G43 duv44

[Bill Grist]

ac

Hello again Bill,

out of interest, is there a maker of these rifles that are considered amongst US weapon collectors the best example to own (craftsmanship etc)?

My head is spinning seeing all these examples .



patrick.

I would say early ac43, but bcd ones were the least amount produced with around 50,000 total.. BILL

[HunterSS]

Bill, if there is room on the firing line let me know. I'd love to crack off a few rounds with those beauties.

Mike

[Jeff Ashenfelter]

Bill,
I like the serial number 4444. That's an easy one to remember. Jeff

[EJOWest]

Hello again Bill,

out of interest, is there a maker of these rifles that are considered amongst US weapon collectors the best example to own (craftsmanship etc)?

My head is spinning seeing all these examples .



patrick.

The G/K43 were made for only approximately 18 months. It was in reality a work in progress during a time when German industry was under the strain of wartime production.

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Although there were only three manufactures of the rifle, since it was a work in progress, many variations resulted.

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It has my experience as a collector of G/K43s that there are several factors that influence the desirability of the individual rifles. The first would be the condition of the rifle in relation to its originality. Of course an unaltered rifle which serial numbered parts are matching and has not had any clever alterations to the metal surfaces or the wood stock would be of great interest to the collector.

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Secondly the rarity of the variation of the individual rifle comes into play and increases the desirability. For example only about 9,000 G43 ac43’s were made, yet as many as 120,000 G43 duv44 were made. This makes the G43 ac43 a much sought after variant.

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If you were to judge the G/K43 by a manufacturing quality standpoint my personal opinion is that Berliner-Lubecker Maschinenfabrik (duv,qve), had the best consistency in manufacturing. But that is my own personal opinion having observed many different G/K43s. I believe the BLM plant had the highest level of skilled workers.

The poorest G/K43 from a manufacturing quality standpoint has to be the Gustloff-Werke II, Buchenwald (bcd). These rifles were assembled by slave labor in a work camp.

Even though the bcd’s are of poorer quality, they are a rarer more desirable variation, since the factory was completely destroyed by allied bombing efforts in August of 1944.

There is a very good book on the subject, "Hitler's Garands".

Ernie

[EJOWest]

Bill,

You have a very nice collection of G43's and I've really enjoyed the pictures that you have posted. Thank you for sharing!

Ernie