The trouble with this bloody hobby is that it’s just too easy to pick away at the siderails and going squirreling off into the forest. Primarily I collect Axis infantry weapons but when you have been going as long as I have then you start getting to the end of the list. Just recently I bought my first US infantry firearm, this perfect 1937 date M1903. Look upon my works ye mighty and despair.
Here’s a less common rifle. Once the China War got really going the IJN found it increasingly difficult to get small arms as all of the domestic Japanese production was going to the Army. In response they sent a mission to Europe to buy a battle rifle. They were on a budget, they found the Czechs, Germans and Swedes too expensive so they settled on an Italy Carcano rework. Note that it is visually very similar to the Type 38 long rifle and was chambered in the same round, 6.5 Arisaka.
Because I am getting to the end of the German small arms I decided to grow my US & British groups. Luckily this one came past me as it kind of fits in with both countries. This rifle, made by the Stevens subsidiary of the Savage Arms Company was intended for supply to the British through the Lend-Lease program. It’s dated 1943.
This rifle, a VZ24 manufactured by Brno in 1940, is a great example of a German issue G24(t). It’s fully matching down to the stock. Still has all of its dirty birds intact. The only downer is that fact that Bubba has sanded the stock lightly at some point. Shame, but since these are terrifically hard to get in Canada in any state, I am prepared to ignore this. This brings me one step closer to having a full collection of German long guns. The ones I have missing at a G29/40 Radom and a G41(m).
In 1941 the decision was made by Franco’s regime to replace the 1898 M98 Mauser in 7×57 with a variant of the German K98k in 7.92×57. This resulted in the M43 Mauser which remained in service until the late 1950’s. These got imported in bulk into Canada about ten years ago and I felt the urge to own one grow as the supply of Axis weapons started to dry up. Here’s where I have ended up, an Army marked M43, all matching and in generally excellent condition.
This M24 Mauser came to me untouched from it’s journey post-1945 and complete including matching serials, King Peter II cartouche and original sling mounts.
With the First World War over, the newly formed country of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later known as Yugoslavia) decided they wanted a standardized rifle for their front line troops. After a brief trials, they came up with an almost exact copy of Germany’s K98k rifle – the biggest difference being that the action was 1/8 inch shorter than Germany’s standard infantry rifle. The first 100,000 rifles came from FN, and the remaining examples (which were produced through WWII) were built at the Yugoslavian national armory. There were three main configurations of this rifle: two carbines and one rifle.
This example is marked BOJHOTEX.ЗАВОД – Крагујевцу (Military Technical Institute 1932-1941) on the sidewall indicating a Yugoslav arsenal origin.
Here’s an uncommon rifle I just picked up. These German contract guns were made by Fémáru Fegyver és Gépgyár, Budapest, which company possibly subcontracted some or all of the work to Danuvia Gépgyár, Budapest 1941-44. In 1940 the Mannlicher Model 35 was redesigned for the German contract. Based on German request the caliber was changed to 7.92x57mm Mauser, the bolt handle was turned down, a staggered row Mauser-type box magazine flush with the bottom of the stock was fitted and German M98-type bands and bayonet lug were used on this rifle. All steel parts, including the bolt were blued.
I haven’t been able to work out why the reference to Gewehr 98 in it’s name as it shares no dna with that rifle. Note the 2 part lower stock in the same style as the Enfield SMLE rifles.
Just when I thought I was done with Carcano’s I get a call from Sean, who has scavenged up this interesting little variant, the M91/38 Cavalry Carbine (Moschetto Modello Cavalleria).
Chambered in 6.5×52, and equipped with a permanently affixed long spike bayonet, it was intended for the use of horse cavalry units and fitted into a leather saddle scabbard.
Interestingly the setup with the bayonet is almost identical to the Japanese Type 44 Cavalry carbine. I expect that designers kept an eye on what each other were producing and stole ideas that appealed to them. The gun is manufactured by Terni. Interesting that the barrel is proofed 36-XIV, meaning it was manufactured in 1936, the 14th year of Mussolini’s rule.
I have always had a wee hard-on for the Enfield No1 Mk3. It was the first rifle I owned as a child and I have always wanted to own one again. A friend of mine is a nut for Enfields and owns far too many. I asked him to sell me a no-issues wartime rifle to go with the No4 & No5 I already had. He came up with this one. Battle issued, made in 1941/42 by Lithgow in Australia. Sighted for high velocity MkVII ammun ition, this rifle went into New Guinea with the Australian Forces. It was returned to Lithgow in June 1945.
