Friday, August 8, 2014

G.43 bcd Rifle Review

This rifle was sold at auction on GunBroker on 7/4/2014 for $3,125.00. I captured he auction pictures posted by the seller and the description, which you can read below:

"This is a beautiful original G-43 rifle that has been in one collection for the last 30+ years and was a GI bring back gun when obtained by that collector. The gun is a RARE Gustloff "BCD" coded rifle with a B series serial number making it rather early BCD production. The SS hoarded existing G43 parts for the rifles that were to be built at the Buchenwald Concentration camp and early BCD guns will have parts from other manufacturers and Waffenamts. These few Gustloff produced BCD coded rifles were all assmebled by the SS plant until a RAF bombing raid destroyed the SS Rifle plant at Buchenwald on Aug 24th 1944, so ending production of Gustloff G43 guns for WWII. This makes the BCD coded guns the scarcest contractor of all German G/K-43 rifle's made during WWII and hardest to find today. This gun is all matching and has many V in a circle marked parts found only on BCD guns, to include the firing pin carrier and locking lugs and the bolt. I did not strip the small parts in the reciever and there may well be more Circle V parts in the rifle. The trigger guard is marked with the proper Waa C 10 Waffenamt used by the sole contractor of G 43 triggerguards, Carl Ullrich. The front bbl band is also Ullrich production but is not marked and they seldom are. Stock is original and matching numbered and has the proper Waa/749 waffenamt as well as the proper ribbed butt plate trap, milled groove front sight ramp ect, for BCD production guns. Most of the Waffenamts I can find on the rifle are Waa 134 but the trigger and connector are Waa 359 (Walther)and as BCD rifle's were aseembled by parts hoarded by the SS before produciton started and then later supplied to Gustloff from other makers, this is not unusual to find. The bolt and all parts are all original and matching where #ed and the firing pin carrier and bolt and lugs are both V in a circle marked as you can see from the pic's. There are two unexplained tiny holes on the stock near the Waa/749 markings and they were there when the collector got the gun from the GI that brought it home. The rifle is 100% original and proper to what I can find and is consistant with the description's in Darren Weaver's fine book "Hitlers Garands" starting on page 100-105 and going so forth. This is a rare chance to own one of the scarcest of the WWII German G-43 semi auto rifles of WWII and one produced by the SS at that! Buyer to pay 40.00 for shipping and that is not with insurance and that runs approx 1.25 per 100.00 dollars of value if you want it. I do ship in professional gun boxes that are new and I use USPO priority mail. Please feel free to email and questions or if you need more pic's of anything. We do need a FFL or C/R for shipment of the rifle to you. NOTE: FREE SHIPPING WITH THE BUY IT NOW PRICE! ($5,500)"

I e-mailed Mr. Greg Newton for his thoughts on this particular rifle, who gladly gave me an in depth analysis of the rifle. I want to personally thank him for opening my eyes to some of these things that I would have never caught.


Initial Thoughts


This particular bcd G.43 rifle has a few problems with it. First and foremost, the stock has had two holes drilled through it for some sort of sling in the past. This is a real blow to the value of the rifle because one of the most important things, if not the most, is the rifle's wood (stock, handguard). The stock has been sanded/cleaned. On this rifle it was a bit tough for me to tell it had been sanded since the serial number and proofs were visible and looked crisp. However, if you compare the grain color and texture of the sling cut out on the right hand side of the stock with the rest of the rifle, it has a much darker tent to it than compared to the rest. Also, if you take a look a picture number 4 above, you will notice a black residue creeping up the grain of the right side of the stock. Whenever the butt plate rusts over many years, the stock will turn this color as it moves up the grain. A few other initial thoughts:
  • Durofol handguard is incorrect for a bcd rifle. It has also been filed down to fit this particular one, on the back right hand side. See picture number 8.
  • Gas cylinder is a later phosphate type, which is incorrect. Should be an early Type I cylinder with the two piece machining and divot, blued and serial numbered with electric pencil.
  • Gas op connecting rod is the later stepped type instead of early straight type
  • Locking lugs are suspect since there is no picture of the serial numbers shown on the front side, which should be electric pencil marked with the S/N. The left locking lug in the last picture is numbered '5' instead of a circle V, which is correct.
  • Front sight hood seems to be a smaller K98 version instead of the taller G.43 version, but without more pictures it is hard to tell.
The rifle has the correct early parts listed below seen on all early bcd G.43s:
  • Threaded muzzle nut
  • Correct closed bolt handle
  • No reinforcing rib on bolt carrier
  • Ribbed butt plate
  • No notch in the scope rail
  • Stepped rear front sight base
The rifle also has the more rare acw blued magazine.

