FAKES AND REPLICAS
© Anthony G Williams
This article first appeared in the March 2005 issue of 'The Cartridge Researcher', the Journal of ECRA
(the European Cartridge Research Association)
For those of us who like to collect different case types within a category of ammunition, there will always be those elusive cartridges which are so rare as to be either unobtainable, or far too expensive for most budgets. This provides the opportunity for fakes and replicas to flourish.
First, I had better distinguish between them. In both cases, every effort is made to reproduce the appearance of the genuine article. The difference, in my opinion, is that a fake attempts to confuse people into believing that it is genuine, whereas a replica does not. The difference is usually in the headstamps: a fake will copy a genuine headstamp, whereas a replica will not. Fake cartridges may also be treated chemically to make them appear older than they are. The final difference is, of course, that a fake will be priced to sell as if it were genuine, a replica will not.
Many collectors will reject anything other than the genuine article, whether it is a fake or a replica. Others, including myself, are interested in obtaining representative examples of different cartridges for comparative purposes and, if the genuine item is not available, will purchase a good replica.
This photograph shows a number of replica cartridges from my collection. The projectiles are genuine but the cases are replicas, except for the 24mm which appears to have a replica projectile in a modified 20x138B case. The cartridges are all experimental and some may never actually have been manufactured; I believe that these examples have been made from factory drawings. The headstamps in all but the 24mm consist of an 'R' in a circle to indicate that they are replicas. They are (from left to right):
13x77B, 13x91 (Breda), 13x94 (PzB; interim between 13x92SR and 7.92x94 PzB), 13x100B, 13x105, 15x135 (20/15mm Polte), 20x135 (Polte), 20x138RB, 24x138B (the 20x138B necked out), 30x91 (MK 212: Mauser's rival to the MK 108), 30x110B. These are all WW2 experimental cartridges (nearly all German) which have been reconstructed from factory drawings (although the projectiles are genuine). Any more detailed information about these rounds would be welcomed. I did at first think that the 20x138RB might be the MK 108/20 for which drawings exist, but the case is too slender.
