How common are bnz 45 receivers without final inspection marks on top?

[rcmauser]

I picked up a non-import marked phosphate finish restored sporter bnz 45 in a cheap trade, with a self-matching 7958S bolt, sans the extractor. Plan is to use this as a shooter and fill a hole in the safe. My question is could this have been GI put together gun, post war rework or just parts from a restore project? Have others seen ground barrels like this and receivers with no final inspection mark? The rear sight is made up of early mauser parts. The base is split at the bottom with an ugly solder job.

The receiver and barrel are interesting as there is no final proof on top of receiver and the top of the barrel between he receiver and rear sight has been ground smooth and two “O” marks on the bottom. There is no serial on the barrel and the only marks visible or EK and M or partial 3 on the bottom. It appears to have been done a long time ago as the overall patina match. The Lyman site holes have been filled in. The receiver is blued in that area. The front sight had a height extension soldered in place.

It came with an old ratty sling that looks original with faded unreadable ink stamp marking and a regular front sight hood. The front and read bands are miss-matched but are appropriate to the rifle. The stock is an ill-fitting over refinished RC stock with left side number sanded out. The stock is split in the inside magazine and trigger area and would need bedding before firing.

 

[rcmauser]

More Photos

 

[CanadianAR]

It looks like a T block bnz45. Late t blocks are found without the final receiver proof. They are supposedly unfinished factory found.

The EK barrel shows up in the T block a lot. I would expect the barrel code to have a Bnz/1 shield and e/waa623 as well.


No serial on the barrel? Did you blur it or was it filed off??

 

[RyanE]

It is not uncommon to see all sorts of acceptance pattern oddities on late bnz45. I had one that had the final acceptance on the receiver but no fireproof on the barrel. Some or all of the WaA team may have skipped town in April, or they may have just stopped caring.

 

[rcmauser]

It looks like a T block bnz45. Late t blocks are found without the final receiver proof. They are supposedly unfinished factory found.

The EK barrel shows up in the T block a lot. I would expect the barrel code to have a Bnz/1 shield and e/waa623 as well.


No serial on the barrel? Did you blur it or was it filed off??

As my post indicates.....what you see is what you get.... top polished smooth.... maybe a reject or done later...patina matches receiver

 

[rcmauser]

It is not uncommon to see all sorts of acceptance pattern oddities on late bnz45. I had one that had the final acceptance on the receiver but no fireproof on the barrel. Some or all of the WaA team may have skipped town in April, or they may have just stopped caring.

Makes sense... at some point the workers had to realize they were just making war souvenirs by that time in the game...

 

[mto7464]

As CanAR and you said it look like the sn on the barrel has been removed. You have a nice bolt and some parts and a good looking sling. Hope u did not pay too much. I wonder who put the rear sight on? I wonder what the batfe would think of a rifle with no SN??

 

[Kcode98]

What month in 1945 were the t blocks made?

 

[BATANGUENO]

What month in 1945 were the t blocks made?

I got this explanation from the site of Steyr....
The 45 dated rifles are different in several respects. The Mod.98 was moved to the top of the
receiver from the siderail and placed above the “bnz” 45 logo that was now in a single line. Barrels and
bolt assemblies are serial numbered but the receivers are not. The bolt-takedown
washer was deleted and replaced with the simple hole drilled through the toe of the
buttplate. Wood screws retained bands and the normal band springs were not needed.
The bayonet lug and cleaning rod were also deleted and a simple sheet metal end cap
held by a small wood screw was utilized to protect the forend of the stock.
Triggerguards and floorplates marked “byf”, “svw”, and “qnw” are found as well as
some Waffenamt “135” or Waffenamt “Waffenamt “214”. “bcd” rear sight assembly
pieces are also common. The “623” Waffenamt remained the final acceptance stamp
on receivers and barrels. Rifles up to mid S serial number range are blued. The switch to the phosphate
finish rifles appears and the transition seems to have happened all at once as I, at least, have not heard of a
dual-tone “bnz” 45. They are either all blue or all phosphate. Stocks are either laminate or a single piece
of soft beech, which varied in color from a light tan to a dark brown. Stocks and handguards were not
numbered. Many, but not all, have a nicely stamped Eagle H in the stock. At about the 1200t range
several of those unusual alternately thick--thin layers of wood laminate stocks appear at random these
“bnz” 1945 K98k’s like the “byf”, “svw”, and “svwMB” rifles are the quintessential Kreigsmodell K98k’s.
The known serial number range is from 4166q to 5935t, with an estimated Production run of 30,000 rifle

 

[CanadianAR]

What month in 1945 were the t blocks made?

I believe April and May.

 

[rcmauser]

It looks like a T block bnz45. Late t blocks are found without the final receiver proof. They are supposedly unfinished factory found.

The EK barrel shows up in the T block a lot. I would expect the barrel code to have a Bnz/1 shield and e/waa623 as well.


No serial on the barrel? Did you blur it or was it filed off??

This is the path I am following also.... The EK marked barrels seem to start in mid S alpha series. Without the serial, shield, waa code and firing proof we just will not know for sure, I guess. I was hoping others had encountered examples with ground smooth barrel markings. Wondering if the this was done at the factory or sometime later....

 

[rcmauser]

mto7464 - This was trade. I traded an S-code RC mix-master with repro cleaning rod that I had for over 10 years.... just kind of a step up from an RC in the collection. The RC with cleaning rod and gas both ways...The cost was about $200 a cheap trade. The sling is fragile and will display well... Too far gone for any real value, IMO. The original metal is best part of this acquisition...

It should make a nice shooter version of a late war configuration k98.....

 

[vaughn99]

Hello,

to me looks like a restored sporter "attempt". it looks like at the rear sight some one was fileing off the steps to make a more sporter barrel look is the reason the serial is missing, there is a good taper and gap at the rear of the gew98 transition base that has been added. you can see the late war lathe make as you get close to the barrel shoulder and file marks near the step. they didn't know how to get the front sight base off so they CUT this gew98 sight and peened it and soldered it in place. stock and bands used for the sttempted restore but nothing matches. started off as a BMM barreled action.

later
vaughn

 

[rcmauser]

Thanks for insight for the rear sight. That explains the ugly solder job and slightly off center fit. I have a more appropriate rear sight for this one.
Thank you all for the input...

For a parts gun, it does have a nice bore.