Third Party Press

Legit Gustloff armorer's bolt body?

Mauser4me

Mauser4me

Senior Member
Got this bolt on a sporter I got a while ago. It was never sold to me individually, nor described as an 'armorer's bolt'. Wonder if it was scrubbed or is an actual unnumbered bolt body. Forgot to get it in the photos but the gas holes are oval, not late war round. Extractor is also '1' marked like the bolt body and not numbered, so they could possibly be original to each other. The bolt guts that came in it were blued and numbered to themselves, not phosphate as this is.

Let me know if you need to see anything else - would appreciate opinions!
 

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There are quite a few examples of completely unserialized BCD4 / 45 rifles brought back by troops. This might be from one of those rifles.
www.k98kforum.com

Unserialized Gustloff bcd4

I've been looking for one of these for a bit and Bruce helped me score this unserialized Gustloff this past weekend. These rifles are believed to be assembled by Gustloff factory workers for the GIs that liberated the factory. This is one of the most interesting variations of late Gustloff...
www.k98kforum.com www.k98kforum.com
 
I'm so skeptical of anything 'armorer'/unnumbered I didn't think it would check out. Well. Now to find a rifle to go with it! Thanks for the input
 
I agree with mauser99 comments above. That bolt flat is perfectly consistent with what would be expected.
 
It looks to have a firing proof on it. Did bolts get a firing proof prior to being fitted to an action? I thought the receiver, barrel and bolt were all proof tested as a unit and given the FP stamps after that.
 
Agree with Stan - the FP says to me it’s been ground. BTW the unserialled gustloff guns are not proofed. Hell theyre not even soldered usually.
 
Here is one I've got. There was a seller on ebay several years ago that had these. With the (to me) manganese park, I figured them to be postwar scrubbed.
1000008104.jpg
 

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I know this is an old thread but legitimate wartime armorers bolts will have a firing proof.
 
When I brought it up in the ad, it was the finish I was questioning, not the bolt itself. I just thought the finish looked much darker than is usually encountered.
 
If you compare it to the many bolt roots in the Gustloff section of the "Kriegsmodell" book, you'll see many with a semi-circular effect left by the mill cutter, also the sharp edges appear to be deliberately ground down, phosphate finishes seem to be less grainy. It would be interesting to mike this bolt for thickness compared to other Astrawerke bolt roots to see if there's an average thickness to them. I personally believe that the bolt in question was professionally scrubbed with a tool post grinder mounted to a lathe.
 
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I don't want to hose anyone by selling this piece as something that it is not... I hope everyone knows that. Of course was hoping it checked out as it was my ticket to something else I very much want.

Open to whatever the conclusion is of the members here. Want to be transparent that there is ongoing discussion.
 
Mauser4me said:
I don't want to hose anyone by selling this piece as something that it is not... I hope everyone knows that. Of course was hoping it checked out as it was my ticket to something else I very much want.

Open to whatever the conclusion is of the members here. Want to be transparent that there is ongoing discussion.
Click to expand...
I still think it's a great bolt and about the best you could do for a worthy late war bolt mismatch Kriegsmodell or Semi-Kriegsmodell bcd4-45, byf 44-45, svw45 or svwMB.
 
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