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pappy3122

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I just purchased my first ever K43. I just started collecting ww2 firearms about 6 months ago and now i am up to 15 rifles (shhh dont tell the wife how many lol). It is a mixed parts gun that i am wanting to take out and shoot occasionally. I have a shooters kit on order, of course they sold out day before i got my rifle. While i wait for more to be made i had a few questions. The more i read on the internet the more i am having a nervous breakdown about even trying to fire this thing lol. I am going to wait for the kit and also got the new springs for it also. From what i have read, ppu commercial ammo is fine to shoot. I dont reload and am not a fan of surplus most times. is th is the case. i have some 196 fmj ppu ammo i shoot in my k98 so i am hoping this is what will work also in the k43. My other question is that i noticed the bolt likes to hang up about half way. I have oiled and cleaned everything. IF you let the bolt fly it closes no prob, but it wants to hang up sometimes. I heard this could be caused by the dust cover. I didnt know if this is just something that happens when not firing and is ok, or will it hang up. Is there anything i should do or be worried about.

Sorry for all the questions. this is by far my most expensive ww2 rifle and the one i am most wanting to experience shooting, so just being paranoid and trying to make sure everything is in order.

Here are some pictures of the rifle, hopefully everything looks good and i didnt get taken to the cleaners lol I did notice a small chip on the receiver, i hope that is ok

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pappy3122 said:
I just purchased my first ever K43. I just started collecting ww2 firearms about 6 months ago and now i am up to 15 rifles (shhh dont tell the wife how many lol). It is a mixed parts gun that i am wanting to take out and shoot occasionally. I have a shooters kit on order, of course they sold out day before i got my rifle. While i wait for more to be made i had a few questions. The more i read on the internet the more i am having a nervous breakdown about even trying to fire this thing lol. I am going to wait for the kit and also got the new springs for it also. From what i have read, ppu commercial ammo is fine to shoot. I dont reload and am not a fan of surplus most times. is th is the case. i have some 196 fmj ppu ammo i shoot in my k98 so i am hoping this is what will work also in the k43. My other question is that i noticed the bolt likes to hang up about half way. I have oiled and cleaned everything. IF you let the bolt fly it closes no prob, but it wants to hang up sometimes. I heard this could be caused by the dust cover. I didnt know if this is just something that happens when not firing and is ok, or will it hang up. Is there anything i should do or be worried about.

Sorry for all the questions. this is by far my most expensive ww2 rifle and the one i am most wanting to experience shooting, so just being paranoid and trying to make sure everything is in order.

Here are some pictures of the rifle, hopefully everything looks good and i didnt get taken to the cleaners lol I did notice a small chip on the receiver, i hope that is ok

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Nice rifle, I'm not certain that the dust cover is making the bolt hang up if you're gently closing the bolt. My rifle does it sometimes if I try to close it slowly. If it's the automatic dust cover that connects under the bolt carrier, I would remove it before shooting because when I shot mine for the first time, the dust cover caught on the back of the action cover and was very difficult to get the bolt forward again. I don't know about what commercial ammo is best to use because I download my ammo just as a precaution. Also when you get your shooters kit, start with the smallest orifice and get some replacement recoil springs and piston spring, I believe I got my set from Wolff. If you want more information on these rifles, get Darrin Weavers' book "Hitler's Garands" it's pretty much the best resource on the G41 and G43 series.
 
Welcome to Club G43! I've owned close to 20 and shot all my mix matched and a few all matching before parts started getting expensive. I do agree getting the shooters kit even though a nice original stainless piston, later two hole cylinder n good springs works great too. Back to the shooter kit, you'll need to start over dialing it in if you switch ammo. I've run Yugo, Portuguese, Romanian, Israeli, Canadian, WW2 German, Remington, and Privi..

For shooting I'd remove the dust cover.. externals have shot back at their shooters just like yours. The safety can come loose so remove that too. Good springs usually eliminates the bolt hang up though, miss matched bolts can hangup on the hammer etc.

Also, don't dry fire it without snap caps.. the bolt face can deform. Run a metal scale over the center line just to be sure.. More pics would be helpful too. Different makers have their own quirks...

Prost!
 
I like the nice early milled out panel cut receiver. I've never seen one first hand...but I've handled about 20x G/K43's - luck of the draw I guess.
 
agentcq said:
I like the nice early milled out panel cut receiver. I've never seen one first hand...but I've handled about 20x G/K43's - luck of the draw I guess.
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I had one in all that I came across and was willing to buy. Some have popped up on GB recently so you can still claim one. The nicely finished Type 1 receivers are my favorite.
 
Here are some more pictures, let me know what you guys think. i am completely new to the g43/k43 world so any insight is awesome, especially if anyone sees any warning signs lol

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Wow - K43 marked panel cut receiver!!! And dated 1944?? Generally the ones marked K43 were rejected receivers that were forced into use and are generally dated 1945.

Back to my other observation or the relative scarceness of these panel cut receivers, from my personal experience, dual rail rifles have also been more difficult to find. In reality, I only need a panel cut and dual rail to finish my realistic G/K43 collection. Then if brave enough, I could get into the G41's, but that is a dark and dangerous path. Interesting enough the contracted French receivers have been one of the more common receivers found on rifles that have crossed my path. Again, luck of the draw I suppose...
 
so this rifle has something rare? sorry again very new to this rifle. i really just want a safe and very functional shooter, so should i not use this receiver in case of damage?
 
Congratualtions! Looks nice to me. I'm a newbie to G/K-43 too though. The knowledgeable members here gave me the information I needed to feel comfortable shooting mine.
 
pappy3122 said:
so this rifle has something rare? sorry again very new to this rifle. i really just want a safe and very functional shooter, so should i not use this receiver in case of damage?
Click to expand...

It is "rare" because it has a "panel cut receiver". But, unfortunately it is a mismatched rifle....which is okay for shooting which is what you are wanting to do with it. If it were a matching and an unmolested rifle, it would be a "rarer collectible" rifle.

The "hang up" you are describing is normal. I am not sure why they do this, but the bolt carrier seems to do this about half way when someone "rides" the bolt carrier home.

I checked my serial number listings for this rifle. I don't have any past info about it but two neat things came up:

1). Your rife has a consecutive serial numbered rifle out there somewhere. K.43 ac44 #7970k has been reported in the past.

2). Your rifle is one of two now that have been found that are mixed in with "G".43's in this block and one of two reported in that huge block that are "panel cut receivers".

On K.43 ac44 #7970k, I think there was some concerns about whether it was marked "K".43 because in Claus Espeholt's serial number listings he shows "panel is K"-like there could have been a concern whether it was or not. And, now your rifle surfaces, which helps show that these two rifles marked "K.43" exist in this mix. Very few rifles are known at this time, in this area of serial numbers to be marked "K.43". And, there are very, very few rifles known that are consecutive numbers with each other. Just not a common experience.

Kind of a neat set of things going on with your rifle as far as with its serial number.
 
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