Out of the woodwork Panel Cut AC44

I believe this is a true out of the woodwork AC44 panel cut q block, I can't find it posted on any lists or discussed elsewhere so think it may be a new one. Came across this in Las Vegas back in January, a Panel cut with Z4 mount (mount is numbered just over a 100 off of the rifle). All matching, handguard is a Durofol that must have got swapped at some point, the cheek proof is a bit faint but stock does not look sanded and keel markings are sharp, nice mix of phosphate and blued parts. I added the repop hood as a placeholder until I can find an original, I keep hoping someone in Russia/Ukraine will find a warehouse with G43 hoods and flood the market like the pouches, I have a couple of rifles I need correct hoods for, but so far no luck...

thanks,Nick

Some more pics

and the last group, I finally broke down and bought some camera lights and have been playing around with a new setup to try and get better pics, I think I still need to work at it but tried to get a picture of everything marked, especially the late war features.

thanks, nick

VERY NICE!!! Your wood is GOOD. That has not been sanded. The faint final stock proof is good to go. Look at the wood "milling" which is absolutely correct not to mention the other aspects of the wood like wood chatter. Nice matching rifle. What number is on your mount?

This one has unique features like the "panel cut". It also has the bolt carrier with no bolt hold open lever and the stock still has the marks where to pull the bolt back to for disassembly.

I'll check my K.43 listings that I have to see if this is a new one. Hope it is as I love finding new ones.

Yeah, the Durofol hand guard is added and not something Walther actually put on as it was assembled. It could be way after the rifle was built and issued out and replaced by who knows. There is a small, small block of K.43's that Darrin Weaver mentions in his book "Hitler's Garands" that Walther did put these hand guards on. I want to say it was somewhere in this block, but without looking (I'm away from everything right now) I can't be sure.

Glad too see a G/K43 that someone didn't have to sand the stock! Love that unfinished wood on it, you can see the corn cob look around the end of it really nice. And it's a panel cut to even better great find. Not to mention a lot of interesting characteristics with this one. Being this rifle has the bolt carrier with the no hold open device. Does it have one guide lug or two just curious? Again thanks for sharing.

The mount is numbered 264 so 151 off of the rifle, here are a couple of close-ups



And it has the single guide lug, I forgot to get an overhead picture with the bolt out.

Thanks, Nick

I figured it wouldn't be there being the bolt carrier was the no hold open type. I thought there could have been a possibility it was the duel guide rail type. Either way it's a fantastic rifle Nick and you should enjoy it.

Nice find Nick!!

That scope is crazy late.

Nice one. Not a big g43 fan but that one grips my trigger...I really like the stock

Great cob in pics #7 & 8. Wonderful rifle and thanks for sharing.

Nice rifle. I am partial to panel cuts.

Nope! Yours has never been reported. Brand new entry. ac44 #116q has been reorted though (F.Y.I.). Yours is the earliest q block now recorded.

Hitler's Garands, page 304 states that 4 k block ac44's were "reported" with Durofol hand guards. The author believes them to be either "field switches" or "collector enhancements".

Thanks Tiger, I don't get many opportunities for a true out of the woodwork find so this one was sorta extra neat. I love all the late features, late style gas system, the slotted firing pin housing, no hold open, and the mix of phosphate parts. The bolt is a PITA without the hold open, it's not hard to get out, getting back in can be a real pain, I've removed it twice and took pictures of everything, hope to never do it again!

Did you by chance find any additional Walthers with Durafol? I figured it was replaced at some point but it's been with the rifle forever, wear and grime build-up on the underside matches the rest of the rifle.

nick

It was nice to see this one in hand over the weekend... It's hard to bring a rifle like this and not have a dozen people ask if its for sale or not.. !!

We try to get together @ the shows and bring our newest finds and talk guns... To think I had to talk Nick into buying this one out in vegas ! LOL

Didn't take much convincing.... A decision now he's glad he made. Great rifle dust dry and dusty in all its phosphatey goodness If that's really a word ? LOL


There has been talk about Walter side proofs being faint in the middle due to the use of the stamp that was used on the bottom being used on the side due to that stamp would have had a curved shape . Interesting topic as this seems to be the case with the later Walther's with the single proof on the side and the faintness of the center of the stamp.

The durafoil discussion is another that interests me but, Im a pretty staunch supporter of my No durafoil on Walther rifles even though field replacements are a possibility but, with anything like this without rules all we have is chaos, chaos I say...

