Since I started it, I got first dibs on posting:

I finally got my first Mauser after much agonizing. It's a AR 41 (Mauser Borsigwalde) from Allan's Armory. When I first got it, you could barely see the wood under all that gooped on shellac. It looked pretty bad, but probably in line with the way RC 98k's look in general.

Just like my Mosin, I immediately stripped the finish, sanded it, restained (this time with Minwax Mahagony gel stain), and once again topcoated with two coats of catalyzed lacquer. The stock is still pretty rough, but it looks a whole lot better.

The bluing is about 95% intact, but the nioce thing about the rifle is that it's got a shiny bore.

The markings could have been a little nicer, especially the dirty birds. The one with the swastika un-peened is very weakly struck. Oh well.







For you collector buffs, here are some interesting facts about this rifle (collected quotes from another board about this rifle):

Your rifle is very likely a legit Brunn 1944 rebuild of a 98k and as it is also a rc, it would go a long way to proving these somewhat rare variations exist as until now the only ones that have shown up were owned by Robert Jensen, & his friends (recently an experienced collector friend bought such a variation from another experienced collector & I linked him to this thread- hopefully he will comment on yours also... his is very similar to yours but is a byf 41). The reason your rifle is so important is that as an rc it is almost certainly not a fabrication as who would bother on this obscure variation?? Jensen speculates these were done in 1944 by Brunn (because of the unique serialing used by Brunn during 1944) in the Jan 96 KCN & the article featured byf 43 ser. 9215 ap with a couple pics of the rifle- he discussed 2 or 3 other known examples.

Next one:

I don't think there can be any doubt that it is a late war rebuild by Bruenn. If you look at the left of the receiver ring you will see that it appears that the Bruenn firing proof (which is smaller) has been partially stamped over the larger, original firing proof. You can also see what is most likely an index mark stamped into the front left of the receiver which was certainly added at the time of rebuild (which included rebarreling with a dot barrel). From the latest picture which partially shows the right of the receiver ring, it appears that the original eagle/26 Waffenamts have been removed from that location before being stamped with the new eagle/63 inspection marking. Zhukov, is this correct? It also looks to me like the serial number letter block for this rifle is a two letter suffix starting with the letter a ("aq" ?). This would mean that the rifle was not only rebuilt by Bruenn, but that it was serial numbered as part of the dot 1944 production run. Anyway, you did very well with this purchase. This is an uncommon rifle and many Kar.98k collectors would be happy to have it in their collection. Of course, it is your rifle and as such you can do anything with it you wish, but I will caution you that trying to "restore/upgrade" it further will decrease the collectors value. As Graf touched on, this rifle's legitimacy is tied to the fact it is an RC. Removing the serial number from the left of the buttstock and/or swapping out or refinishing the electropenciled parts would damage this.

And finally:

Jensen wrote a KCN article on these in 1996 and indicated that there were three known examples using BYF, BCD and AR recievers. The serial # range was all in the AP-AS range. Yours being in the AQ makes perfect sense. The serial number on your rifle itself is 100% Brunn. Brunn was the only manufacturer to use the double alpha AQ that your rifle shows. Other makers used BB,CC,DD etc. Further an original AR41 would have the serial number on the left side of the receiver, a place where DOT44's are not serial'd. The rifles themselves were made from either defective recievers or rifles that had sustained battlefied damage. The receivers were scrubbed of most older markings and proofs although the reciever codes were left intact. They were then re-proofed with small czech firing proofs and given a Brunn serial number. The recievers were marked with the WaA63 on the right of the reciver and top center, identical to yours. You can see on your rifle the remnants of an earlier Borsigwalde firing proof which is considerably larger than the later Brunn proof. You should also have a DOT barrel shield, Wa63 and barrel lot code (usually two letters) I happen to have one of thes rifles as well. Mine is a BYF 41 re-work with almost identical markings in the AP block. All matching and non-import marked. Mine would make 4 and yours would make 5 so they are not common at all. I had previously showed mine to several very experienced collectors and got mixed opinions as to whether the variation actually existed or whether it was assembled (faked). Yours being from the RC crop would actually helps authenticate that this variation exists. As Graf indicated its an uncommon variation that most collectors aren't aware of. Given that DOT rifles from 43 and 44 are some of the more common codes there has not been a lot of finacial incentive to replicate this variation.

Long story short: My rifle is only the 5th known in existence to be a wartime rebuild, and the first that's an RC.

This one is a '42 Izhevsk from Aztec. The barrel is virtually brand new. A couple of swabs and I was done. Excellent rifling. All matching parts with the usual lined out/renumbered floor plate. No electropenciling - just the diminutive rolled on marking on the receiver with the "proper" serial number.

The stock was in pretty good shape - the shellac had been really gooped on thick on the front handguards, so I decided to refinish it. Old, thick shellac tends to get really dark and brittle. The upper handguard was the worst, so I started sanding, thinking that I would just take some of the finish off but not all. I cut through too much, so I sanded the whole upper handguard down and stripped the stock. The upper handguard was still too light, so I wiped on some gel stain - just a little bit to make the colors match better (a light coat of stain on the stock as well to make the hue match better.) I didn't make the stock look pristine by any stretch of the imagination - it just wouldn't look right. It still has a lot of color variations and patina.

After letting the stain dry overnight, I sprayed on two coats of a catalyzed lacquer and rubbed it out using 0000 steel wool.

I'm very excited about the gun - just what I was hoping for, and what a steal for $50!

My M48A with Iron Elite mount and Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40 scope.


My M38 from AIM Surplus






K98 27/1940 Russian Capture from AIM

Aztec M44 1944

CDNN M48

Aztec M38 1942

Empire Arms vz. 24


(not pictured- Aztec M91/31)

CZ52 from SOG. Shooting was at 7 yards and supported.





Russian M 38, with accessories, made in the Izhevsk factory. Purchased from Aztec. Manufacture date unknown due to the stamp being to light to read.









Currently, my favorite.

The first two items I ever bought with my C&R:



M38, 1942, from AIM, excellent wood and a bright bore, all matching numbers, no re-lines!

Nagant M1895, 1945, from SOG, took a lot of cleaning, but looks and functions great now.

Gotta love perfectly functional firearms for less than $100!

Dave

Me again. This time, it's a 1994 Izhevsk M44. Beautiful gun - couldn't be happier.

Not really C&R (I think, don't have a equal in NZ) but the "restricted Firearms" from my collection:


My regular rifles:

we don't have C&R in canada..but here is one of my few converted autos(meaning its semi auto only now) Yugo M56 SMG



and also my PPsh41 and yugo M49/56 SMG's

kiwi you have some fine weapons in your collection

Originally Posted By kiwicollector: Not really C&R (I think, don't have a equal in NZ) but the "restricted Firearms" from my collection: www.gunpics.net/images/guns2.JPG My regular rifles: www.gunpics.net/images/guns3.JPG

First Lucy Lawless, now this AWESOME gun collection. New Zealand ROCKS

My well known bcd4 in 308. A real nice shooter.

Originally Posted By Dan44: My well known bcd4 in 308. A real nice shooter. img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Dan44/betterpix.jpg

Educate me, what is the full name for this? New to this side of the house. Couldn't find anything on the web with just bcd4.
Thanks