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Help! I have the opportunity to save a AC44 K43 and need to value it.

Glennp

Member
Gents,

I have the opportunity to save a K43. The owner is not a collector and we are trying to ascertain a mutually fair price. It's a panel cut AC44. Bolt and carrier match (didn't take the bolt further apart to look deeper). The top of the bolt carrier has a weird shiny spot, it doesn't look ground or anything and I can't figure out for the life of me what happened. The front sight hood is missing and the retaining spring for the nose has the tip broken off. The upper handguard is cracked. Scope is very clear and the turrets click. Bore is 95% and there's no damage in the areas that it would occur. It has two magazines. What do you all think would be a fair price on something like this? I would like to get a shooters kit and shoot it.

Thank you!
 

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Wasn’t this rifle just posted here? [emoji3166][emoji854] I might be wrong, as I usually am, but this is like deja vu.


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Wasn’t this rifle just posted here? [emoji3166][emoji854] I might be wrong, as I usually am, but this is like deja vu.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Joe,

No, I just registered. It was posted on Milsurps & Gunboards a few days ago which is where you may recall seeing it.
 
Ah, it’s a very nice looking rifle. Had an original scope and mount too. If all is good figure retail of roughly $3k for rifle and $2k plus for the scope and mount. So, easily a $5k outfit. Of course this is all assuming the mount is not serialized to that particular rifle. If it is, well, you’d better move quick on it.


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Joseph, this was posted on gunboards. Maybe that is where you saw it.

From these pictures it looks like an original rifle. The only negative is the damage to the bolt carrier. The rubbed off finish hurts the value. I'd say the rifle is worth about $2800 to $3,000. And the scope mount is around $2,000. The scope and mount are also original and very nice.
 
I’d say more than rubbed off finish, carrier is ground on. Might have had a crack repaired. To me it turns it into bolt mismatch territory.


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As with any G/K43, inspect the bolt housing and other components for cracking and damage. If that is a repair on the bolt carrier, there might be more underlying issues. For all you know, this rifle could have been fired over the years without a shooters kit by people who didn't even know it should have one.
 
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For all the know, this rifle could have been fired over the years without a shooters kit by people who didn't even know it should have one.

But the 100 round bandoleer of 1943 Turkish ammo for $8 sounded like a great deal back then...
The inside of the bolt carrier will tell if there has been damage.
 
But the 100 round bandoleer of 1943 Turkish ammo for $8 sounded like a great deal back then...
The inside of the bolt carrier will tell if there has been damage.

Inside of the carrier looks fine along with the other points outlined on the apfeltor website. There was no shooters kit installed and the inside of the upper handguard showed light sooting. The gas piston is the later cross drilled vented one.
 
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Looks like someone tried to “pretty up” the bolt carrier and got tired. That would be a deal breaker for me and certainly knocks it out of the $2800 to $3000 range by a good bit.
 
I wouldn’t think it would be a good shooter with that bolt carrier. I think the crack can still be seen in the photo where it’s running length wise. No way I would shoot it with that carrier.

Too bad on the bolt carrier! Otherwise that is a really nice looking rifle. Usually the stock is what has been jacked with on these rifles. The bolt carrier is a good second item that is usually the problem. With the photos given, the stock looks unmolested. There is one way to resurrect this rifle from shooter status: It would take a long, long time to ever find one, but if an armorer’s bolt carrier ever came up for sale, you could replace the current blown bolt carrier with one of those. That is, if the other parts match and haven’t been jacked with. And, check the rear of the receiver for cracks and “bowing”. So, I would estimate $2,500 (on the high end) for the rifle. The scope mount rig is worth good money at around $2,800 or so.

Another thing that could be done is part the rifle out by selling the individual parts.

Just wanted to mention there are options for this rifle, but don’t get too involved and put a lot of money in it. Kind of reminds me of an old car or boat where it becomes a money pit.
 
