Belgian Fusil 35 Sniper Rifle .

[Dave Roberts]

This Belgian Sniper along with a BNZ 4 that was Cobbled together with Armorers Stock and Armorer Bolt are 2 Rifles I Picked Up the other Day . Myself and Wolfgang discussed this Belgian Sniper about 5 yrs ago , I mentioned to Wolf I would like to get one . His statement was I would have better luck hitting a Multi Million $$$$ Lottery than finding a Belgian Fusil 35 . This is the ONLY one I have ever seen , nor have I ever seen any Pics of another with or without scope . This maybe of interest to other collectors though not German . From the bits of Info available it is mentioned that Belgian Arms did get issued to German Troops

Once Again I am Posting a Multitude of Pics , the Rifle does have a Few issues as can be seen in the Pics . Mainly the Stock having some Cracks and No Optics . I believe the Bases are German WWI and likely the Rings and Scope would have been the same . I know next to nothing about this Rifles History other than it was sold by the Son of the Veteran who returned with it . I am waiting to be contacted by the Vets Son . As for Historical Info I only have one Page from Axis Pistols , Rifle and Grenades which I will also Post . I am hoping someone can elaborate more vastly about this Sniper Rifle . Best Regards

 

[Dave Roberts]

Belgian Fusil 35

 

[Dave Roberts]

Belgian Fusil 35

 

[Dave Roberts]

Last Set of Pics . The Stock it self is Very Interesting it is Two Pieces and the Hand Guard . IMHO the Two Part Design is possibly for Barrel Fluctuations that occurs . Similar to bedding a Stock . I can see No sign of Gluing on this Piece so it could be the design but I maybe wrong .

 

[mrfarb]

Bubba really sanded it pretty good but it's the original stock for sure. Odd duck, I've never heard of a tea kettle sniper but that's what it is.

 

[WaPrüf2]

The Germans captured and reissued large numbers of Belgian rifles in WWI and WWII; some of those taken in WWI were converted to 7,9x57.
The M35s show up occasionally and some have double-notched bayonet studs permitting fitting of German bayonets. So far I have not seen any post-WWI Belgian rifles with WaAs, including ones with double-notched bayonet studs. Some of the ones taken in WWI carry an e/DEUTSCHES REICH stamp on the butt but some of the 7,9 versions don't although they are German military proofed. Occasionally one finds WWI rifles with depot stamps. I have seen contemporary photos of Luftwaffe and Werkschutz/Luftschutz types (acting as Volkssturm?) armed with Belgian rifles from both wars and one of a Luftwaffe type where the double bayonet notch is clearly shown.

 

[Amberg]

Concratulations on that great find. I only know one other M35 sniper rifle.
Bases, rings and scope are Voigtlaender copies.
Looks like you have use for a Belgian scope. Did I ever show you my SBO scope?

OIP (Societe Belge d'Optique et d'Instruments de Precision)

 

[bruce98k]

Rifle

The front end "dovetail" looks like an amateur duffle cut repair from another donor stock.
That's a first.

 

[Absolut]

Funny that just as of today someone you aswell know has posted a pictures of a scope for that rifle on his very recently started Blog: http://snipercollection.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/424/

Looks really nice! I have never seen one before. Give it a try, probably the Gew98 scope rings would work on these bases!

 

[balbuz]

Awesome rifle. I had heard about Belgian sniper rifles but that's the first time I see one of these in real.

The SBO scope on my blog looks to be the right scope for the "Fusil 35" but I'm not sure. Unfortunately, mount looks civilan. I was not able to identify the stamp on the rear mount.
The two-sided meter dial is interesting, it has different range on each side.

 

[Amberg]

Some older shots showing a set of Voigtlaender bases and markings on my SBO scope.
@balbuz: need to look for markings on the reverse of the dial.

 

[Dave Roberts]

Some older shots showing a set of Voigtlaender bases and markings on my SBO scope.
@balbuz: need to look look for markings on the reverse of the dial.

Thanks for Posting Wolf , Now I need a Good Stock and Scope & Rings . Also any Original Pics of one of these Rifles would be Fantastic . From the Right Side is a real must , because I need to know if these had a Bolt Cutout originally or not . Best Regards

 

[Amberg]

I'll ask the guys at the Royal museum of the armed forces and of military history in Brussels for more details. They might know.
http://www.klm-mra.be/klm-new/engels/main01.php?id=amuseum/geschiedenis

 

[Dave Roberts]

Thanks Wolf , I look forward to talking with You to see what You came up with . I will search the Link You sent . Did We go to this Museum ,I can`t remember You brought me to so many Great Museums. Best Regards

 

[Xavier]

museum

Hello
I sent a email to the museum in Brussels a few days ago . No answer for the moment.
best regards

 

[Dave Roberts]

Hello
I sent a email to the museum in Brussels a few days ago . No answer for the moment.
best regards

Xavier , Thank You . I would like to say Thank You to everyone that has been so helpful from the instant I asked for help . I have 4 main wished and needs to get this rifle back to its original condition . A couple detailed original Pics , Stock , Scope and set of Rings . Which Rings will most likely be hardest part to come by . But with any luck and all the assistance I have received to date . It is certainly a possibility . Best Regards .

 

[John Wall]

Hi Dave,
Here is the Belgian Mle 1935 sniper rifle page posted to the Kennblatter in 1943.
Regards,
John

 

[John Wall]

The front end "dovetail" looks like an amateur duffle cut repair from another donor stock.
That's a first.

Hi Bruce,
I believe that this work was done in Belgium. All MAE rifles that I have seen have been artfully-rebuilt Gew 98's. I have one which still has its original unit marking disc. MAE Mle 1935's are almost all Gew 98 components, including the wood, so the fraktur inspection letters we see on this rifle are genuine and correct. The bands of course are unique to the Mle 1935, whether MAE-made or the new production from FN dated 1940. This type of stock-work, where a rifle with a 740 mm barrel is transitioned to a short rifle (60 m/m or 55 m/m) configuration, was also done on M1889 stocks, using the same splicing technique and later installed on M1889/16 type rifles.

I have seen only two examples of this so I'm not sure how pervasive the work was. Too bad we can't routinely fieldstrip a rifle before we buy it!
Best Regards,
John

 

[BATANGUENO]

Many Belgian mod. 35 Stocks and receivers where made out from old captured German gewehr 98 and the kar. 98a from the first the War.
The Belgians don't use those captured rifles long in the orginal form because of the difference between the German 8mm and the Belgian 7,65 mm Mauser ,first they try to convert them in the cal.7,65 but it was not a succes.
The Belgians got also after the war 300.000 Turkisch guns (mod 91 and 93 rifles) that they used in their Army.
In the 30's many of those obsolete German guns where used by manufacture d'armes de l'etat (states armory) to be converted in parts of the new Belgian mod.35 and 36 rifles.
This is the case with your riflestock ,the insertion at the front end was done like this by hand in the arms factory in Liege.
Some other mod.35 modified stocks where made by mod 24/30 rifles received from FN.
Your gun got the L and a low serialnumber its real!(i have seeing fakes but your rifle is not!)
This rifle is a very very
rare find ! Thanks for sharing

 

[Dave Roberts]

I want to say Thank You to everyone that was willing to share any info that they had on this Rifle . I did have a good feeling when I 1st saw it it was Original but exactly how much was original was the ? . I had known about these Sniper Rifles from Axis Rifle , Pistol & Grenades Book but it showed very little info .

A ? for the members has anyone ever seen just a Base Rifle for sale or does anyone know of such a rifle that maybe for sale . Thanks Again to all the info contributing members . Some very interesting info indeed . Best Regards .