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ar43 (wa135)

haak48

haak48

Senior Member
I posted this rifle some time ago on another board. It is an ar43, MO assembeled. A very crisp rifle though there is some patina from poor storage. The serial number on the reciever is: 6680n the bolt however is clearly marked 6680a. Ordinarily I would just declare bolt M/M and be done with it but a close examination with a loop shows a broken bunter that stamped the last number "0" on the bolt, trigger, & ejector box housing is a pefect match. The barrel has been "scrubed" of any manufacture codes, but there is a wa26 which has been struck into the barrel after the barrel codes were belt sanded off. There is a poorly stuck"0" at the 6 o'clock position on the barrel shoulder, the same size as an "02" rebarrel marking,but nothing else. Clearly a rebarrel/rebuild, but when. Bolt has small gas holes. Buttstock and hand gauard are numbered in the channel.Intersting k98. JH
 

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That is odd. Can you post a photo of the serial on the receiver?

It's well known that Mauser finished ar receivers. This one has serial numbering style of an ar43, not a byf43 (which I would expect).

Are you saying the barrel has NO markings either?
 
ar43

Yes it is odd. It appears there were normal makings (faint) but were sanded or polished off. The wa26 is clearly struck over the sanded area. Different. JH
 

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Well, I can tell you this. The "n" block of Mauser appears to be a catch all block- anything left laying around that wasn't completed in the previous blocks was assembled in that block.

So, your barreled action was in Mausers inventory in late 43 (possibly sent as is to Mauser for assembly?). So, the n block is applied to the receiver.

These things weren't built sequentially. From what we can tell, the factory would be working on as many as 3 letter blocks of production at one time, so the n was mistaken for an a and the bolt got the a suffix. I have a late byf44 L block with an i block bolt. Simple human error.
 
ar-43

very nice rifle!! Yes, it looks like a M.B. made barreled rec.. Assembled in late 44/ early 45... It has no
e/26 on the right side which is odd...So maybe it failed some quality inspection.. The 'n' block is a very
tough block to find...Consider you're self lucky to have found this rifle..It's hard to explain to a novice that when selling an ar/43 that is a 45 dated rifle..And it's valuable. More so than most. Great find!!:thumbsup:
 
Very interesting rifle Jim! Its nice to see these oddballs posted and discussed....

These can be two edged swords...if you are buying, because its an oddball many times you can pick them up relatively cheap, as often the seller does not know its "correct".

Of course if you know what it is, and are looking to sell, sometimes its hard to get what its worth since most people will think its "wrong"

Of course if you are like me and rarely if ever sell any 98k's then you don't have to worry about the latter!
 
Neat rifle, pic stickied. Do we know or have strong reason to believe these were '45 date or simply recycled at the end of a production run, such as the end of 1943? Thanks for posting it Haak.
 
ar-43

Hambone said:
Neat rifle, pic stickied. Do we know or have strong reason to believe these were '45 date or simply recycled at the end of a production run, such as the end of 1943? Thanks for posting it Haak.
Click to expand...

well, going off the newest k98 book out there..I thought it said 'n' block rifles were assembled in late december into january of 45.. I could be wrong..Or maybe it was the 'o' block..I'll have to look..Anyway, it's a base for an ongoing disscussion..:baby:
 
ar43

A couple more of the bolt. Sorry for bad pics. JH
 

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pzjgr said:
Very interesting rifle Jim! Its nice to see these oddballs posted and discussed....

These can be two edged swords...if you are buying, because its an oddball many times you can pick them up relatively cheap, as often the seller does not know its "correct".

Of course if you know what it is, and are looking to sell, sometimes its hard to get what its worth since most people will think its "wrong"

Of course if you are like me and rarely if ever sell any 98k's then you don't have to worry about the latter!
Click to expand...
Guns come in here............they seldom go out.JH
 
There was an "n" block in 43 and 44. In fact, the 43 serial/suffix model was exactly the same as 44. I say 43 date due to the serial numbering on small parts and the style and placement.

My guess is the rifle was assembled late 43/ early 44. Borsigwalde didn't build any rifles in 44, and I suspect that the 44 dated receivers were for intended production which was cancelled.
 
ar43

My guess is that its early Oberndorf 1944 'a' block production with the MB assembled action
and also pre-numbered at MB, and finished at MO.
 
fighting.jpg
 
mrfarb said:
There was an "n" block in 43 and 44. In fact, the 43 serial/suffix model was exactly the same as 44. I say 43 date due to the serial numbering on small parts and the style and placement.

My guess is the rifle was assembled late 43/ early 44. Borsigwalde didn't build any rifles in 44, and I suspect that the 44 dated receivers were for intended production which was cancelled.
Click to expand...

That's my opinion as well. Not '45. Finished up '43 into early '44.

MontyPython.gif
 
Ar-43

AFTER further reveiw, I must renig on my previous comments..Not really looking well enough to notice the band's ect...A leftover 43 dated reciever finished in early 44 sums it up. "oh the shame" :facepalm:
Open mouth insert foot...
 
Mauser, there are these that were recycled and '45 finished, and on this one the safety and certain parts are unnumbered/replaced, so it's not a meritless position. :behindsofa:
 
Hello,

due to placement of the serial letter block this is NOT a byf 43 production rifle and its NOT a byf44 production and not byf45. these rifles are rifle 100% completed at the AR factory at the near end of the year and high AR43 m (M) block have been seen or when ever they switched over to other projects, these rifles were simply crated up and moved to MO to expidite some quick change at AR for some reason or another which did a final inspection and proofed E135 and sent out the door or to the storage room. no other MO parts present confirm and E26 barrels show this to be true. the n (N) block in 1944 for MO have some left over or reworked receivers but all parts are MO or MO suppliers.

later
vaughn
 
ar43

Not to stir up debate, but why would completed rifles be crated up and sent all the way
down to Oberndorf. It would have made sense that these complete guns be shipped to
depots or distribution areas instead. Without getting more data on this interesting gun,
I will hold my opinion for now.

We need 2 more data points: Where was the bolt made (likely FN if MO finished in the 'a' block), and what does the internal stock channel look like - is there a process inspection
mark (green stamp) in the channel.

We know 2 things for sure - it the bolt is original, then this puppy was finished in Feb. of
1944 at MO. Second, the gun was both accepted and approved for service at MO as well as indicated by both the top rec. 135 and stock final inspection 135.

I made a point in my initial assessment that at the least the action was assembled and numbered at MB (Borsigwalde). Its obvious that the barrel was finshed at MB.

If this gun was in fact completed at MB, then why no 'n' block bolt. That is the key to this rifle.
 
Haak, it's rifles like this that make discussions interesting :thumbsup: Thanks for posting it.
 
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