This is a pretty great find for me. This rifle came from the US and is a Type 2 TERA (Teishin Rakkasan Shyoujyu) rifle. This rifle was based on the Type 99 infantry rifle but designed to be able to be broken down into two parts for stowing prior to the Paratrooper drop. These rifles are almost never found with an unground Chrysanthemum and often the front and rear sections are mismatched. In this case the rifle is all matching. Interesting because it retains the anti-aircraft sights of the Type 99.
This rifle is one of 91,000 manufactured by the Japanese between 1911 and 1942. These were intended to be issued to cavalry troops so they could have a less cumbersome primary weapon with an integral bayonet. Prior to this the cavalry was forced to carry a separate Type 38, a Type 30 bayonet and a Type 32 saber. This rifle has two individual holes in the butt stock compartment to hold the two parts of the cleaning rod, indicating that this is a “first type” variation. Nagoya Arsenal marked, the mum has been ground upon surrender. This rifle was quite often found with Railway or other transportation troops.
The other day I bought a Carcano Model 38 Carbine in 7.35×51 calibre. When I get these rifles I try to get just a small quantity of representative ammunition for them. Here are two slightly different issues of the 18 round carton for this rifle. The first is manufactured by SMI, Società Metallurgica Italiana in 1939, the second by Sezione Pirotechnico R.E. in Bologna, also in 1939. This round was introduced because of feedback saying the 6.5 Carcano round performed poorly in Abyssinia in 1936. Typically the Italians screwed up and actually made this projectile lighter than the one it was to replace.
The Fucile di Fanteria Mod. 1938. The standard short rifle adopted by the Italian Army in 1938. The rifle is in 7.35×51mm calibre. This one is a bit of a bush pig, rough, mismatched stock but cheap. It was manufactured by Terni in 1939. The 7.35 round was adopted to give the Italians a heavier hitting round than the prior 6.5 Carcano. The rifle was unusual for incorporating a detachable folding bayonet, seen below or here.
Next up on the wall is a sweet, all matching, G33/40 Mountain Carbine. These rifles were essentially a German copy of the vz33 but considerably lightened by scavenging metal from any place they could find on the rifle to remove. Note the hollow bolt. The rifle is also characterised by the plate that extends up the stock from the butt plate. This was intended to protect the rifle from damage due to being used as a walking stick. The rifle, in addition to being issued to Gebirgsjäger, was also issued to any light infantry such as the Fallschirmjäger. Known for their brutal kick and excessive flash due to the light weight and short barrel, these were only made between 1940 and 42. The 945 code here is the early code for Brno, later it changed to dot.
The latest rifle in the box, a beautiful Type 99 infantry rifle in as found condition. This rifle was intended to replace the smaller caliber Type-38 found here. The 7.7mm round was found to be more effective at dropping the enemy and less likely to be deflected by light cover. This example comes with its original monopod and anti-aircraft sights as well as an intact Chrysanthemum. Brilliant! Ammunition for this can be seen here. The rifle was manufactured at the Nagoya Arsenal in mid to late 1943. It is a 4th series example and was one of the last to have the monopod fitted.
Japanese soldier using the Type-99 during the occupation of Indochina, 1940
This is what happens when you start running low on German rifles to buy. You start branching out a little. I say a little because this is still a WW2 Axis weapon but I realise I am drifting to the dark side.
This rifle is a 1941 dated M91/41 long rifle (fucile) in 6.5×52 calibre, manufactured by FAT (Terni). All matching, only thrown into a ditch once! No honestly, it’s a ugly Mannlicher like rifle that doesn’t deserve its post-war reputation for poor accuracy. Most of that comes from undersized commercial rounds fed to the surplus market. This example has its original straight bolt. I have read that unscrupulous importers bent the bolts on these rifles hoping to confuse buyers into thinking they were “Italian Mausers”.
