same can be said about Atwood's book which IMO deliberately included his post war fabrications to give them credibility.
As we look back from this point in time, the sad truth is that some books have been used as tools for selling not just outright fakes, but sometimes with altered "humped up" items as well.
While Arizona is a tad more severe, I�ve lived and worked in both Germany and the Southwest, with a large part of California being simply irrigated desert. At one time I was a fairly serious collector of rifles including the Mausers (German, CZ, and FN). Having rifles that spent a great deal of their time out in the elements ranging from Arctic conditions to the Equatorial jungle. So I think that I have some understanding of climactic changes as seen with a number of period items.
I�m going to try and keep this brief and simplistic,
agreeing that too much force from the pommel nuts is what caused the wood to break off (shear) from the grips. But for far too many of these, it wasn�t simply from expansion and contraction. That�s because wood shrinks by a factor of 10 to 1 from the edges, as compared to top and bottom (lengthwise). And with wood that shrank 1/16, 1/8/, 3/16 inch (whatever) on the sides, the lengthwise portion is going to be 1/10 of that. Which is also why the many, many thousands of still well fitted political daggers don't have loose grips. And any corresponding expansion from the atmosphere (if it happens) is not nearly as dramatic as wood that has been immersed. There is more like the way the wood has broken off, and some other things, but as I said I�m trying to keep it brief and simple.
Here is another Gau marked �Type I� with multiple problems. It has gaps. Some big pieces are missing from where the top of the grip meets the crossguard. And it has an ill fitting metal to metal juncture where the crossguard meets the mouthpiece (and some other issues). Is this just another example of �natural forces at work� - or has someone been fooling around? Regards to All, Fred
