Has this G/K43 stock been messed with?

Someone brought it to my attention that this stock looks like it has been sanded or varnished. What do you think? I don't see it but maybe I just don't have the best eye for these. Thank you for the help!

It's hard to tell from the quality of those pics. Someone could have oiled that stock for maintenance or preservation some time ago. It doesn't look like a pimp-shine refinish job. Although, the left and right elevation views of the entire rifle do have a shine that would suggest it's been oiled with something like BLO and possibly lightly sanded or cleaned up with steel wool. It doesn't look freshly oiled.

Is the stock original to the rifle? Is the rifle original?

It's a nice looking rifle.

Regards

tjg79 said:

It's hard to tell from the quality of those pics. Someone could have oiled that stock for maintenance or preservation some time ago. It doesn't look like a pimp-shine refinish job. Although, the left and right elevation views of the entire rifle do have a shine that would suggest it's been oiled with something like BLO and possibly lightly sanded or cleaned up with steel wool. It doesn't look freshly oiled.

Is the stock original to the rifle? Is the rifle original?

It's a nice looking rifle.

Regards

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Stock is original and the rifle is all matching.

That's a nice rifle.

It's doesn't look like anyone attempted to refinish the stock to me. As I indicated, someone may have cleaned it up with some BLO and steel wool. It could have been waxed as well. It doesn't look abused.

If it's original all matching, then it probably wasn't fired much, because these rifles break parts easily and then you've got a non-original rifle.

They make shooter kits for these rifles so you don't risk breaking original parts.

I think that's a high dollar rifle.

Regards

tjg79 said:

That's a nice rifle.

It's doesn't look like anyone attempted to refinish the stock to me. As I indicated, someone may have cleaned it up with some BLO and steel wool. It could have been waxed as well. It doesn't look abused.

If it's original all matching, then it probably wasn't fired much, because these rifles break parts easily and then you've got a non-original rifle.

They make shooter kits for these rifles so you don't risk breaking original parts.

I think that's a high dollar rifle.

Regards

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What is a good price range for such a rifle?

Stephen Stout said:

What is a good price range for such a rifle?

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A good price range varies depending on the view of a buyer or seller. If I was looking to buy that rifle, assuming it's as you describe, anything under $2K would be considered a good take it now price. That may not be a realistic price for an original excellent to mint condition rifle.

What do you think you can get it for?

tjg79 said:

A good price range varies depending on the view of a buyer or seller. If I was looking to buy that rifle, assuming it's as you describe, anything under $2K would be considered a good take it now price. That may not be a realistic price for an original excellent to mint condition rifle.

What do you think you can get it for?

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Getting it for $3600 shipped.

That is a nice Walther, If it is all matching and in good working order (VG condition) with a nice bore I think you can get at least 3K for it.
That being said the stock has been messed with, it looks lightly sanded or heavily buffed with steel wool. The finish appears to be shiny and hard, I would strongly suspect that some kind of Varnish has been applied not pure BLO.

You may or may or may not want to remove the Varnish as it is not correct for the G/K43. Depending on what type of Poly/Varnish was used it may not be easy to remove. I would test a small area of the stock with acetone to see how hard it is to remove what is on your stock. If the Acetone does not easily remove the Poly/Varnish forget it, you will just Damage the stock and lower the value of your investment.

I have owned 7 (now 6) of these rifles and examined many others over the years, 85% of them have been altered by people over the years in one way or the other. Unfortunately that's just the way it is.

Good luck

HDH.

One good area to look at regarding stock originality would be to remove the sling from the rear slot and photograph this area close up on both sides. This can sometimes reveal a lot, especially if you think it was sanded or cleaned.

This is a very late 1944 production most likely in December so I would expect the stock to show some evidence of pantograph marks and some cross grain belt sanding marks somewhere. I would guess someone's cleaned it up a bit at some point but certainly it was done with some care preserving the stock markings. I'm guessing, but what appears to be a Durafol handguard is probably not original to the rifle and may be a bit of a collectors "enhancement".

You could do worse! Overall very nice

Stephen Stout said:

Getting it for $3600 shipped.

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Was that the asking price? Or, was that a negotiated price? It seems you're paying a top price for that rifle. A top price means that you'd have a difficult time selling without a loss in the near term.

There's nothing wrong with paying a top price. I've done it before when I don't feel like waiting for a similar condition rifle to show up at a price that suits me.

I've seen a similar condition rifle bought for a little more that half of what you are paying, but those deals are hard to find. In most cases, the seller knows that they can get a top price if they aren't in a hurry to sell.

Like others have said, look like it has maybe had some type of BLO, oil, linspeed, ballistol...post war done, wartime done, impossible to tell. I do see a few sanding marks still, here and there, which is always nice to see.

Thanks for the help I just wanted to make sure I made a good buying decision. Here is the link to the rifle on the trader: http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?11006-WTS-ac44-p-block-K43

When you get the rifle, post some good pics of the wood. It would be interesting to know what type of finish it has. Multiple coats of BLO or LO with steel wool polishing can yield a very shiny stock when photographed with a flash. BLO/LO was considered normal maintenance for wood stocks. Weapons that were in use were normally maintained. I think you've got a nice condition high-end rifle to start off your collection.

It is a nice looker. You paid a bit more than FMV, but who hasn't when it is something we want and the supply is pretty small. You could have done worse. I agree, it appears to have fairly small stock "improvement", but it is not demolished. Enjoy.