I'm wondering if there is any published information on these Portuguese contract Rg34s? I'd like to read up on the story.
One of our Forum members has been gathering information, etc. for 20 years, with the intention to publish a book on the Rg34. This Forum is perhaps the best resource for current information. Since the Portuguese contract comprised two installments, the M1937 & M1941, rifles numbered in the tens of thousands. Each rifle was supplied with a matching bayonet. Undoubtedly, Rg34s were ordered for each and a percentage of spares as well. G APPEL was the primary contractor, with the majority of the kits supplied being unattributed (from what we have seen).
Typically, Rg34s bearing a manufacturer's name, number, or letter code on the tin and a WaA acceptance are German Army contracted for. Minor components may also be so marked and accepted, but this started to slowly disappear by 1942 thru the end of the war. Kits (primarily G APPEL) without any WaA acceptance, are usually considered "behoerden"...not made under contract to the German army, but available for export or sales to other German para-military organizations requiring cleaning kits. One manufacturer's kits in particular (code) "
ftd" appears to have been made for these organizations, as no example bearing a WaA is known. In addition, they often exhibit inferior manufacture of the cleaning chain, and would have been rejected by the Army out of hand.
Lastly, spurious German markings on the Portuguese kits go back to the 1980s, when they first began to appear. Just recently on Ebay there was a example with both a German firing test proof eagle and a E/WaA135 on the tin (doubly bogus). Perhaps the big "chicken" eagle as mentioned in this thread is most prevalent, but even examples are known with a bogus Mauser "banner" as well...
