CE 44 LSR Sniper - Gunshow Find

This walked into the gun show yesterday. I spotted it, pointed it out to my FFL buddy, and he scooped it up.

The previous owner said it belonged to his father who had passed and brought it home from the war. He said he remembered the rifle always being around his entire life but didn't know much about it other than it being some sort of sniper rifle. He also had an artillery luger + holster in a laptop bag. He said these were the only military firearms in his father's estate.

Seems to be a CE 44 Long Side Rail sniper rifle. Thick wall receiver, E block - so much earlier than what I have found reading online but most of what I read seems focused on the BCD LSR's as they're far more common.

Serial and block were obscured by the base but we tore it down to find e block SN 1451. The base has no proofs but is marked 15 on the rear (toward shooter) and 5 on the bottom.

Stock channel is numbered to match but handguard doesn't match. Bolt matches itself but not the rifle. Front band is off by 4 digits (1455). Bayonet lug has been ground. Cupped buttplate is smooth and not numbered. The bore is beautiful.

Here are some pictures:














*Images continued on next post*

What does everyone think??? Earlier block and non-proofed base are odd but thick wall receiver and inletted matching stock seem to confirm it's totally authentic.

Looking for an appropriate optic + mount to pair it with.

Images Continued:

Someone had fun welding that one up!

That appears to be a lot of heat on that reciever. I don't know if I would shoot it.

I’m seeing a lot of color associated with a weld zone. It may be the pictures?

I don't like what I see. I think it is fake. Legit CE44 Long Side Rails are almost unheard of. And bare in mind that almost all JP Sauer LSR rifles are built on bcd 4 receivers.

further detail of the receiver:

Id have to agree with whats been said above, those heat marks are clear indication that it has been welded up. There are plenty of links on this forum of what standard J.P. sauer completed bcd 4 LSR rifles look like.



John.

Thank you for posting the pictures.
Sorry to point out a few things I see that we’re not mentioned yet......

From the pics it appears the stock has been sanded and redone.

I can’t recall ever having seen a bayonet lug milled off like that on an original as produced K98k of any type.
And I have not seen a safety milled like that either.

Unmarked base, is it possible that part might be legit never mounted to a rifle?
....,
To be reasonably able to confirm if the rail cover is authentic, I would think there Needs to be more pictures of it so someone here that really knows them can make a good call as that is a seldom seen accessory.

Steveo

I agree with what others have stated you can clearly tell someone grind down the metal to put that base in place. And then heated it up to finish the job. I would be very worried about shooting a rifle like this to tell you the truth. When steel has always been heat treated and then someone reheats steel things can get very dangerous. Receivers can become very brittle and could turn into a fragmentation device if they fail.

Appears to be a vet bring back bolt MM that someone converted postwar. In addition to what was mentioned above: that stock was routed improperly for an LSR, and that safety was clearly milled by bubba. Sauer was squarely in turret production at this point. Rail cover looks good, but I can’t comment on the unmarked rail.

I figured the heat was from silver solder or someone trying to take the base off, but it could be weld. Whoever did it was at least capable of machining.

Dang! LSR’s are supposed to have a distinct thick receiver that is built up and fatter. You should definitely be able to see the receiver think wall ring with LSR’s. They didn’t even try to do that with this one.

Everything screams BUBBA! on this one. The safety speaks for itself, so does the bayonet lug.
The barrel shank shows idiot marks from a slipping barrel wrench, the rear sight screw is buggered up, I suspect some parts swap happened right there.
The mounting surface for the LSR rail does not look machined but hand filed. In fact, it has been overfiled so bad that the rail would rub against the receiver ring and leave a wear line in the blueing.
And because the rail hits against receiver ring, the rail would not sit flush on the receiver, leaving a tiny gap on top where smoke, oil and moisture could seep in between receiver and rail and give it a brownish hue.

sturmgrenadier said:

Appears to be a vet bring back bolt MM that someone converted postwar. In addition to what was mentioned above: that stock was routed improperly for an LSR, and that safety was clearly milled by bubba. Sauer was squarely in turret production at this point. Rail cover looks good, but I can’t comment on the unmarked rail.

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Are you sure this date code isn't appropriate for a Sauer LSR? There was a D block CE 44 LSR sold last week at RIA. Not sure whether it was authentic but seemed legit. https://www.rockislandauction.com/d...4-k98-rifle-in-long-rail-sniper-configuration

Tiger 2 Tank said:

Dang! LSR’s are supposed to have a distinct thick receiver that is built up and fatter. You should definitely be able to see the receiver think wall ring with LSR’s. They didn’t even try to do that with this one.

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Built up other than what is pictured? The left side receiver cut is considerably thicker on this rifle compared to a standard K98k, over 2mm thicker. This should be clearly visible in some of the pics unless there's another section of the receiver that isn't thicker which you're talking about. Not sure whether it is original or not but that's why I shared the pics - to determine whether this is a legit sniper or some kind of repro.

GunKraut said:

Everything screams BUBBA! on this one. The safety speaks for itself, so does the bayonet lug.
The barrel shank shows idiot marks from a slipping barrel wrench, the rear sight screw is buggered up, I suspect some parts swap happened right there.
The mounting surface for the LSR rail does not look machined but hand filed. In fact, it has been overfiled so bad that the rail would rub against the receiver ring and leave a wear line in the blueing.
And because the rail hits against receiver ring, the rail would not sit flush on the receiver, leaving a tiny gap on top where smoke, oil and moisture could seep in between receiver and rail and give it a brownish hue.

Click to expand...

I'm not seeing the buggered sight screw, can you point it out to me? I must be missing it.

The rail does not look correct either. Legit rails do not have a chamfer along the bottom edge.

bodie221 said:

Are you sure this date code isn't appropriate for a Sauer LSR? There was a D block CE 44 LSR sold last week at RIA. Not sure whether it was authentic but seemed legit. https://www.rockislandauction.com/d...4-k98-rifle-in-long-rail-sniper-configuration

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Did you note they described it as "Long Side Rail Configuration" and even used the quotation marks themselves when saying so? Not a single word of the description claims it is an original sniper rifle, they only say it is a rifle in sniper configuration. And they also say it has been professionally restored or refinished. And they estimated it at $ 3000-4500. You're now up to make your own decision based on that.

I know it sucks to hear, but it is seriously bad, the only saving grace is the rail cover looks like it might be real. You should take more pictures of that to have these guys look it over as it might be the only thing of real value here. What they were trying to explain is the receiver to sidewall transition is completely wrong, take a look at one to compare.

Excellent pics. The rifle is in good hands and should be just fine for what it is.

Funnily enough, despite this whole conversation there are some PM's in my inbox inquiring about purchasing it.

Very troubling knowing someone put that much time and effort into building a fake.
Was that rifle their test bed?

I'd be VERY leery firing that rifle after it's gone through that much