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It’s really a shame about that carrier. What’s interesting and hasn’t been mentioned this is a really late carrier with the reverse 45 on it, which puts this assembly in at least the a block of ac45. So proof this P block was assembled in 45 as people suspected of the late phosphate 44 date letter block guns.


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interesting the rifle is F*cked up cause it did not have a shooters kit??

guess if folks would stop shooting these rifles period, we would not need shooter kits or have broken rifles lately that's all we see is broken rifles that folks just "HAD" to shoot.

hey Glen

hurry up and get a pristine rifle, that / has needs to be shot, we don't have enough damaged rifles vent over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Bolt carriers usually crack in the frontal area, right around the lug that connects it to the firing pin carrier. A lengthwise split doesn't make sense.
I suspect the bolt carrier had some ugly looking slag pits from the forging process and uncle JimBob decided to "make her purdy". After a few file strokes and a vain attempt at trying to unscrew the charging handle with channel lock pliers, JimBob tended to his bottle of moonshine again and totally forgot about his plan to make the stock "purdy", too.
 
Bolt carriers usually crack in the frontal area, right around the lug that connects it to the firing pin carrier. A lengthwise split doesn't make sense.
I suspect the bolt carrier had some ugly looking slag pits from the forging process and uncle JimBob decided to "make her purdy". After a few file strokes and a vain attempt at trying to unscrew the charging handle with channel lock pliers, JimBob tended to his bottle of moonshine again and totally forgot about his plan to make the stock "purdy", too.

Have to agree here, the most likely scenario :googlie. It is a good that they did not touch the stock, this is normally the #1 issue with most G/K43s! The damage has been done, and, well
it will never be a high end collector piece.

As MrFarb stated, this example is assembled in early 1945...in my limited observations, most, if not all, of the p and q block of 1944 were actually assembled in 1945, as
observed from barrel dates.
 
Have to agree here, the most likely scenario :googlie. It is a good that they did not touch the stock, this is normally the #1 issue with most G/K43s! The damage has been done, and, well
it will never be a high end collector piece.

As MrFarb stated, this example is assembled in early 1945...in my limited observations, most, if not all, of the p and q block of 1944 were actually assembled in 1945, as
observed from barrel dates.

Gents, thank you all for the valuable observations! I feel more comfortable with what I’m looking at now and I think it’s something I’d still like to save. Since I’d like to shoot it, the defaced bolt helps in the sense that it makes it more affordable as I don’t think I could offer to pay what a perfect rig would run anyways. I’m no engineer but I’d think with a shooters kit the mostly removed reinforcement rib would be a non issue functionally speaking.
 
Gents, thank you all for the valuable observations! I feel more comfortable with what I’m looking at now and I think it’s something I’d still like to save. Since I’d like to shoot it, the defaced bolt helps in the sense that it makes it more affordable as I don’t think I could offer to pay what a perfect rig would run anyways. I’m no engineer but I’d think with a shooters kit the mostly removed reinforcement rib would be a non issue functionally speaking.

to use it as a shooter just buy another carrier and use it. Install a shooters kit and all new springs and be careful on the ammo you use. If you can buy all this right the scope and mount and accessories can be worth more to a collector than the rifle. Sell it to offset you up front costs. If it happens to match some ones rifles you can expect $$$ signs to appear. Post the mount and serial #.

sorry I see the second photo. 9986 is the mount #..

its a shame as nice panel cut still brings good money..
 
Ditto; another option would be to have the carrier NDT inspected for cracks as it may have been just someone trying to make it look better. If its cracked then replace.

With a shooter kit and current commercial 8mm ammo (i.e. Remington, Federal, Win.) which is not as hot as mil sup stuff it would be fine.




to use it as a shooter just buy another carrier and use it. Install a shooters kit and all new springs and be careful on the ammo you use. If you can buy all this right the scope and mount and accessories can be worth more to a collector than the rifle. Sell it to offset you up front costs. If it happens to match some ones rifles you can expect $$$ signs to appear. Post the mount and serial #.

sorry I see the second photo. 9986 is the mount #..

its a shame as nice panel cut still brings good money..
 

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