I bought this gun about 12-13 years ago from a man moving to Turkey. He said he inherited from a friend who'd died a few years earlier. Apparently the friend had been in the U.S. Army and killed the German he took it from in 1945. I know, buy the gun, not the story. But by the time I bought his other two guns and sold them I had this one for free. What a great gun I thought when I examined it. All matching except for the bolt. It is only marked like the photos show. The rest of the gun is profusely marked with WaA77's and 623's. and serial numbers. The stocks are dot marked as well as WaA623. The serial number is not only marked in the barrel channel but also on the underside of the butt and in the sling cut-out. The butt plate is marked on the exterior the usual way but also ink stamped inside. Even the ejector is marked.
When I got it home and disassemebled it my heart sank. I found the barrel had been drilled through to the perfect bore under the rear band and the chamber had been reamed out with an oversized drill to de-mil the gun. What a shame. So, to make it a shooter I went to one of my local gun stores and found a usable WWII barrel for $20 and rebarreled the gun to make it a shooter. At the time I checked with several gunsmiths to maybe get the original barrel, which I still have, relined but they all said due to the caliber it wasn't feasable. Since I bought the dot 1943 the past weekend I had decided to sell this one but the more I mess with it the more I realize I really like it, warts and all so I think I'll just hang onto it. The only thing that worries me a little is that at some point the receiver had been heated on the bottom front to probably remove the original barrel to drill out the chamber. Its a little discolored but seems to be purely surface discoloration. I've shot it several times and the gun has been checked by a gunsmith who said the receiver doesn't appear to have become brittle as a result. The vise marks of the replacement barrel I'm glad to say are not mine. I do better work than that.
When I got it home and disassemebled it my heart sank. I found the barrel had been drilled through to the perfect bore under the rear band and the chamber had been reamed out with an oversized drill to de-mil the gun. What a shame. So, to make it a shooter I went to one of my local gun stores and found a usable WWII barrel for $20 and rebarreled the gun to make it a shooter. At the time I checked with several gunsmiths to maybe get the original barrel, which I still have, relined but they all said due to the caliber it wasn't feasable. Since I bought the dot 1943 the past weekend I had decided to sell this one but the more I mess with it the more I realize I really like it, warts and all so I think I'll just hang onto it. The only thing that worries me a little is that at some point the receiver had been heated on the bottom front to probably remove the original barrel to drill out the chamber. Its a little discolored but seems to be purely surface discoloration. I've shot it several times and the gun has been checked by a gunsmith who said the receiver doesn't appear to have become brittle as a result. The vise marks of the replacement barrel I'm glad to say are not mine. I do better work than that.
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