Fake MKII Frag Fuzes

[Dirt Detective]

Hey Guys, I have been wanting to do a thread on the fake / repo fuzes out there. I hope you dont mind, but if original are what you want you should know how to ID them. There is or was a guy in England selling large quanities of MKII fuzes and spoons saying he recovered them from a recycling center and he assured they were WWII vintage. Before this an original WWII vintage complete fuze and spoon sold for around $45 This guy was selling them for $10 ea. I cant prove they are repos..I didnt see when these were made but here is what I found and compared them to the original's I have.

 

In these first pics can you spot the fake?

[Dirt Detective]

In the above post with the 3 pics... the one on the left in both pics is what i believe to be a fake or repo. Can you spot the fake in the next set of pics?

[mpguy80/08]

again, the one on the left... umm, no crimp mark from the cap...

 

Wayne

[Dirt Detective]

Same with the above pics..the one on the left in both pics is the fake. The big tip off is the fuze train shaft..notice how the fake has not been crimped to hold the detonator in. Im not saying every fuze without this crimp is fake but its one thing to look for. The next thing to look for is the mold number an original will be numbered..see pics..the fake does not have the number.

[Dirt Detective]

The next two pics show a top view...looks good, I bet it wasnt cheap to do it but notice how the fake has a norrower lip in the front. Now..if these were made to WWII specs..wouldnt they be the same as these known originals? I will cover the spoon next

[kphfun]

I could'nt imagine how you can make a buck making fake fuze's but then again there is lots of strange in this world! One thing I almost never see with complete set-up's or just the fuze's are the small hard rubber gasket's, just a passing thought.

[101combatvet]

Wow... that's crazy. Thanks, for pointing this out.

[Dirt Detective]

Here is a pic showing the two spoons...a known original and the fake.... looks okay from a distance but up close..I dont think so and the bend at the top just dont look good to me. The fuze are great repos and look great on a body but they should not be sold as originals.

[Dirt Detective]

I could'nt imagine how you can make a buck making fake fuze's but then again there is lots of strange in this world! One thing I almost never see with complete set-up's or just the fuze's are the small hard rubber gasket's, just a passing thought.

 

 

Good point Kphfun, Most of the original fiber washers are found when buying with the complete fuze on the body...Original fuzes will be both painted and unpainted. The pull pins are shorter than the current ones today. I believe the current ones are the same length top and bottom and longer than WWII vintage.

[Peace]

It seems the markings on the spoons are somewhat different too. The reproduction appears to have electropenciled markings.

[gtpcamaroz]

Wow, good catch, thanks for sharing. That is something I probably wouldn't have thought would be reproduced.

[Dirt Detective]

I could'nt imagine how you can make a buck making fake fuze's but then again there is lots of strange in this world!

 

 

It just shows to go ya..if there is a buck to be made in it...they will make a repo. remember at one time original fuzes were very hard to come by and decent ones still are.

[Stressman]

Dirt Detective, I have several used fuzes that do not have any mold numbers, initials, etc. on the inside surface of the fuze  body.  Do you have any guestimate of the percentage of authentic fuzes that do not have a mold number, etc. cast onto the inside surface?  Most of my fuzes do not have them.

[Dirt Detective]

16 hours ago, Stressman said:

Dirt Detective, I have several used fuzes that do not have any mold numbers, initials, etc. on the inside surface of the fuze  body.  Do you have any guestimate of the percentage of authentic fuzes that do not have a mold number, etc. cast onto the inside surface?  Most of my fuzes do not have them.

Good question, Not all original fuzes have a mold number. I should have said that above, its just one more thing to look for.  I will try and post some originals without the number cast in it. As for a % I have no guess.