Just bought a 1944 byf k block

[MosinMan77]

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum but I had a few questions about my rifle and thought you all would probably know your stuff more so than some of the other gun forums out there!

My first question about my rifle is that I noticed at first just looked like a small scratch or possibly just some ware on the gun just below the "byf" but still above the "44." After looking at it a bit more closely, it almost looked like a lightning bolt. After doing some research, I found out that rifles being issued to the SS had such markings called a "rune." After finding a few examples online, apparently this rune is typically vertical, however on my rifle it appears to be horizontal. I'm presuming that this "rune" is just wishful thinking on my part, however I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask you guys about it. Is this something that byf, or the SS did? Or is it really just wishful thinking on my part.

Also, this is my first Mauser that I've purchased, do you all have any recommendations as far as which type of ammunition I should use with it? I'm new to the gun world so the only other rifle I own is a 1934 Finnish M27, which has a marking on it that indicates the type of ammunition it uses. I've been looking around online to try and figure out which type of ammo to use on this rifle, however it seems like Mausers use different variations of ammunition ranging between 7mm and 8mm ammo. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Noxswg]

Sadly it's just wishful thinking, Mauser Oberndorf (byf) did not produce SS contract guns. The manufacture that did however was Steyr-Daimler-Puch which used the factory code BNZ. The rune marking you are talking about would typically be located in between the BNZ stamp and the year of production mark and would be vertical. This post shows and example of a BNZ rune rifle http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?2211-bnz-43-single-rune. A picture of the mark would help in identifying it. But from the description it's sounds like a mark I have seen on Russian capture rifles that don't have the standard X mark. An easy way to tell if the rifle is a Russian capture is that the bolt and other parts will have electro pencil numbers on them in order to force match to the serial # on the receiver and barrel. This was done by the Russian arsenals after the war in place of reassembling rifles with their matching parts (which the Russians made no effort in doing).
As far as ammo is concerned it uses 8mm Mauser (7.92x57mm), unless it was converted to another caliber at some point in which case there would be a marking on it indicating that.

 

[sheepdog]

The best deal you will find on 8mm. ammo is the M75 Yugo surplus that Wideners is selling. It's corrosive so a prompt cleaning is a must. Darn good stuff. My second choice would be Sellior and Bellot JS which packs a wallop on your shoulder so buy some Advil but being a Mosin shooter you're used to that. Both of these are far better than the usual underpowered PC commercial stuff.

Unfortunately the surplus market has pretty well dried up and good Lord stay away from the Persian or Iranian surplus, its bad about hangfires and duds.

http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8435&dir=18|830|854

 

[MosinMan77]

Here are some pictures of the "rune" I was talking about in my previous post. Also, does anyone know what the shield-looking symbol at the top of the picture is supposed to mean? And my last question about it thus far is there is a "D" behind the upper 44, does this mean anything or was this just one of their methods of labelling the parts of the gun?

Thanks for the information on the rune symbol and the ammunition type thus far!

 

[Noxswg]

"Rune" marking looks like a scratch, but it's hard to tell with the low amount of light in the photo. The shield marking is just a stamp manufactures did late in the war on barrels. Hard to tell from the photo but should have letters byf on the shield. As far as "D" mark is concerned, could you provide a better picture? I can't make it out in the pictures you provided.

 

[MosinMan77]

Sure, sorry about that! My phone cam isn't the easiest phone to take these pictures with haha. See if any of these work!

I noticed that there aren't any markings on the wood of the gun, but it isn't missing any metal pieces and has a "gqm 42" cupped buttplate. Would that necessarily mean that the wood on the gun has been redone or were there any instances where that would be considered normal? And would this greatly affect the price of the gun if all of the serial numbers match?

 

[Noxswg]

The D you are referring to is part of the barrel lot code, which indicates where and when the barrel was produced (44 representing 1944). Also do you have any wide angle shots of the rifle? The buttplate is from 1942 so it could be a replacement or it was a 42 plate that was left over. The serial number for the stock can typically be found in the barrel channel on the stock and on the bottom of the handguard, so you would have to remove the action from the stock in order to tell if it's matching. However since this is a byf 44 it might not be marked since they started writing the serial number in pencil on the stocks in 1944 to speed up production