to MP-40

[Miho]

Hi,

I want to show you, and hear your opinion about it. Is it good? Or fake?
Thank you for Your help.

[bodes]

Looks like a copy to me.....Bodes

[duv]

for me to, or painted black original, but more possible it is copy

[Miho]

duv, bodes thanks

There is an opinion that it is the Czech copy.
Can be?

[pitfighter]

Bodes - you're a smart guy, I enjoy reading your posts - what's the giveaway?

It looks worn and repainted more than once - but the interior stamping looks kosher - school me.

[LES Y]

Here's a couple of pics of a repro grip, the maker marks on the repros are always H662. The repros are a different colour than the originals, more of a bright brick red colour than the brown/red of the originals.
The two fixed screw bushes on the copies are a different thread than the originals so if you have an original try swapping the screws.
The pics don't show the colour very well, I think they have been adjusted to make them darker.


Les

[LES Y]

more

[pitfighter]

Thank you, Les,

Checking mine now!

[tsmgguy]

This is a repro, as LesY said.

A worn original was used as a pattern to make the molds for these. Think how nice they would be if that same original pattern piece had the handling rash neatly removed by wet sanding with a block to avoid waviness!

These are not made of Bakelite like the originals. It's some other kind of plastic. Bakelite is a formaldehyde based phenolic resin, and was one of the first really successful plastics, dating to the early years of the 20th century. It was known for it's dimensional stability, durability, and resistance to chemicals and temperature extremes. It was also a fine electrical insulator. Whatever these are made of, the plastic is softer and less durble than the originals. The color looks good, but is somewhat off.

Whoever's making these also makes MP-40 grips and resting bars. The resting bars use an original aluminum bar for the pattern. They're even marked NURAL (Nuremburg Aluminium) because the pattern was. The original aluminum bars were narrower than the Bakelite items, so the repros are too narrow as well. I've bought a few and found that they must be removed before extensive firing or they will warp, which Bakelite would never do.

Hope that this helps!

[duv]

smell of bakelite is something that copy never have.