Article about: Hi, i'm here in order to clarify something that won't let my mind rest. I'm at the point of buying a Sturmesser, everything looks good to me, but there are just one detail that wont go away
Hi, i'm here in order to clarify something that won't let my mind rest. I'm at the point of buying a Sturmesser, everything looks good to me, but there are just one detail that wont go away from my thoughts. Searching the web, i found an old listing with an identical 1917 Sturmesser (different producer). Ok , nothing strange about that, but the knife has the same strange pattern on the scabbard (looks like something splashed) as the one i intend to buy, and both are sold from Poland....
Now, the one i was looking after is marked W (Wiener Waffen Fabrik) the one sold months ago is marked R (Resicka). On both knifes i observ a very slight difference on the blade, compared to other Sturmesser...
So, could this Wiener Waffen Fabrik be a genuine one, considering the above circumstances...?
Both Stm17 looks strange wrong material of grip and rivets probably,on the first one is not correct stamp of Redtenbacher so when the piece is wrong is possibility the second is too problematic? It loooks like scabbard were chemicaly patinated to look old.b.r.Andy
My biggest concern, strangely, was mostly the scabbards....what are the chances to find online 2 Sturmesser, both with very very similar scabbard ''pattern'' and both from Poland. Now, i don't want to state that everything coming out from Poland should be fake, but that scabbard detail catched very much my attention, after i found the auction and the knife to compare to the one i was looking after and observing that strange pattern on the scabbard. Even more strange is the blade shape, its form, which is identical in both daggers. When i saw the first one, the one i intended to buy, i've noticed that the blade wasn't in a perfect ''leaf'' shape, as it should be a Sturmesser one (even after some use). Afterwards, i ended up thinking that maybe it was sharpened on a side, considering also its condition, which looked ''used''. But also the second knife, the one sold months earlier, had the same blade shape...
Having that said, i must add that overall the dagger had some convincing details (as some patina) but overall i did not go for it. It was sold for 120$, maybe i did right, maybe i lost by not buying it...i attach few more pics of the dagger (the one i was intending to buy). I saw plenty of replica WW1 daggers, but mostly German ERN's, i must say that i never saw a replica/sturmesser fake...
Hello, the stamp is probably wrong, You should compare it, it looks different as normal, for this speaks a wrong acceptance stamp on crossguard, wrong shape of blade sharpening step, Poland is well known of reproductions made, when they would sale it as reproduction it would be no problem, but some people proof it to patinate and sale as origins. thanks for sharing.When one piece is wrong from a source, so in major cases the source is wrong at all.b.r.Andy
With your updated pictures, I (now) agree with Andy. The knife & scabbard in question appears different than any I have seen before (in the details). Yes, there are reproductions of the M1917 Sturmmesser, but they have "sold out."
Here a nice original of our member Reibert, the other side of blade should be normally stamped with other stamp too and a he has a nice acceptance eagle on crossguard..b.r.Andy
PS the dimmension of WWF stamp is little larger but is very good made on the reproduction,that means in some years would be problem to destine its wrong or good.
Thanks all for the details. As i've said, i'm not an expert when it comes about trench daggers (i own only an Arditi dagger) but starting with the ''dotted'' scabbard, and continuing to the WWF stamp (which i think that it should have a ''mirror'' stamp also on the blade's obverse, not WWF but something else) i smelled something possibly rotten. I must say that the second dagger which have sold months ago, i mean finding its auction and seeing the almost identical treated scabbard, played a major role in my decision. I must say (like you already noticed) that for a replica isn't that bad....i believe that it could trick more that an inexperienced guy like me. So, at least, i'm happy with the fact that i did not bought it, and that maybe this thread would help others, in a similar situation. The user that had the dagger on sale, has various ebay accounts, so that could be also an extra hint.
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