High Turret BYF 44 L Block Matching Sniper & Scope Found (Demill)

[jmanngun]

Hi all,

Just wanted to share some photos with our community on this interesting find and hear some opinions!

It is a shame it was sporterized long ago and appears to have been demilled recently,

I would like to restore this properly... it is not every day you see a matched scope to the rifle. It would be a very serious restoration and require extensive work.

It was placed in a crude sporter stock and painted with a heavy coat of black paint. The receiver is missing the middle section between the bridges and the back part of the tang section. All parts are matching and serialized correctly to number 1186 from the L block. The scope looks like a Dialytan 4x bmj or dkl, it is fully functioning, and it is very clear to look through. A name (E. Christie?) and the year 1945 was etched onto the scope tube. The front ring is serialized 1186 and is barely readable under the heavy paint coat. Also, note the shortened safety.

The added paint appears to have preserved the original finish on all the parts and shouldn't be an issue to remove for unveiling what is underneath.

 

[sturmgrenadier]

Looks like the vet did some customization, it wouldn’t be to difficult to locate a stock set with metal. BUT…
Why the (I have a small penis) would anyone demil a bolt gun? Shame

 

[jmanngun]

Looks like the vet did some customization, it wouldn’t be to difficult to locate a stock set with metal. BUT…
Why the (I have a small penis) would anyone demil a bolt gun? Shame

Perhaps... it was an evidence piece, police confiscated, firearm buy back turn-in, or something along those lines...?

 

[Absolut]

I cannot recall before having seen a sportered sniper with the side wall being partially removed. Maybe the owner was left handed and did individual round feeding from the other side, else than that I see no reason to do this.

First of all, remove all that paint on the parts. Once the paint is gone, you'll know whether it is worth going through all of the hassle to restore it. Stock needs replacement, but the side wall is a tough job. Maybe buy a torch cut receiver (or elsehow damaged receiver) and chop out the portion with the Mod. 98 designation and get it laser welded to the receiver.

 

[Mike2994]

I was following this auction (and the scope auction) on GB. With the whole middle and tang of the receiver missing it would take a lot of work to weld (heat will be an issue), line up the receiver rails so the bolt functions, etc.

Will be interesting to see how you can get it back to looking the way it should be.

This was a police confiscated gun, the company selling it cuts up the receivers and sells the guns as parts kits. Shame.

 

[CanadianAR]

That is a shame, personally I don’t think it’s worth the effort. You will go to great lengths and have a gun that has a lot of issues still, unless the gun was bought for a song, it’s not fiscally viable.

I mean it’s still kinda neat anyways, without the black paint,

 

[Dave Roberts]

The Scope on your HT is a BMJ , IMHO this would be a neat restoration project . I would at least do a cost analysis and go from there .
Good Luck what ever You decide !!!!!!!!!!

 

[jmanngun]

I cannot recall before having seen a sportered sniper with the side wall being partially removed. Maybe the owner was left handed and did individual round feeding from the other side, else than that I see no reason to do this.

First of all, remove all that paint on the parts. Once the paint is gone, you'll know whether it is worth going through all of the hassle to restore it. Stock needs replacement, but the side wall is a tough job. Maybe buy a torch cut receiver (or elsehow damaged receiver) and chop out the portion with the Mod. 98 designation and get it laser welded to the receiver.

I was following this auction (and the scope auction) on GB. With the whole middle and tang of the receiver missing it would take a lot of work to weld (heat will be an issue), line up the receiver rails so the bolt functions, etc.

Will be interesting to see how you can get it back to looking the way it should be.

This was a police confiscated gun, the company selling it cuts up the receivers and sells the guns as parts kits. Shame.

That is a shame, personally I don’t think it’s worth the effort. You will go to great lengths and have a gun that has a lot of issues still, unless the gun was bought for a song, it’s not fiscally viable.

I mean it’s still kinda neat anyways, without the black paint,

The Scope on your HT is a BMJ , IMHO this would be a neat restoration project . I would at least do a cost analysis and go from there .
Good Luck what ever You decide !!!!!!!!!!

Thank you all for your input so far... I love this community that we have here!

Background:

I am a professional gunsmith and I do have the necessary skill sets to restore this right. While I am pretty knowledgable with metallurgy, I will still seek some outside help from a friend who is a top expert in that field and hear his suggestions about normalizing the receiver after the repairs are completed. Any welding done will have to match the original composition of the receiver and have a strong penetration in all the welds. Especially, if the goal is to return it to firing condition.

Further thoughts:

I believe this is a piece of history worth trying to save.

The only real cost factors for this project will be the missing parts, the stock set, and my time spent on it.

So the big question is, will the firearm be restorable to firing condition again or is it merely a unique display piece then? Both methods of restoration will utilize the original receiver components.

Please share some opinions about which stock variants you think this rifle would have had originally? And also the buttplate? If anyone has suggestions in locating a nice stock set and a buttplate that would be correct... I am listening!

