elongated on F&BL clasps, so if you can remember this trait you will always be able to identify F&BL clasps from just the obverse. On the reverse, F&BL clasps will also feature circular "cloudy" areas around the hinge and catch. Very classic feature for this maker, so that can be another thing to look for in identifying the maker without really needing the maker mark.

Tom

[RKarum]

Thanks guys for clearing this up for me.

I have added a couple more pics to the catch area.

For me the letters F & BL are very hard to make out and that's why I thought it to be one of the other manufacturer's.

Thanks Thom for the additional information on spotting original F & BL CCC's as I do not remember reading this in your book.

[RKarum]

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[panzer1432]

Yes, the acorns ...quite large

[Giel VW]

Indeed an original F&BL without catch plate.