G41w 43

[lilallie]

Posting some pics of my G41. been in my collection for a time.
I sent pics to claus espeholt in denmark for his research about 2 years ago. He has it listed in his data base.
All matched but unusual as it has electric engraving on the Top cover, both bands and magazine. I see this on the G-K43 but I have seen only a couple other G41's with engraving and never with the bands. .......Wondering if it is because this rifle is near the end of ac production in 43 and some of the techniques for the G43 were used on the Later G41's?
The magazine is engraved also on the top where the stamp number used to be. I say used to be because the this part was replaced at some time.
my rifle also has the welded type rear band and both are phosphate finish. Laminate stock, has a small area in front of the magazine housing where it looks like a laminate repair or its just not perfect any more after 76 years.
Pics of the hand guard I put in the 3rd grouping showin the chip.
The bake-lite Black HG has a chip on the rear where it secures under the rear sight.
receiver has some browning on the side and top rails at the magazine housing. its external and not internal. I posted those pics at the end of this thread. anyway hopin these pics are helpful to all my fellow collectors here.
I put up several of them, hopin for some imput from you all.

Thanks

steveo

 

[lilallie]

More G41 pics.

 

[lilallie]

g41 pics

last of the G41 pics.

 

[Joseph Burke]

Outstanding G41. My own Walther built G41 is a no letter block and near identical to yours, although mine has a mismatched bolt group (fully matching to itself and WaA359 marked). I’ve not seen the electro-pencil serial on a band before either.


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[lilallie]

Outstanding G41. My own Walther built G41 is a no letter block and near identical to yours, although mine has a mismatched bolt group (fully matching to itself and WaA359 marked). I’ve not seen the electro-pencil serial on a band before either.


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Thanks Joseph, sounds like you have a nice one too. I think with the numbers of these produced and I have read most issued to the east I don't think large numbers survived.

 

[Tiger 2 Tank]

Nice G.41! I think the e penciling is period done, but I have no idea why. In my listings of these, G.41 ac43 #6527a was just reported on 10-05-19. That rifle has oddly e penciled “G-12” areas (receiver, mag, etc.) about the rifle. So far #6527a was reported, then #7004a was reported (on Espeholt’s site with no information other than “scope rail receiver”), then your rifle. So, something looks like to have been going on in this range maybe. Not quite enough rifles yet found, but maybe in the future more will pop up in this range and we’ll be able to see a pattern of e penciling going on. I will add that yours is getting to the end of Walther G.41 production as G.41 ac43 #996b is the highest known. So, maybe that has something to do with it?

 

[ugafx4]

Nice G.41! I think the e penciling is period done, but I have no idea why. In my listings of these, G.41 ac43 #6527a was just reported on 10-05-19. That rifle has oddly e penciled “G-12” areas about the rifle. So far #6527a was reported, then #7004a was reported (on Espeholt’s site with no information other than “scope rail receiver”), then your rifle. So, something looks like to have been going on in this range maybe. Not quite enough rifles yet found, but maybe in the future more will pop up in this range and we’ll be able to see a pattern of e penciling going on.

I am glad you brought that other rifle up, I have been scratching my head over #6527a. It was brought into a gun show here and is a nice G41, I see it is for sale elsewhere now. Perhaps it is some type of test number assigned to keep track of the rifle in the field?

 

[Tiger 2 Tank]

I am glad you brought that other rifle up, I have been scratching my head over #6527a. It was brought into a gun show here and is a nice G41, I see it is for sale elsewhere now. Perhaps it is some type of test number assigned to keep track of the rifle in the field?

Yeah, every time I come across a new rifle, I start looking around that rifle with others reported and start seeing things sometimes like this. I need more rifles in this serial range to see if anything was going on....or maybe nothing was going on? At the end of Walther G.41 production, who knows?

Is #6527a, the numbers and letters, are they “scratched in the metal” OR e penciled? It looks scratched in, but maybe it’s the same purpose. Or, we’re making excuses for some post war thing that happened?

 

[flynaked]

Very interesting, thanks for posting this. At first I had wondered if it was depot related, but even with the small amount you have recorded with this feature, it does appear something was going on. As to the mention of phasing into G43 production this may not exactly line up, I’m not sure as to which exact maker or if it’s both, but G41’s were still being assembled in 1944. They do taper off of course as you might imagine, but that final point was into the summer! IIRC the final month had roughly 40 G41’s delivered.

 

[Tiger 2 Tank]

BLM was still producing the G.41 in ‘44, well after Walther stopped. And, they were still marked “duv43”. Last block on the BLM’s was h block, but there was one i block “receiver only” reported.

 

[flynaked]

That’s who I imagined it would have been, how late are they thought to have produced them?

 

[Tiger 2 Tank]

That’s who I imagined it would have been, how late are they thought to have produced them?