This is a Canadian made Enfield Mark 4 Number 1*, manufactured in 1943 by The Long Branch Arsenal in Toronto, Canada. This rifle, in .303 caliber was the main battle rifle of all the British and Empire forces during most of WW2. This rifle came to me as a bit of a ruin, with a wrecked stock, although the hardware was good and the rifle was all matching. I found an unissued stock (albeit S for short) in England and married the two together along with original Canadian made breech cover and sling. The pig sticker bayonet was characteristic of the Number 4 and replaced the blade bayonet of the Number 3 rifle.
The group in the photo immediately above are men from the Canadian 48th Highlanders in Regalbuto, Sicily, 1943. The man in the white striped helmet is their Padre.
This is the Mannlicher M95/30 Austrian battle rifle. In this example it is the Kavaliere Repetier-Carabiner M1895 or carbine /30 in 8x56R caliber. Most likely this was cut down to stutzen length when it was converted from the 8×50 caliber in the thirties.
M95/30 was a conversion in the First Austrian Republic by Steyr-Mannlicher during 1930–1940. These rifles carry the letter S meaning Spitzer stamped on the barrel. Main modification was the rechambering to 8×56mmR cartridge. Other changes were the conversion of ladder sights from the older pace unit to meters and addition of a brass front sight protector. Many long rifles were cut down to Stutzen length. Most of M95/30s were sent to Bulgaria during 1938–40, where front sight protectors were removed.
These rifles were also used by second line units as well as the Balkan allies of Germany. This particular example shows an Austrian acceptance mark HV 35 indicating it was accepted into service in 1935 after being modified for the new round.
Here is a new rifle for the collection. This is a Walther Gewehr 43 or in this case a Karabiner 43 (K43) semi-automatic rifle. This particular rifle has a replacement stock on it since a previous owner cut the metal buttplate off and replaced it with a rubber one. I have the original wood as well as the original gas piston set. The rifle has a shooters kit in it at the moment since the original pistons were prone to snapping. I can attest that this one works fine as several pumpkins died yesterday during some “wet work”. The qve45 code indicates it was manufactured in the Berlin-Lübecker Maschinenfabriken factory for Walther. The magazine is marked gcb for the manufacturer Adolf Grohmann & Sohn in Würbenthal. The magazine is marked for both the G43 and K43 as well as having the correct WaA892 stamp.
There’s a few problems with this rifle for the purists. Firstly, the stock is wrong. It’s about 5mm too short and has the wrong finish. The magazine is a reproduction IMHO, the condition is too good. And the butt plate is a reproduction. The originals were painted red inside.
I am working on correcting some of these problems. I have an original magazine coming from Denmark and a much nicer reproduction stock coming from Poland. I have the original durafoil hand guard that will fit back on once I have a stock of the correct length. Then I’ll just need the butt plate, which do turn up from time to time.
Update: All done and looking good.
This is my DOU marked Mauser Kar-98 Infantry Rifle in 7.92x57mm caliber. It was manufactured in 1943 by the Waffenwerke Brunn., A.G. in Czechoslovakia. It’s all matching except for the stock lower so I am pretty happy to have it. It will stay with me until I can afford a nice German made mid-war K98.
This rifle is the standard Japanese infantry rifle issued from 1905 until the end of World War 2. It is chambered in 6.5 x 50 Arisaka calibre. This one has had a bit of a hard life with it’s stock being a bit beaten up from use but it still has its Imperial Chrysanthemum as well as its dust cover. The sling is also original and has kanji on it that would indicate it’s issue history if I could just find someone to translate it for me. The receiver has the concentric circle stamps over the chrysanthemum indicating that it was part of the shipment supplied to the Thailand government in 1940 as the Type 83 (แบบ ๘๓). I have the representative ammunition for this rifle here.
With the takeover of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1936 a large number of Mannlicher rifles came into their possession. These were sold off to Germany’s allies such as Bulgaria which took possession of thousands of M95/30 rifles. This ammunition was produced in 1938 and has the Nazi eagle headstamp.
These are some examples of wartime production Mauser 7.92×57 rounds, the standard Wehrmacht rifle and machinegun round. These examples include the standard schweres Spitzgeschoß type as well as the S m E round designed to avoid the use of lead in the projectile and S.m.K., which is the armour piercing round used for targets in hard cover or in vehicles.
These are three clips of the Japanese 6.5×50 cartridge designed for use in the Arisaka Type 38 infantry rifle here. The red band is sealant, not an indicator of the nature of the round.
Kiwi Medals 