waffenampt stamps amd acceptance stamps

[pitts duncan]

in ww2 certain inspectors worked in certain plants and inspected and approved guns holsters etc. they had stamps they applied to the approved items of various types. the most common of these were an eagle over a swastika, and an eagle over a WAa63 ,etc which was the actual identifying stamp of a particular inspector. as inspectors moved from plant to plant they took thier stamps with them. provenance of a particular firearm can be checked by which inspector worked in a particular plant and approved a particular gun. soooooooooo heres my question when these stamps were applied there appears to be some color to them. either the stamps were black, blue or indigo blue. i pulled an old stock out and remembered it as being indigo blue when put away but looks black now. what is the consencious of opinion on the color used when waffens were stamped on wood gun stocks?

[Johnny Peppers]

I have not seen any of the colored stamps. Could you post pictures of this?

[pitts duncan]

hey johnny, my memory recalled the blue hue to the stamps but they do infact look black or brown as the wife says. perhaps its the compression of the wood that gives that black , dark outline to the stamping? what do youthink?

[Johnny Peppers]

I believe what you are seeing is where the wood fibers were broken when the stamps were applied, and over the years the broken fibers have absorbed oil and grime, making them darker than the surrounding wood.
When the NRA/DCM sold the M1 Carbines in the 1960's many of them went to people that were not gun collectors. The acceptance stamps in the wood were a blemish to many of those people and they immediately sanded them off. Even though all the stamping was sanded off, when new finish was applied the stamp was again visible. The grease and grime had colored the wood in the exact shape of the stamp, making it appear as almost an ink stamp.
On the stock shown the scratches around the markings are also dark.

[Bob in OH]

IMO, JP is spot on... no ink, and dirt and grime darken the cartouche... conversely, a minty rifle will have a light cartouche...

[Matt Weber]

I agree with Bob and Johnny. No color was applied that I know of, or seen. Just dirt inside the recesses of the wood.

Matt

[pitts duncan]

thanks i have applied my stamps to my new stock without any color. looks the same as old stock. you were apparently right on. compression of the wood apparently gives a dark hue.

[pitts duncan]

waffens in color

IMO, JP is spot on... no ink, and dirt and grime darken the cartouche... conversely, a minty rifle will have a light cartouche...

thanks bob been a long time since i posted about colored waffeens. rifle restoration is now finished and i used no color when i stamped waffens on new stock.