Right now I’m away from my things to see, but BLM production of G.41’s was into ‘44 for sure. Off hand just don’t know how far though.

 

[flynaked]

Looking forward to it Kelly! Regardless it appears the Walthers were in a far different timeframe, back to being confused about this rifle haha.


*One more question while you’re pulling up your records, do you happen to make note of depot rifles?

 

[ugafx4]

My quick few minutes of online research leads me to believe that the cursive font of the G is in American cursive. Can someone fact check me on this?

 

[lilallie]

Nice G.41! I think the e penciling is period done, but I have no idea why. In my listings of these, G.41 ac43 #6527a was just reported on 10-05-19. That rifle has oddly e penciled “G-12” areas (receiver, mag, etc.) about the rifle. So far #6527a was reported, then #7004a was reported (on Espeholt’s site with no information other than “scope rail receiver”), then your rifle. So, something looks like to have been going on in this range maybe. Not quite enough rifles yet found, but maybe in the future more will pop up in this range and we’ll be able to see a pattern of e penciling going on. I will add that yours is getting to the end of Walther G.41 production as G.41 ac43 #996b is the highest known. So, maybe that has something to do with it?

Thanks Tiger 2 and Fly and everyone for all the info and ideas bein posted.
Im not an expert, just a long time collector and have been wrong on a few other things like I’m sure others have been and that’s why I posted these pics as detailed as I could because I have always believed the engraving to be period applied and when viewing the rifle in person it’s easier to tell than the pics show.
I had an early G43 and the font on the pencil, the depth and patina was pretty much the same.
It was not until I located collector information on line and in the collectors book on the subject that determining the approximate end of walther production was possible. After gettin that info, I was really thinkin the change to engraving being done was for the same reasons it was starting to be done with the G43.
.......
Until your post I had only seen a couple others with engraving but only on the rear of the receiver.
A comparison of other G41’s like this would be great and with your theory from knowing the other rifles that are engraved bein late examples also really seems to be a possibility.

Thanks everyone for pushin this forward. Great stuff!

 

[Tiger 2 Tank]

*One more question while you’re pulling up your records, do you happen to make note of depot rifles?

Not necessarily. I haven't (that I know of) come across G.41 or G/K.43 "depot marked rifles" marked like rifles would be marked as the K.98k's that are depot marked. I'm sure some went through the repair process, but I don't know of any special markings they would have on them. In fact, Weaver states in his book "Hitler's Garands" that it was too late in the war for these to have been taken up and taken to a repair depot. I don't recall how he specifically states this, but I do remember reading that. So, I am guessing that the damaged ones were either discarded or parts may have been interchanged....? I don't know. I know I have run into repaired stocks and I have a genuine G.43 bcd that I know the stock is period repaired. And, that rifle is in the book "Hitler's Garands" and noted as having had the stock period repaired. I have seen a genuine G.41 Walther rifle with a period repaired stock. But, these rifles weren't marked in any special way to show they went to a repair depot.

 

[Tiger 2 Tank]

My quick few minutes of online research leads me to believe that the cursive font of the G is in American cursive. Can someone fact check me on this?

Yes, it's a "cursive g" on BLM rifles. BLM had the cursive letters. BLM's "7"s and "1"s SUCK!!! They are easy to get confused with. So, I have to be super careful when seeing a serial number with these two digits.

 

[flynaked]

Kelly, I think he’s referring to this rifle.

 

[flynaked]

Not necessarily. I haven't (that I know of) come across G.41 or G/K.43 "depot marked rifles" marked like rifles would be marked as the K.98k's that are depot marked. I'm sure some went through the repair process, but I don't know of any special markings they would have on them. In fact, Weaver states in his book "Hitler's Garands" that it was too late in the war for these to have been taken up and taken to a repair depot. I don't recall how he specifically states this, but I do remember reading that. So, I am guessing that the damaged ones were either discarded or parts may have been interchanged....? I don't know. I know I have run into repaired stocks and I have a genuine G.43 bcd that I know the stock is period repaired. And, that rifle is in the book "Hitler's Garands" and noted as having had the stock period repaired. I have seen a genuine G.41 Walther rifle with a period repaired stock. But, these rifles weren't marked in any special way to show they went to a repair depot.

Interesting, I realized I hadn’t either and was curious if you had recorded any. Not a whole lot of help as it is simply a loose m/m part but this TG looks to have been reworked. I assume wartime, and not postwar done but who knows! I saw an imported G41 recently that looked like all those Balkan imports!

 

[Tiger 2 Tank]

I've seen that before, specifically on either a Gustloff G.43 or a BLM rifle where a pair of locking lugs had been "lined out" and the new number e penciled on them. Factory error or re-work? Don't know. Looked period done and the rest of that rifle was absolutely correct. Off hand I just couldn't remember which maker the rifle was now. Yours looks like it was period done; reworked as you stated.