Hey guys, just bought this unnumbered, e/359 bolt shroud . It was sold to me as an Armorers part. The thing is , I never heard of Walther Armorers parts, but the marking is clearly e/359. Opinions please!!
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Walther Armorers Bolt Shroud?
- Thread starter henryiii
- Start date
Thanks ! Was a little worried I’d been “bubba’d”
M1903A3
Keeper of the Def's Head
This looks like a great thread to start a discussion on the numbering of 98K's in wartime, postwar and of armorers parts in general. It appears to me that at least until approximately sometime in 1944 all factory bolt components had to be made to specific +/- measurements, numbered, checked for function, case hardened and then a final inspection for proper functioning again performed. Now a Depot Armorer recycling a bolt or bolt component would seek to remove the existing serial number and to remove it properly to prepare it for renumbering. To me it appears that the most common way was to grind off the old number and in the process removing the rock hard, case hardened skin from the part, exposing the softer inner core to make it receptive to being number stamped. To attempt to file off this casehardening is deadly to the file and to try to stamp it in this condition is deadly to the number punch, an alternative could have been to spot anneal the area with a acetylene torch with a small tip, I suspect that this was either not done or was rarely done because without providing a heat sink to draw that extreme heat away from the part involved could possibly compromise the otherwise properly hardened state of other areas of the bolt or bolt component.
Now for Armorers parts it seems to me that these were perhaps specifically contracted and manufactured for Repair Depots and field Armorers kits to be properly hardened in all areas except for the areas that were expected to be numbered. This is purely speculation on my part because I once owned several unnumbered Imperial Gewehr Armorers replacement bolts and lightly struck one on the top of the bolt root with a center punch and it was plenty soft enough to safely punch numbers into it. I've owned very few WW2 armorers parts and was not comfortable with testing the hardness of the few that I had , but I suspect that these were selectively hardened in the same fashion. As far as the SSZZA4 rebuilds go it appears that perhaps many or all of these bolt parts may have been provided in an already totally hardened state and therefore the perfect solution was to employ the electro etcher to number them and in the process number even the softer parts, triggerguards, floorplates, etc. in this way. Thus you can visualize why the Volkscarcano bolts were electro numbered since they were so hard as to have been virtually impossible to number with punches. I still have notes that I took from one depot rebarreled 98k where every bolt part was center punched first by the Armorer to check for hardness prior to facing the risk of flattening his nice number punch set.
So, as far as identifying the bolt that has just been merely ground off, nicely milled off and then punched with the proper letter and number style/font and done post war, perhaps then the best way to determine this would be to use a micrometer to check the width of the bolt root against known originals to see is a few thousandths of metal have been ground off. As far as the guy that can weld over the existing numbers, mill the surface off, stamp it with the proper number and letter font, and perhaps even spot case harden the surface and restore the proper bluing or phosphate finish, this guy has graduated from "Humper" to true restoration expert/savant status and if you just can't possibly tell I guess it's all real from this point.
I reserve the right to be absolutely wrong about every statement that I've provided here and more than welcome any opposing view in the interest of furthering the collective knowledge of the Forum.
Please forgive the ramblings of an old fool who is bored and has nothing better to do.
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M1903A3
Keeper of the Def's Head
Thanks Henry, for being the only one who thinks I might be correct.
I think you are likely right too, and I often wonder about in field repairs of rifles, what parts they had available, did they re-serial everything, can we identify every field repair and so on. There are many who know much much more than I about that topic!! But your explanation makes a lot of sense. Of course me agreeing with you is worth absolutely nothing, but I do!!!
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Humbarger
Senior Member
I bought the book Weinn alle bruder schweigen, When all our brothers are silent years ago.
It's a book about the SS. There is a great photo of an ss field armorers repair wagon
on location somewhere. There is a generator attached with it. Probably to power a small
Milling machine and lathe. When I get home I'll post a photo of it. From the looks of it the
armorers couldn't have done much.
It's a book about the SS. There is a great photo of an ss field armorers repair wagon
on location somewhere. There is a generator attached with it. Probably to power a small
Milling machine and lathe. When I get home I'll post a photo of it. From the looks of it the
armorers couldn't have done much.
I think you are likely right too, and I often wonder about in field repairs of rifles, what parts they had available, did they re-serial everything, can we identify every field repair and so on. There are many who know much much more than I about that topic!! But your explanation makes a lot of sense. Of course me agreeing with you is worth absolutely nothing, but I do!!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks 03,
It means alot to me!
Thanks Don!!
