Gewehr 43 designated marksman from BLM in pristine condition

[Snappo]

This is a bring-back Gewehr 43 Berlin-Lubecker Maschinenfabrik (DUV) rifle. DUV is very rare - they only made 9K of the 402K rifles at DUV and DUV was the original run before moving to larger manufacturing facilities. Rifle is all matching numbers and all Waffenamts are intact. This is a designated marksman rifle and has the Zielfernrohr 43 telescopic sight with 4× magnification (only sight ever assigned to this rifle). German soldiers were instructed to render semi-automatic rifles useless when in danger of capture; so the amount of original DUV rifles from that original BLM facility are extremely rare.

I will never end up shooting this rifle, and never had. It has been a safe queen for me for the past 20 years. My dog has cancer and my other dog just died, and I need to sell a few things to pay for their medical care (Care Credit).

I am not willing to part with this to anyone on my ignore list; so if I do not respond you are not welcome to buy my rifle. I prefer selling this to someone who understands the significance of this rifle and will actually use it. I was just afraid to ever fire it because I felt I would not know how to ever replace a small part if one were to fail. Again - my intent is to control what home it goes to.

The best I can find is that this weapon is worth $3,500 to me. Anything below that, I will just keep it as a closet queen. But if anyone wants it; that's an excellent price and I am listing it here this week and then next week will call the local gun stores and Rock Island Auctions.

 

[Calculon]

Looks like a beauty. And thing else you can tell us about it?

 

[Snappo]

Price?

I'm still researching what it's worth. Serial number 3633 sold in 2014 without the ZF4 and scope cover for $3,200. My S/N is 93xx which was that end of the run when they made the designated marksman ones. I do not know if prices have gone up or down in the past 24 months; which is what I am still trying to find out. I expect they are the same since Class III sub guns have been kind of flat these past 2 years. His was rated at 87%. Mine is easily 90% to 95% and I have the scope and cover; and the scope has been rebuilt in 2012 so it has none of that 75 year old fog when you look through the glass like on the originals you sometimes see people sell individually. Mine has the R marking; which means it was issued to go to France to fight as a designated marksman rifle on the Western Front. I suspect this rifle is worth somewhere around $3,500.

 

[Snappo]

Looks like a beauty. And thing else you can tell us about it?

Sure. I can tell you a bunch about this weapon.

I know she is S/N 93xx which means she is the absolute end of the run before they moved to Walther (Neuengamme concentration camp), Wilhelm Gustloff-Werke, and Zella-Mehlis. As the story goes; had Hitler made this rifle available as a designated marksman rifle in 1942 or 1943 to replace the G41 (which was unreliable) instead of waiting until 1944; it could have changed the outcome of the war. Of the 402,713 rifles made, 53,435 were sniper rifles. Mine is one of less than 1,000 sniper rifles ever to come out of BLM (the original DUV run), and quite possibly half to three quarters of that run were destroyed because the German marksman were instructed to destroy them at all costs if they were about to be captured. The idea of this rifle came when Hitler invaded Russia. They stole the concept of this short stroke rifle from the SVT-40; which they had captured during that invasion. This theft idea was the brainchild of Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen.

I bought her in about 2000 from someone who's grandfather brought it back from Germany in 1945. Not many got back to USA, because at the end of WW II the Russians gave most of them to the Czechoslavak People's Army as part of the Warsaw Pact because they were so good in the sniper role. I have been unable to find out who this weapon was originally assigne to. Unlike the Karabiner K31, the German sniper would not typically put his name and address under the buttstock. As such, I never tried to take the buttstock off to see because I did not want to damage anything.

Here she is in the encyclopedia of weapons:
The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II

 

[Snappo]

You should just keep it. What's the point of selling it for full retail plus price maybe if you feel like it. Your not going to get near that at a LGS maybe half if your lucky. GB might work but your going to have to find a collector who has to have it and money doesn't matter.

You might be right. Just kills me to let it sit in the safe when I could pay off my dog's chemo with it. That's $500 a week for 6 months along with the $2K from the initial night in the ER. I'll never fire it. I wouldn't want to break anything.

 

[Calculon]

Beyond my budget right now but I appreciate what you have in hand. Only suggestion I can think of based on your needs is a Gunbroker auction. Hopefully they don't crush you with fees but you need a much broader audience than just this forum.

If you haven't seen it there is a Facebook page/group on the G43 with links to a google community. Maybe be you'll find a way to connect with a buyer.

Log In or Sign Up to View
https://plus.google.com/communities/116859823174029067338

GLWS.

 

[Snappo]

Beyond my budget right now but I appreciate what you have in hand. Only suggestion I can think of based on your needs is a Gunbroker auction. Hopefully they don't crush you with fees but you need a much broader audience than just this forum.

If you haven't seen it there is a Facebook page/group on the G43 with links to a google community. Maybe be you'll find a way to connect with a buyer.

Log In or Sign Up to View
https://plus.google.com/communities/116859823174029067338

GLWS.

TYVM for the links.

 

[Morts]

Where are you located??

 

[Doc8404]

Where are you located??

He is either in Marcy Correctional or the NYS Mental hospital.

 

[Morts]

lol

 

[ProgSpear]

Terrific rifle. I wish I could afford it. Sorry about your pups, and double sorry that you need to part with this awesome piece of history under such rotten circumstances.

 

[Snappo]

Terrific rifle. I wish I could afford it. Sorry about your pups, and double sorry that you need to part with this awesome piece of history under such rotten circumstances.

I figure with old stuff like this we are kind of just temporary babysitters. I bet this rifle ends up living for hundreds of more years; and gets cherished by a dozen more people over that time. Maybe I'll just keep it and sell some gold or something. I sometimes ponder firing it; but never do. I'm not sure it has been fired since WW II.

 

[Snappo]

Where are you located??

Central NY. I think if you have your C&R I can mail it. I have a C&R already.