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bnz 4 Rune Found At LGS

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bkavanaugh

Senior Member
Over lunch today I decided to drop by my LGS to kill some time. While there, I found a bnz 4 on consignment. Receiver had a rune mark. I didn't pick it up, but instead, took these photos. I didn't feel comfortable making a spur of the moment purchase; too many fakes. I don't know if the rifle is still there; someone came in after me and showed some interest as I was leaving. However, I would like to get opinions on the rifle. I apologize for the photos. I took them with the camera on my phone. What numbers I could see did match. However, most parts were not stamped, i.e., barrel bands, rear sight, follower, bolt stop, cocking piece, safety, top of the bolt. No visible marks on the stock or take down disks. Stock appeared to have been sanded. Karab. 98b and the stick eagles made me feel uncomfortable. Cleaning rod didn't look right either.

Opinions?



 
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Looks fake to me. Receiver looks scrubbed and BNZ stamped with rune 4. Good idea to pass I think.
 
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think Humper ought to be stamped on the receiver right under the bnz.
 
Junk stay away. So many problems with this one. By the way if you don't mind me asking what was the seller asking for this rifle just curious.
 
Good to know Steyr had still enough time in 1944 to give the receiver a smooth buffing job.
Drago Kustom Rifles thinks it needs more eagle stamps on the front barrel band and a huge shield stamped on the butt stock. And a broad with nice fun bags holding it for picture taking.
 
Wow. I had my doubts on this but wasn't sure. I'm still learning on these rifles and after others have chimed in I can see the wrong things now.
 
I'd be curious to know if there is a letter block (maybe around m-o) on the barrel under the wood line.
 
Well, the rifle is refinished for sure - bolt is a complete fabrication. However, the barreled action could be legit. It's not unheard of for recycled receivers (of any type) to be used in SS contract (single rune) and Steyr production, depending on barrel code to place it in production it could be real. The numbering on barrel/floor plate indicate it's legit. The rune? Very difficult to tell to be honest, even these photos which are excellent it's hard to tell if the rune is real. Even if it looked right the gun is a loss due to the refinish and humped up bolt. Humped bolt = what else is humped? Still, a rifle like this is possible as a legit single rune.
 
mrfarb said:
Well, the rifle is refinished for sure - bolt is a complete fabrication. However, the barreled action could be legit. It's not unheard of for recycled receivers (of any type) to be used in SS contract (single rune) and Steyr production, depending on barrel code to place it in production it could be real. The numbering on barrel/floor plate indicate it's legit. The rune? Very difficult to tell to be honest, even these photos which are excellent it's hard to tell if the rune is real. Even if it looked right the gun is a loss due to the refinish and humped up bolt. Humped bolt = what else is humped? Still, a rifle like this is possible as a legit single rune.
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I must admit I have never seen one with a recycled receiver. The BNZ stamp on this receiver looks off to me. I really did not think any of it looked legit, except maybe barrel.
 
Hercules said:
I must admit I have never seen one with a recycled receiver. The BNZ stamp on this receiver looks off to me. I really did not think any of it ooked legit, except maybe barrel.
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In the m-o blocks (or thereabouts), Steyr was forced to recycle a lot of oddball receivers after the loss/evacuation of Radom in the fall of 1944. These receivers have the bnz4 crudely handstamped on them. There are some examples (including Mike's ubercool S/42G receiver) posted in the Picture Reference Forum. I have a n block that uses a bnz44 receiver leftover from the SS production line.

This particular rifle has a lot of issues, but I think it was a legit rifle (though maybe without a rune).
 
Yes, the rune is questionable but I have seen examples of Gew.98 receivers with runes, bcd4 receivers, etc. Any receiver can turn up in both Army and SS production in this time frame. Here's a few hand stamp guns.
 

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The LGS owner said I could dissemble the rifle, but I didn't have time yesterday; had to get back to work. I might swing by today and see if I can take it out of the stock (provided it wasn't sold yesterday). If I can, I will take photos of anything I find on the barrel. Glad the photos off my phone turned out. If I can take more pictures, I'll post them. I had no idea the recycled receiver could be legit. Always glad to learn something new; provided it wasn't the hard way.
 
I thought the same on the receiver .. could be legit. Attached an original all matching BNZ single rune from 1944 contract with Vz.24 receiver. What they have in common is the machined barrel bands, and the odd serial number placement. A friend of mine owns three of the Vz.24 receiver based BNZ handstamped SS rifles. The shown rifle is fully matching numbers, including the stock. Only the stock had been lightly sanded once. It is from the collection of a friend of mine.
 

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Another one - a BNZ based on a Gew98 action. Note no year marking, also oddly marked sling swivel. Rifle appears to had never been apart, was owned by a friend of mine and is now in the collection of another friend of mine.
I have more pictures of this rifle, but it's just so odd scrolling around on my iPad searching for them.
 

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No more replies to such an interesting thread? I wonder if the OP got chance to disassemble the rifle and take a closer look?
 
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