To restore, or leave alone bcd4 lsr

MrB said:
That logic mixes tangerines with oranges. You were writing about rifles and now you switched to mounts. I have seen an original LSR rifle well above that serial number range.

Other possible explanations:
  • The last LSR rifles could have been issued with recycled mounts.
  • The last LSR's could have been mated with unnumbered mounts.
  • The last LSR rifles could have been manufactured but not yet mated with a mount at wars end.
While I do not doubt there are three holes that have been finished after the war, Your theory, that all LSR's with serial numbers after 4-5k are finished three holes, is wrong.
Click to expand...
I don’t see them as Tangerines and Oranges. Is the scope not a part of the rifle? If we can’t fully trust the rifles then mounts are the best thing to look at. Now the number may be closer to the 6k range. The point is that the scope mounts are best ways to determine this.

If a mount was recycled then it would have been numbered to match the rifle. Sure a rifle may have been sitting there waiting to be finished. However, The Germans would not have accepted a rifle with an unnumbered mount. That is wishful thinking.

It’s my theory that most LRS rifles later than the 4-6k range (or there’s about) were finished by collectors and not Gustloff.

Show me a legit numbered mount with a later serial number. It would prove that it was fitted to such a rifle.
 
I agree with Matt, I’d probably actually lower his serial range a bit even. Of course we have to clarify the serial ranges of Gustloff LSR:

29-35k many unfinished LSR
36-100k LSR
1k-3k LSR
4K-10k many unfinished LSR

Absolutely LSR mounts are the way to determine beginning and ending of production, not the rifles.
 
I would be very interested in seeing this weapon. If verified; could change a lot of known information as it could be so uncommon as to start a controversy. Please post some pics as this would be very helpful for the community.


MrB said:
You were writing about rifles and now you switched to mounts. I have seen an original LSR rifle well above that serial number range.
Click to expand...
 
That one has been brutally polished then reblued. Makes me sick. I would not spend any money on it. The trigger guard is trash. Sadly nothing you can do will improve its value
 
Humbarger said:
That one has been brutally polished then reblued. Makes me sick. I would not spend any money on it. The trigger guard is trash. Sadly nothing you can do will improve its value
Click to expand...
I concur with you on that seeing such a thing makes you sick. Stripping that blueing though and getting the thing phosphated will though result in a much better looking rifle. Trigger guard can be replaced. After all, the matching numbers mount to it is out there and reuniting it with that, especially knowing that someone from your family brought home that thing in a war where he risked his life makes it absolutely worth it. I'd be proud of it, whatever others may think. Family heirloom doesn't have a price tag!
 
Restoration is a very personal decision. You can either leave it in the configuration your uncle put it in, or return it to something resembling its wartime state.

I think a few of the purists are being overly harsh. If you decide you want to restore this, it can be made to look much better. With the matching scope mount recently surfacing, I think it presents a decent opportunity for you to put the thing back together. You’ve technically got all the matching parts. You just need to remove that god awful bluing, and have someone who knows what they’re doing prep the metal and apply a phosphate finish that more closely resembles what it would have looked like in 1944/45. One of our forum members here (Mike2994) recently mentioned in another thread that he knows a guy who can do the phosphate work. From there, you’ll need a donor stock, but if Matt D. is gracious enough to work with you on reuniting the scope and mount, you could actually have a pretty decent representative example of a German sniper in your hands, which is not an easy task to accomplish.
 
Be advised that there are TWO different parkerising solutions.
One is Manganese phosphate which produces a tough military
type grey finish. Then there is the Phosphate solution which produces
a black finish. I always opt for the phosphate solution. Always always
ask your gunsmith which one he is useing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top