Hanging out

Hanging out at Wayne's table is the place to see the best stuff..This was a super nice rifle...on the durofol.....I am ok believing Walther received some of these...they received them for G41's.



We try to get together @ the shows and bring our newest finds and talk guns... To think I had to talk Nick into buying this one out in vegas ! LOL

Didn't take much convincing.... A decision now he's glad he made. Great rifle dust dry and dusty in all its phosphatey goodness If that's really a word ? LOL


There has been talk about Walter side proofs being faint in the middle due to the use of the stamp that was used on the bottom being used on the side due to that stamp would have had a curved shape . Interesting topic as this seems to be the case with the later Walther's with the single proof on the side and the faintness of the center of the stamp.

The durafoil discussion is another that interests me but, Im a pretty staunch supporter of my No durafoil on Walther rifles even though field replacements are a possibility but, with anything like this without rules all we have is chaos, chaos I say...[/QUOTE]

Magnificent example!

nick.helms said:

Thanks Tiger, I don't get many opportunities for a true out of the woodwork find so this one was sorta extra neat. I love all the late features, late style gas system, the slotted firing pin housing, no hold open, and the mix of phosphate parts. The bolt is a PITA without the hold open, it's not hard to get out, getting back in can be a real pain, I've removed it twice and took pictures of everything, hope to never do it again!

Did you by chance find any additional Walthers with Durafol? I figured it was replaced at some point but it's been with the rifle forever, wear and grime build-up on the underside matches the rest of the rifle.

nick

Click to expand...

Yes, there are MANY Walther G/K.43's now that have Durofol hand guards. Somewhere here on this Forum I read that early collectors would actively swap out wood hand guards for the Durofol hand guards just because it was more desireable to have on their rifles. So, due to the crazy collector post war chaos we just don't really know for absolute sure what happened. All us serious collectors really have as our guide on this is the book "Hitler's Garands" where Darrin Weaver talks about Walther not using the Durofol hand guards. I wish there was some tangable evidence that supports this (maybe there is?) as I am not sure where his information came from.

And YES!, the bolt carriers without the bolt hold open lever are a serious pain in the a@@ to deal with. You let go of that bolt group or slip it up somehow and parts become projectiles. Better have some strong fingers and hands taking those groups out and installing back in. .

Your rifle is right anyway, even with the Durofol because it could easily be said it is a field replacement. Who knows, in 10 years a document or something could pop up somewhere showing where Walther did use, here and there, Durofol hand grips for these rifles.

.."And YES!, the bolt carriers without the bolt hold open lever are a serious pain in the a@@ to deal with. You let go of that bolt group or slip it up somehow and parts become projectiles. Better have some strong fingers and hands taking those groups out and installing back in."


I think many folks are not completely aware of how to take apart a no bolt hold open K43. It is actually quite simple and the bolt remains in the receiver during disassembly and assembly. Only the rear spring and dust cover gets removed...then the bolt just slides out. They re-designed the bolt (two cut-outs at back) to accommodate the tilting of the dust cover etc....and the 2 indents on the stock (behind bolt carrier) indicate how far the carrier needs to come back to meet the cutouts...it is just a small amount. It is actually quite simple.

Now, maybe somebody with some skills in describing this process will step in and explain better. The late manual covers this when they added the one page.

I've not actually seen this method done but understand that is a way to do it. I actually started doing this method once but didn't go very far because I just wasn't sure on what I was doing. If someone out there would and could show this proceedure, it would be a great help.

When the safety is on, pull the bolt carrier back to where the back of it is lined up on the stock marks, then press in on the back of the bolt carrier on the rod the same way you would remove a bolt with the latch that is locked open. The bolt housing will lift upwards easy like since the spring is not all the way compressed. when lifted up, it will pull straight back to remove and the springs will come with it, allowing you to just pull the bolt to the rear without any resistance from the recoil springs. Once clear of the ejector it lifts right out.

Reinstall in reverse more or less, assemble the bolt with the carrier first and push past the ejector and all the way forward. With the recoil springs alread in the bolt housing guide them in place and pivit the bolt housing into position then pull the bolt carrier back to the stock marks again and the housing will drop into place while pressing on the back of the guide.

I don't have mine in front of me to verify but I think the cut outs in the later bolts allow for the slight pivot on the front of the bolt housing to lift up. It is almost easier than doing it with the latch. I remember the first time putting my first G43 bolt back together a little profanity was involved. One of those things after you do it a few times is second nature.