As far as I know, the validity of the Q1 stamp is very limited. Merkel themselves say, that all guns made in the GDR for export to the West were stamped with Q1 only for advertising purposes..
Usually quality with Merkel guns was no problem until the 1970ies.
But for sure, you always have to inspect the gun carefully.

You can find Q1 stamps also on Simson guns made in GDR.

Cheers,
Gunwolf

Last edited by Gunwolf; 07/28/15 02:56 PM.