I do think that removing the black paint will reveal a rifle that is a mix of worn blue and phosphate finish. Besides myself, I believe several of you here are also curious as to what else lies underneath that black paint.

Dave, thank you for the scope confirmation. I am sure you are correct, but we will be able to prove that 100% once the black paint is removed.

I welcome all additional thoughts!

 

[CanadianAR]

Ahhhhh if you can do the tough stuff yourself, that’s a whole different story.

Good luck and would be nice to see progress.

 

[Absolut]

So the big question is, will the firearm be restorable to firing condition again or is it merely a unique display piece then? Both methods of restoration will utilize the original receiver components.

You are too far ahead. Strip the paint and then post pictures again. Then you'll know if repairable or not. If not repairable, then it would be easier to just strip off the bases and rings and sell those separately.

Re welding: I'd try to locate maybe a torch cut receiver where the side wall still is intact. Carefully cut out the part that you need (.. because on the side wall you originally also have the "Mod. 98" designation and you would want that back on your gun too) and then get it laser welded. I strongly and repeatedly recommend laser welding only. This involves as little head as needed and I'm pretty confident if professionally executed you'll not need to worry on re heat treatment nor if you should actually remove the bases to be able to do this.

 

[jmanngun]

Ahhhhh if you can do the tough stuff yourself, that’s a whole different story.

Good luck and would be nice to see progress.

I will keep everyone here updated with the progress.

 

[jmanngun]

You are too far ahead. Strip the paint and then post pictures again. Then you'll know if repairable or not. If not repairable, then it would be easier to just strip off the bases and rings and sell those separately.

Re welding: I'd try to locate maybe a torch cut receiver where the side wall still is intact. Carefully cut out the part that you need (.. because on the side wall you originally also have the "Mod. 98" designation and you would want that back on your gun too) and then get it laser welded. I strongly and repeatedly recommend laser welding only. This involves as little head as needed and I'm pretty confident if professionally executed you'll not need to worry on re heat treatment nor if you should actually remove the bases to be able to do this.

I don't believe I am.

Removing the paint does not determine whether the receiver is truly repairable or not.

Breaking the mounts down would ruin the fact it is still all matching and together even though it was demilled. The receiver looks as if it was cut in three places and then ground to clean up...

I concur on the laser welding... that would likely give it the best penetration of weld needed and the lower heat temp for something like this. Annealing, normalization, and heat treating is TBD.

DaveR actually asked me to post some pics of the demill etc soon, so y'all will all get to see those...

 

[Absolut]

With removing the paint I mean you do not know what other damage might be hidden under the paint which you yet do not know of. I though also not concur that this may not have influence on being repairable/weldable. You don‘t know how this was actually done, so there might be miscolorations due to too much heat - while not likely, just make sure that it is possible, and if this is the only and major restoration issue, or if there is something else to consider, before buying parts needed for full restoration. I wish you best luck with it and also keen to learn how it looks with the paint removed, do keep us updated.

 

[jmanngun]

With removing the paint I mean you do not know what other damage might be hidden under the paint which you yet do not know of. I though also not concur that this may not have influence on being repairable/weldable. You don‘t know how this was actually done, so there might be miscolorations due to too much heat - while not likely, just make sure that it is possible, and if this is the only and major restoration issue, or if there is something else to consider, before buying parts needed for full restoration. I wish you best luck with it and also keen to learn how it looks with the paint removed, do keep us updated.

If you are referring to how the receiver was cut, whether with a torch or a saw etc... Now, I follow what you mean! And yes, I agree...

 

[Absolut]

Yes. Not a native speaker, so sorry if my English may sound a bit weird . Show us what is hidden under the paint! Keen to find out myself!

 

[jmanngun]

Update #1!

All the added paint has been removed. Now, you can see the original finish and the demill cuts.

Also, I did a little bit of extra work on the scope...

Check out these photos!

 

[Absolut]

Looks much nicer than I had been afraid of it would be. Defenitely worth buying a scrap receiver to chop and laser weld the resulting donor pieces to your sniper action. Possible and worth it! Thanks for sharing those.

 

[jmanngun]

Looks much nicer than I had been afraid of it would be. Defenitely worth buying a scrap receiver to chop and laser weld the resulting donor pieces to your sniper action. Possible and worth it! Thanks for sharing those.

Yes, it came out decent!

The receiver repairs will be the next big step.

If anyone has leads on an original stock set (Semi-Kriegsmodell, WaA135 on the right side of butt) or an original checkered sniper buttplate... please let me know!

 

[Absolut]

Personally I'd rather not put a sniper buttplate on the stock. The reason is that you'll most likely fail to find a stock which originally had carried a sniper buttplate. And sniper buttplates usually leave distinctive checkering pattern also on the wood below the buttplate. Anyone therefore pulling the buttplate from your rifle would therefore be made aware the rifle had never carried a sniper buttplate originally and end up questioning the whole rifle. A smooth buttplate would had been a legit possibility from factory for your rifle, so it would be correct too.

 

[mrfarb]