Third Party Press

Steyr Armorers Bolt

swjXE

Senior Member
Hey Guys, gill120's post seeking a Steyr armorers bolt got me thinking. Has anyone ever even seen one? If they exist I'd love to have a few myself.
 
I have not seen one, but can add a thought/information that could be considered as well: a friend of mine has a Steyr Volkssturm rifle. It is a very early one with a three digit serial, hence it has a cut down stock. This particular rifle has a non-serialized bolt in it that in fact is an armorers spare bolt (if I remember correctly pre WWII marked) that has a bolt shroud without the spring-held locking pin (whatever the correct English term is). The other unique feature of this rifle is a normal K98k front sight base, but unserialized (even not grooved for sight hood) and also pre WWII marked. So it seemed to me that they used up armorer parts they have had. In this context one could also assume they did not have their own armorer parts but used these from other factories.
 
I haven’t seen one before. I have seen late bnz45 and SS contract guns with original unnumbered bolts. It’s probably for the best you can’t find them, they would probably just be numbered by now by unscrupulous people. Or maybe there were some and now they are “matching” some SS rifle or other “project”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I haven’t seen one before. I have seen late bnz45 and SS contract guns with original unnumbered bolts. It’s probably for the best you can’t find them, they would probably just be numbered by now by unscrupulous people. Or maybe there were some and now they are “matching” some SS rifle or other “project”.

Could the SS unnumbered bolt also be EP marked bolts? They are not this uncommon with SSZZA4 stamped rifles, and sometimes the EP serial is very tough to see.

Re the bnz45: that would confirm what I had written above. Please let me know whether the ones you have seen have had any WaA77 acceptance or any other manufacturer markings that would point out to them being used by Steyr, except the fact that they come with a Steyr made rifle.
 
They are definitely Steyr bolts, multiple late rifles have shown up with unumbered e623 bolts, like Mike is mentioning. Quite often armorer parts show up on Bnz45’s and all from other makers, naturally the then defunct makers of 98k’s shed their parts to the industry, so e37, e26, e214 Etc show up. One of the most common parts, being extractors, and rarely, sight bases will show up. Of course to authenticate these parts as having actually been assembled by Steyr requires looking at the balance of the rifle and many small telltale features that would indicate an original assembly or a later addition. Quite often these type of parts are opportunistically used to “correct” something. Not having seen the rifle you mentioned Georg it sounds suspect at first, but oddities do exist, so it’s worth a look.
 
So then a true Armorers bolt is one that was contracted to go to Depots for builds and reworks and placed in Waffenmeister kits marked S/42,42,237,e749 & l and factories discontinuing the 98k sent remaining bolts out to whoever was still manufacturing the 98k's, therefore technically those bolts aren't classed as armorer bolts marked e/280, e/214, e/37, e/26 & e/140. Therefore the unnumbered Steyr bolts marked Eagle 623, and Gusen bolts marked 3 and L are simply factory bolts used for G.I builds or brought back as surplus after the war.
Thanks Guys, I get it now. I hope. :googlie
 
Last edited:
I believe.the unnumbered Steyr bolts were used as factory spares when correcting a defect found after the rifle's bolt had been numbered. I think it was a Steyr thing as I have never heard of this happening with any of the other manufacturers. I have several Steyrs with unnumbered bolts. I don't believe they were assembled by GI's. How often do we see rifles from other manufacturers with period and factory correct bolts.that just happen to be unnumbered? I also agree that such (Steyr) bolts were not armourer spares from repair kits.

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?2859-A-little-Steyr-T-block-weirdness
 
Last edited:
:happy0180:I agree Pisgah, With Steyr it seems that almost anything could happen. In regards to Steyr, when I talk about a G.I. build I meant GI's going into the factory, picking up incomplete guns and/or parts off of the workbench and assembling them right there if need be. We've all seen enough bnz 45's with stocks that have never had screws in the bands and a couple with bands but no holes at all for the screws, all stuff picked up right at different stages of the assembly line.
 
Last edited:
I would have been suspicious that the GI's who captured Steyr did some assembly with available parts to complete trophies. But the two I have shown have other, correctly numbered bolt parts. I think that makes the GI assembly theory less likely. Another reason I think that Steyr pushed rifles out the door with unnumbered bolts is because these bolts match by period and by manufacturer. As Gill120 could likely tell you, finding a legitimate, unnumbered Steyr bolt is nearly impossible. I have seen one loose unnumbered Steyr bolt offered in 20 years and I am betting it came out of a rifle and not an armourer box. I have a bnz 43 that appears to be fully matching but is in a correct, but completely unnumbered stock. It doesn't mean a collector didn't create it, but how often do you see completely correct bnz 43 stocks that were never numbered? I am also guessing that more bnz 45's would have been assembled with unnumbered bolts because I am guessing that their failure rate went up as the rifles became cruder.
 
I agree Pisgah, that you're rifles probably went out the door to be issued, but as far as some of the others I try to never underestimate the ingenuity of the American GI. I once came across a bnz4 at a show that was fully assembled with all parts in the white (never blued) and not a single serial number on any of the parts, fitted with a mint condition Gew. stock converted to 98k configuration, Totenkopf mark on the grip and a mint eagle 4 flat buttplate. Explain that one to me! I tried to buy it just to get the stock, but the guy wanted $2000 for it, crazy money for 20 years ago.

By the way. Your awesome single rune with the blank bolt has no photos of the stock,bands or TG. How's about letting us see some? :happy0180:
 
Last edited:
Things like final acceptance are observed stamped through the phosphate on Bnz45’s, but not serial numbers. The fact that these bolts are completely finished but unumbered is curious and has me wondering about the entire sequence of everything.
 
That's interesting Clay. That would mean that some rifles were being accepted before they were acceptable.:faint:
 
It sure is interesting, how some show this and others don’t. It clearly was a thing as well, considering the rifles that show up without final acceptance but otherwise complete. I suspect these bolts may have been dunked in the tank upon completion of the final machining, simply to prevent corrosion while they were transported to the final assembly location, seeing as a bare steel part can start flash rusting almost immediately, at least they do in Texas lol. Hypothetically this scenario, would then be followed by hand fitting of the bolt, the grinding and filing you see on the lug transitions, and then numbering, perhaps then they went into the tank again and were “done.” We all know how rough these things are, I’ve had some bnz45’s that physically would not close another bolt on the empty chamber of another one. Perhaps these unumbered bolts that Eric has showed are replacements for a rifle that failed a headspace check, maybe they weren’t checked concurrently as they were initially fitted. I can’t recall off the top of my head but I’d be curious to go back and look if Eric’s bolts have process numbers present or not.
 

Military Rifle Journal
Back
Top