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Late BLM action cover question?

mdarnell19

Beavis Moderator
Staff member
Help me understand something please. Is it acceptable for a Late BLM K43 to have a milled action cover (like seen on G41s). If so, where did they come from, old G41s or were they made in 1945. Thanks for the help. :thumbsup:
 
If memory serves me right, the milled bolt housings were used on late qve45 of the no letter block series. You can also find them on duv44 in the c & d blocks. Oh, and they weren't recycled G41 parts...
 
Yes, perfectly acceptable for a qve to have a machined action cover.

Again, no solid proof why they were used. They show up early on, then later again. Maybe it was just a simple supply and demand issue. They had rifles ready almost ready, minus a contractor supplied (or not) sheet metal housing. So, they
surely had the tooling still around from the G41 covers...made a few simple modifications to the mechanics and made their own, instead of relying on a contractor. Just an educated guess though.
 
Hi Brian, I only know of one manufacturer for stamped sheet metal bolt housings; that's Merz Werke/Frankfurt, WaAA44. Was there another manufacturer for stamped housings (not sure if Walther or BLM had in-house stamping capability) or did Merz exclusively supply stamped housings to all G/K43 manufacturers and assemblers?
 
It seems as if there was only one manufacturer of them, or at least I have only seen one WaA used. But, that does not mean there was not more. There is so much information on the production of G/K43 that has been destroyed/lost or not found yet. We may never know exactly what was going on. So much of it is just speculation and "theories" by most.

I think we could have a related discussion on stocks.
 
I think we could have a related discussion on stocks.[/QUOTE]
Brain, That is another conversation I wanted to have. Were stocks stained at the factory? Or is stained the wrong term? Either way, were they colored in some fashion at the factories? I know that some G43's have no color at all but what about the ones that do?
Thanks
 
I think stocks were not stained, but wood at all the factories was sealed. I imagine it was a substance similar to Thompsons wood seal? I say that because raw unsealed wood is white, but it's not good practice to send unsealed wood into the environment, especially a combat enviroment. Soldiers often darkened wood stocks with used motor oil from reading accounts over the years.

Some K98k stocks were stained at the factory, or appear to be stained - this could also be just sealers with more tint in them.
 
I think stocks were not stained, but wood at all the factories was sealed. I imagine it was a substance similar to Thompsons wood seal? I say that because raw unsealed wood is white, but it's not good practice to send unsealed wood into the environment, especially a combat enviroment. Soldiers often darkened wood stocks with used motor oil from reading accounts over the years.

Some K98k stocks were stained at the factory, or appear to be stained - this could also be just sealers with more tint in them.

BLM seemed to stain/varnish/seal/whatever their stocks (after the rifle was fully assembled) all the way until the end while Walther stopped late in 1944 or early 1945. Most untouched ac45 rifles seem to be "white" unstained stocks.
 
I think stocks were not stained, but wood at all the factories was sealed. I imagine it was a substance similar to Thompsons wood seal? I say that because raw unsealed wood is white, but it's not good practice to send unsealed wood into the environment, especially a combat enviroment. Soldiers often darkened wood stocks with used motor oil from reading accounts over the years.

Some K98k stocks were stained at the factory, or appear to be stained - this could also be just sealers with more tint in them.

So did these sealants give the stock any color, or were they completely clear? And if they sealed them then how could soldiers darken the wood with anything? Is that not the point of sealing it?
Thanks
 

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