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.
A pretty simple little bit of kit, these are a pair of green Italian made leather ammunition pouches for the Carcano infantry carbine. These date from pre-1943.
This is the 10 round magazine for the 20mm Flak 30/38 anti-aircraft gun. These were blued steel and supplied in cases of two. This example is stamped cjs for the manufacturer Kallenbach, Meyer & Franke Metallwarenfabrik in Luckenwalde. It is dated 1943. Amusingly Canadian regulations require all magazines for “rifles” to be pinned for 5 rounds as this helpfully has been. For scale I have put one of the mags for my K43 rifle in the photo.
A fairly straightforward item here. I got this from Andrew so that I would have one round for the magazine I bought from him. This is an HE 20mm round for the 2 cm Flak 30/38/Flakvierling. It has the asr code for “HAK” Hanseatisches Kettenwerk in Hamburg-Langenhorn as well as the WaA271 inspection stamp for that factory.
This heavy machine gun appeared out of nowhere this last month. It’s manufactured by Breda in 1939. It all matches however the barrel has a 1938 roll date so I am assuming they dated the major parts upon manufacture and then assembled them later. It’s a dewat obviously but a nice one, with a moving bolt and a topcover that lifts to reveal the guts of the gun. A great back drop to my Carcanos!
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.
The late war and rather desperate innovation of the Type 4 hand grenade. These grenades were invented in late 1944 in response to Japan’s collapsing raw material supplies. The US submarine and air blockade had run the Japs out of steel at this point. The weapon is pretty simple, a ceramic or porcelain vase shape, with a crimped 5 second detonator made from a blasting cap. These were handed out to all the home defence organizations as well as to troops out in the inner chain of islands like Iwo Jima and Saipan. The style varies a lot because it was left to the individual pottery to decide.
My friend Andrew bought this rifle only a couple of months ago. I wondered if he was drunk, since he doesn’t collect rifles that aren’t a K98. I knew, if I was patient, I’d end up owning it. And here you go! This Carcano M91/28 (Moschetto Modello Mod. 91/28) in 6.5×52 shows stock markings indicated that it was issued to the Italian Navy. Markings on the stock and receiver, including the dirty bird, plus the blued bolt, indicate it was captured by the Germans, inspected and reissued. This completes my Carcano group as I have a 91/41 Carcano here and a 91/38 here.
Man it’s great having a picker like Andrew :)
Here is an pretty rare rifle, the Czech VZ-23 Mauser, produced by Brno. The rifle was manufactured using a German Karabiner 98AZ base, resulting in a 550mm long barrel. The newly independent Czech arms industry only made these for a short period before moving on to the improved VZ-24. Signs of German reuse in WW2 include a stamping on the receiver under the wood-line and the blued bolt.
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bars are “Allemagne” for all regular forces involved in the German campaign of 1944-1945, the “Liberation” bar for the French Campaign of 1944 and the “Engage Voluntaire” bar to indicate a voluntary enlistment.
This modest little group belonged to John James Burchall-Ward, 997361, 114 Squadron. John was a Sergeant-Observer in the RAF Volunteer Reserve. He was killed in action on the 27th December 1941 when the Blenheim he was helping to crew was shot down into the sea at the island of Vaagso in Norway during Operation Archery. He is buried in the Møllendal Church Cemetery in Bergen.
The Luger pistol is a prohibited firearm up here north of the border, due to its barrel length of 100mm. Because I came to Canada so late I was unable to be grandfathered into the pistol license required to own one. As a substitute I own a WW1 & WW2 “cock and click” dewat as well as the long barrelled LP-08 Artillery Luger. But I always wanted the real deal. So I went the long route of sourcing a 105mm barrel from the US and then locating a Luger up here to get re-barrelled and reclassified as restricted.
This is it, a 1937 Mauser made S/42 marked Luger P-08. It came with a spare magazine, a takedown tool marked WaA63 (correct for Mauser) and a period holster from 1937.
