4T fake mounts

[Roger Payne]

As a long established 'faker' may I insert my two penn'orth here? We seem to be mixing up the word 'fake' with 'reproduction'. As many of you know I have been getting what are generally considered to be decent quality copies of the No32 bracket made since 1989/90 & whilst they are quite close copies of original Dalgleish brackets they are distinguishable, & moreover I have always sold them as faithful reproductions. I do not need to 'fake them up' or try to pass them off as originals as I have always been able to sell them faster than I have been able to get them made, even sold as copies as they are! I am currently awaiting the next batch & already have a waiting list.

The word 'fake' is rather emotive, & to me, in this context, is best applied to a copy No32 bracket that someone is attempting to pass off as an original - something I do not do. In more recent years a number of other copy brackets have appeared on the market - made in the Far East, India, & Eastern Europe. To the best of my knowledge the original marketers of these brackets have never attempted to pass them off as the real thing; the problem arises when they have changed hands a few times & somebody decides to get creative! Fortunately most attempts are pretty crude, & if one has access to the relevant books, such as Peter's & Ian Skennerton's then the outlay on these will stop the tyro from making an expensive mistake (as well as being a good read). Whilst at a fair in Belgium last year I was offered a pile of 'original Canadian No32 mounts' by one enterprising dealer. In fact they were simply the cheap Far Eastern copies with spurious Long Branch serial numbers engraved upon them..........but there you go; there will always be a temptation to some!

But please, let's not tar everyone selling honest reproductions to shooters who want to restore their 4T as 'fakers'..........

ATB