No telling how the mismatched bolt carrier got installed on the rifle. The M1 Garand grease is interesting. I think the grease is for cold weather? Makes sense a G.I. would have captured the rifle and got some Garand grease with it. At least I could see that, as to whether that happened or not is anyone’s guess.
The butt stock trap normally contained a small paper booklet manual, spare firing pin, spare firing pin extension and a spare extractor. The firing pin, firing pin extension and extractor were wrapped in a wax type “butcher’s paper”. The German oil bottles were too long to fit in the butt stock compartment, so they couldn’t be used. The small Garand oil would have fit perfectly. Maybe the German owner (soldier) somehow got the grease before the rifle was relieved from him?
Also matching should be: bolt, both locking lugs and the firing pin housing. Disassembly of this rifle is a little complicated and if not done right, parts could go flying under enormous spring pressure...so be careful.
The side of the rear area of the butt stock should have a final eagle/359 stamp, is it there? There should also be a stock proof stamp (either an eagle/WaAC10 or eagle/359) at the stock’s keel, going toward the the butt stock plate. The wrist proof stamp is nice. The side proof stamp was the final proof that the rifle was good to go. The wrist stamp is the proof that the stock fit to the receiver. The keel stamp is the stock maker’s proof stamp. There should also be a proof stamp on top of the wood hand guard, but some didn’t have them as well.
This rifle is not a super late one. q block was the last of the ac44 rifles until ac45 started. Your rifle falls in between G.43 and K.43 marked rifles. In this area of serial numbers, we see a mix of G and K .43 marked receivers.
In my serial number listings, your ac44 falls between these two known rifles:
G.43 #2453o and K.43 #3016o. Seller of #3016o stated that rifle came out of a vet’s home, selling it from South Carolina. #2453o is listed as not matching (what isn’t matching about the rifle is not known at this time).
Thanks for sharing your rifle with us.
Wow, that's a ton of information! So, there definitely was an eagle on the side of the butt, but it's worn down quite a bit. It definitely is not gone from any attempts at restoration, just normal wear I'd say. And guess what I found thanks to you! 2915 on the underside of the butt stock! 2 new pics linked!
I don't see anything at all else anywhere, but then again I didn't see the 2915 on the stock before either.
So, I disassembled it once before, and that spring is a dastardly beast! I tried for days to get it back together and eventually had to take it to a pro and he said he had trouble with it too! I'm not taking it apart again, if I sell it, the buyer will have to just think of it as a surprise to find out if anything else is different, though I highly doubt it.
Btw, some of your terminology, while not completely baffling, makes me think I might not be looking in the exact right places for things I'm missing, if you want to try to be more specific to look for anything I have not already sent (after these 3 pics) please let me know!
*Stock Eagle and Matching Serial Engraving, oh and the other eagle behind the trigger guard, I think I had this in the earlier pictures, these are high resolution so you should be able to zoom in far I think. I honestly can't tell what it says underneath that eagle and swastika...A somethin
https://imgur.com/a/VnbsVjf
I found two more markings, one on the mag release, and one on the back of the flip up rear site. They're hard to read, but I believe they're small eagle etchings and 359, the images are high rez and can be zoomed in pretty good.
https://imgur.com/a/pSTNaKa
So now what do you think? Other than the one obvious mismatch, do I have a valuable piece?
More questions?
