Be cautious of calls that look brand new and smell of linseed oil. Original BECKHART calls are nearly 100 years old and will look like they saw some use. Other subtle differences to watch for are the overall condition of the call. BECKHART, but the period after the initial J will be touching the J and not evenly spaced between the two initials. On the forged calls the stamp will still read J.T. In a comparison of several well-known older original BECKHART calls the maker's stamp on those versus the newly stamped calls is slight but noticeable. This is just a good place to start becoming very suspicious of what you are buying. This is not to say that all double stamped BECKHART calls are not correct as rarely some originals were. All of these examples were double stamped with the makers mark. To date we have examined 10 calls that have been sold to unsuspecting buyers. Fortunately there are telltale signs and subtle differences that can help collectors tell the originals from current forgeries.

Again, these calls are being currently produced and are very, very realistic examples, even to the extent of being aged to look old. The forger has even gone to the extra effort of stamping the barrels with a makers stamp, to more replicate the originals. These copies are very good replicas of the original style BECKHART calls, both checkered and plain barreled versions. It has been brought to the board of director's attention that there may be some very good forgeries of BECKHART duck calls entering the market.

Antique duck hunting calls