Help evaluating a G43

I've been looking for a G43 or K43 for a while now and keep missing them. I've been offered a G43 for sale by a fiend of a friend of a friend ( no close relation)
It is described as:

The bore is very good. All matching numbers on the metal. Its an original stock it just does not have matching numbers to all the metal parts of the gun. it is blank adapted and you can take the set screw out with an allen wrench to fire live rounds. Stock has a couple engraving marks but nothing terrible.

Click to expand...

My question is, what would it be worth? Does it look real (not substantially dicked with) I am not looking for a pristine collector rifle but rather one to shoot. As close to original would be best though.

Any opinions would be welcomed. Feel free to email me doug-strong(at)comcast(dot)net

It is an ac45 Double marked K.43 and G.43

I don't see anything wrong with it myself, looks as good as most reenactor grade K43 rifles I've seen. Too bad, as it's a pretty valuable rifle to a collector and it's matching. The handguard looks to be a repro, but that doesn't affect it. The good, it's got the late style gas system on it which I've heard is better for shooting. Some people say you should replace the springs, but I say if it's working good leave it.

I.M.O.,
You couldn't ask for a rarer or nicer shooter. I would strongly suggest a shooter kit as (1) you would not want to get hurt
(2) you would not want to damage the all matching internal parts.
The rifle to me looks like a nice example,mags look good. Pouch look repo.
Good luck

It is on its way to me!

It's a shooter

It looks like a perfect shooter to me. Late with the up grades, non orig. stock and handguard no worry there. I would take out the blank adapter and shoot it. If they are to rare or to nice they end up safe queens.

kar66 said:

It looks like a perfect shooter to me. Late with the up grades, non orig. stock and handguard no worry there. I would take out the blank adapter and shoot it. If they are to rare or to nice they end up safe queens.

Click to expand...

I am a shooter first and a collector second. I should have it by Thursday. I will take some nice clear pictures of it and post them. Thanks for the help.

The G43 arrived today. I ran some patches through the bore and they came away clean. The barel is lightly frosted toward the muzzle end and the receiver end of the bore is still nice ans shiny. The lands and grooves are still strong. When the weather permits I will take it outside for some nice photos.

I've sent an email to Rob at Apfeltor asking to buy a shooters kit. I want to get this one out to the range but I am not willing to risk it's safety or my own.

g43

Doug, I never bought the shooters kit. But, I see one of the bolt return springs looks like it's to short..The larger diameter one. WOlf springs sells a spring kit for the g43 rifle. If the shooter kit does not have springs, you should really get a set of new springs. Another thing guys do is plug the gas port and cycle the bolt manualy. I shot my g. once and was dissapointed with it's accuracy. I never shot it again. I also had a blank adapted re-anactor grade rifle..It was more trouble than it was worth. I went back to using a k98..If you bought it right, you will never lose the $$ you just dished out. Shooter grade gun's have come down in price now that the "book' frenzie is over..

The G.43/K43 arrived on Thursday. It was sunny yesterday so I took a few pics. Here are a couple of quick shots of this rifle.

Great rifle! Glad you picked it up.

Doug- Seems like what you were hoping for! How are the internals for matching? The recoil lug (left side) looks a bit shifted so you might check the wood around that lug. Lastly, pics in direct sun presents shadows and harshness. Try an overcast or shady spot and see the difference...

I got out to the range with it this weekend. It was awesome to shoot. I am not a great shooter but I was able to keep virtually all of my shots in the black on a target the size of a dinner plate at 200 yards with open sights. This was the first time out. I should be able to get much better with it with some practice.

I am in love.
As an added bonus, the G43 was the belle of the ball. It seemed like every guy there had questions about it and commented that they had heard of them but had never seen them. I let quite a few guys fire it. They all loved it as well.

Now it is time for more ammo. I will develop my own load for it in the coming months but in the mean time I need to just buy more since I HAVE TO shoot it MORE.

For surplus ammo I see both the 50s Yugo (brass cased) and the 70s Romanian (steel case) Any suggestions as to which is better? I tried both this weekend and had no problems with either. Both are fine in my K98s. Since I am absolutely methodical about cleaning my rifles corrosive is not a problem. Any suggestions?

Bob in OHIO said:

Doug- Seems like what you were hoping for! How are the internals for matching? The recoil lug (left side) looks a bit shifted so you might check the wood around that lug.

Click to expand...

The internal metal parts all seem to match as far as I have stripped it down.

You have a good eye! The lug is shifted. There is an internal repair to the stock at the lug. Someday I may look ofr a replacement stock for it. For now though it is great for me.

I found a replacement original laminated handguard for it today. It should arrive in a few days. In the meantime I got another G.43
It is an ac44 in the e block. It looks to be 100% matching and not messed with at all. Please let me know how it looks to those with more knowledge. No sanding on the stock and all the marks are clear. The numbers all match. Is the electro pencil OK? There is pencil marking on the interior near the recoil lug. The bluing is completely in tact. The bore is very nice! If it is as nice as I think I don't believe I will be shooting it.

doug based on the pics that is a very nice gun...

Id have bought it!

the electro pencil is correct

nice G43 mag too

Doug,

Very nice rifle. I like it.

Mike