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.
A fair while back I found a single front ammunition pouch for the Arisaka battle rifle. The standard issue was two front pouches and one rear one. The front pouches held 30 rounds and the rear one 60, for a full load of 120 rounds.
The rear pouch also houses a small oil bottle. Both of these came stinking of mothballs. I sat them outside for a couple of months and then soaked them in vinegar & water overnight. They still stink but not so much as to drive me out of my own house.
Two things are driving me nuts lately. One, the lack of German guns falling into my lap. Two, my need to complete sets. I had a No4 Mk 1* Enfield and a No5 Mk 1. So since no Jerry guns were showing up I decided to get a No1 Mk3 SMLE Enfield. I like to put bayonet with rifle so here is a Lithgow made P1907 Enfield bayonet. MA stamped for Lithgow Small Arms Factory. The broad arrow for military acceptance. An X for a hardness test mark and a couple of inspector stamps.
A few posts ago I found a Walther SLD U-Boat flare gun in an auction out east. No-one much bid on it as it was missing the selector switch for the L-R barrel select. Of course I am an idiot who didn’t understand just how unobtainium these things are. Needless to say it’s take me six months and the kindness of Martin from Austria to supply this missing bit.
This is my Beretta MAB-38A SMG, in 9mm Luger. Much like the MP34ö in production quality, this was a well regarded weapon, used by many foreign armies including the Germans and manufactured into the 50’s. This particular example is pre-war and comes with the long 40 round magazine. Funny story was that I bought the magazine from a bloke in Bulgaria, but represented as an MP38 magazine. When it arrived it was plainly not that but I didn’t send it back as I thought it likely that one day I’d have the MAB-38. Here it is! It’s an interesting weapon, notably having two triggers. The forward one fires in semi-auto, while the rear one is full automatic.
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.
Patience is what you need in this hobby. And after ten years of looking, my patience is rewarded with an MP-38 Machinenpistole. Just about as nice as can be given that I am in Canada, this is an all matching Erfurter Maschinenfabrik B. Geipel GmbH (ERMA) made example dating from 1940. An old dewat, it is what we call “cock and click” in that the action can be cocked and released with a pull on the trigger. Very hard to find compared to the MP-40 that I have here. All I need to find for this now is a better sling and a slab sided early magazine as the one in it is the later MP38u40 type.
This item, produced in 1942, is the 1905 pattern 50 round ammunition bandolier, issued to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles regiments. Unique to New Zealand, it was intended to provide additional ammunition in case of extended reconnaissance patrols and was popular because of the ability to sling these over the necks of the horses.
NZMR hero 13/129 Corporal Sinclair Chapman Reid – North Auckland Mounted Rifles. Wearing the lightweight desert uniform. First known rank corporal rose to Lieutenant by wars end. During WWII held the rank of Major. Recipient of the Military Cross. Sinclair Reid had the distinction of being a combatant at both the attack on Chunuk Bair on the 8th August 1915 during the Gallipoli Campaign and the attack at Ayun Kara on the 14th November 1917 in Turkish Palestine. These actions were the most deadly engagements experienced by the NZMR during WWI.
Recently I finally found an MP38 after a decade of searching. Only bit missing was the magazine. I will look for the early flat sided one but in the meantime I’ll stick this unmarked 38u40 in it.
These pistols were produced for seagoing vessels in the German Kriegsmarine, where the lack of a steady platform meant that the additional handhold needed to be provided. Early versions were manufactured in stainless steel, later ones in anodized aluminium. This example has the eeu code for the manufacturer Lieferungsgemeinschaft Westthüringer Werkzeug u. Metallwarenfabriken GmbH in Wek Sömmerda, Thuringia. With a production run just over 4000, and many of these ending up on the Atlantic floor, they are super rare. This example is missing its selector switch, which I am working on getting 3d printed.