Disclaimer: This information is only based on opinion and picture obtained from the auction. It is always welcomed for others to voice their input on the conclusions stated above if something seems inaccurate. The purpose of these articles are to purely educate and inform others. Mr. Greg Newton was kind enough to spot all these incorrect features of this rifle that I was compiled here. I would like to thank him again for his guidance and help.

Monday, June 9, 2014

ZF4 Scopes and Waffenamts

SCOPES 

"ddx" Voigtlander und Sohn
"dow" Opticotechna GmbH
"bzz" AGFA Kamerawerk
"rln" Zeiss
"jvb" (metal ZF4 scope cans) Wessel and Muller

WAFFENAMTS (number codes aka "proofs")

"WaA217" wooden ZF4 scope boxes
"WaA542" jvb metal ZF4 scope cans
"359" found on ZF4 scope mounts issued with Walther rifles, inspected by Walther
"214" found on ZF4 scope mounts issued with BLM rifles, inpsected by BLM

G43 - What's there to know?

Manufacturer Codes


Receivers

"ac" code for Walther Zella-Mehlis (commonly referred to as "Walther")
"duv" code for Berliner-Lubecker Maschinenfabrik (commonly referred to as "Berlin Lubecker" or "BLM")
"qve" code for Berliner-Lubecker Maschinenfabrik (after a change from the previous code "duv" was ordered for 1945)
"bcd" Gustloff-Werke II (made at Buchenwald concentration camp...commonly referred to as "Gustloff")

Barrels - subcontractors

"cp"
"ac"
"N"
"dtk"
"ogy"
"bys"
"cyw"

Magazines

"aye" Olympia Buromaschinenwerke
"acw" Gold-u Silberscheideanstalt Oberstein
"avx" Sudmetall AG
"awj" The Yale and Town Manufacturing Company
"gcb" Grohman u Sohn Ad Metallwarenfabrik
"rqs" Gold-u Silberscheideanstalt Oberstein (after a code change was ordered)
"k" on floorplates, may be a subcontractor code for Luck and Wagner

Stocks and Handguards

"Ac10" Subcontractor code for Carl Ullrich AG, found on small metal parts early, commonly found on stocks and G/K43 handguards
"Durofol" inside a diamond logo, handguards made of resin impregnated with wood chips, Durofol KG
"1" "2" "3" "4" found inside durofol handguards on G/K43 rifles
**Durofol handguards were likely only factory mated with Berliner Lubecker rifles, though I have seen one or two Walthers that supposedly came from Europe to America with Durofol handguards, they were probably wartime switches or replacements...most are post war switches
"PaG" Preswerk AG, G41 resin handguards

Ammunition Pouches

"ros"
"bla" EG Leuner GmbH
"Otto Koberstein"
"qkv"
"fuq" Cottbusser Lederwarenwerk Curt Vogel KG
"cny" C Pose

Waffenamts (number codes or "inspection/acceptance proofs")

"359" Walther
"214" Berliiner Lubecker Maschinenfabrik
"749" Gustloff II
"WaA98" acw and rqs magazines
"WaA204" avx magazines
"WaAB79" awj magazines
"WaAB43" aye magazines
"WaAB92" gcb magazines
"Wa134" Manufacture Nationale d' Armes St. Etienne France, subcontracted receivers, found on Walther and Gustloff rifles
"WaAA44" Merz Werke, on stamped metal action covers
"WaAAC10" Carl Ulrich AG

Serial Numbers