G43 or K43.... What is the difference ?? Photographs of receiver markings

There is no difference between the two, it was simply a change in nomenclature by the German military during WWII.....

G43s are usually earlier made rifles (1943 to 1944), and K43s are, generally speaking, rifles made later in the war (1944 to 1945)....the use of manufacturing short cuts or later style parts is not related to rifle designation....

"G" means/meant "Gewehr" or "rifle", and "K" means/meant "Karabiner" or "carbine" (and "43" is the year the model was adopted for production : 1943)

Interestingly (at least to me) rifles with receivers marked "G43" can be found all the way until the end of production despite the official name change...this was due mainly to the use of receivers that had been made earlier in the war, as manufacturers (mainly Walther) utilized whatever parts were available, including these receivers that were not previously used, to churn out as many rifles as possible

The first rifle pictured below is a Walther produced rifle that was made very late in the war and uses a "G43" marked receiver

The second is a scarce rifle that has both the G43 and K43 markings on the receiver....it is also made by Walther and was likely produced early in 1945...these "dual marked" rifles have thus far only been found made by Walther in the no letter block of 1945

The remaining photos show typical receiver markings : Walther code "ac" 1945 dated K43, Walther code "ac" 1944 dated G43, Berlin Lubecker code "qve" K43, and Gustloff code "bcd" G43

Jon
That is very interesting I never new about the G43`s being marked as such in 1945
Did know about the Dual Marked Rifles , but the first is really Good to Know for us who
are Tards in this area

g/k's

Dave Roberts said:

Jon
That is very interesting I never new about the G43`s being marked as such in 1945
Did know about the Dual Marked Rifles , but the first is really Good to Know for us who
are Tards in this area

Click to expand...

I was a big g/k collector for a while. Most G43 ac/45's apear to be earlier milled type leftover rejected
receiver's with the scope rail milled off.. But, I'm sure there are a few that buck this trend..

Resurrecting an old thread here, but here goes. How does a duffle cut affect the value of a rifle? Generally speaking, do G43's and K43's run about the same in value. Looking for matching number example.

thanks

For many people, a duffle cut, on a G43 (99% of the time they are in the open and well seen) is a deal killer and really hurts the value, right up there with a sanded stock.
You just cannot hide them. While it may prove it is a vet bring back, it looks ugly. It cannot be hidden, like with a 98K, being cut under the rear band and hidden.

There is little to no price difference in your average, run of the mill, G43 or a K43. Some folks do put a little higher value on an early, top condition G43, which will likely have a muzzle nut too.