G43 Restoration

[m4a3sherman]

@barbarossa
Absolutely! My library of information grows with every gun I pick up; its a rule of mine to have a book on whatever I can and then some. Knowledge is indeed power and seemingly a more and more rare thing in these days in the age of Antiques Roadshow and Pawn Stars. (it seems like everyone has Hitler's canoe, or that everything made in the past 80 years is WWII) Everyone thinks that they have something special when the point is that only a FEW special things exist; knowledge is just as important for making a good deal as it is for protecting yourself from being screwed over. Just as important is practice! I work in a gunshop as a gunsmith and thusly have a chance to try out new techniques and skills all the time and the access to good equipment is a great boost as well.

[boltaction]

Very nice find, very nice job on the restoration, and glad to see another person who likes these old milsurps. If only these guns could talk, they would tell some pretty horrific tales. They are pieces of history and they need to be preserved with honor.

Ed

[collector54]

Very nice job restoring the old girl. I have one in parts that need some parts from the gas system. A stock also. Where did you find the stock? was it a Sarco remake?

[m4a3sherman]

The stock came out of Poland from a guy who had made a limited run of the correct laminate.
GERMAN WW2 REPRO LAMINATED STOCK FOR G43 K43 RIFLE : Rifle Stocks at GunBroker.com

that is the same guy and auction I won mine from. There is another for the same price but in NJ however it will come from Poland as well so expect several weeks worth of wait either way. Will definitely require fitting!

[nhetzer]

Collector54,
If your missing parts from the gas system and plan on shooting it, my advice would be to get one of the modern after market ones that are adjustable. It's no secret that these guns are a bit over powered on account of not having an adjustable system, something the Russians got right with the SVT 40.

In the end it will really help preserve your rifle by toning down the slamming of the bolt into the rear of the receiver. No sense in beating these old girls to death. You can find them on Gunbroker and sometimes eBay. I got mine from a gentleman named Rob Applegate. You can find him and his services at http://www.apfeltor.com. I met him in person and he showed me around the shop. Nice guy and he did great work.


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I am here: Google Maps

[m4a3sherman]

Additionally, Wolffe makes a full spring kit for these guns and I have their kit in mine. None of my original springs were broken but I have to assume the likely 'questionable' quality of late-war, slave-made, WWII German springs that have also been around and probably being used for almost 80 years now. I still have the originals anyway but I figured if I was going to go through all the trouble anyway, I might as well give it all a tune up. I have not put a new gas system on mine, but I have thought about it. If I can get my magazine to feed well, I will probably consider it though.

[esu]

You definitely need to contact Rob at Apfeltor and get one one of his shooting kits. They come with a series of orifices with different size apetures to coincide with the ammo you shoot. It turns a wall hanger into something you can shoot and enjoy. I have a shooter AC45 also that I picked up a few years back for $600 that came with a solid walnut repro stock. Ive always wanted one of the Polish laminate repops. You did good in restoring the old warhorse,,,,

[m4a3sherman]

For what it's worth, the stock has been darkened a bit to look more correct. Very pretty, pics later I'm sure.