Lithuanian forest brother with an experimental German Gerät 03 7.92x57 mm Mauser with 20-round magazine.
Posted by jarrad960@reddit | ForgottenWeapons | View on Reddit | 12 comments
jarrad960@reddit (OP)
A Lithuanian forest brother with a rare experimental German Gerät 03 in 7.92x57 mm Mauser with a 20-round magazine. The Gerat 03 was a prototype roller locked G43 successor created in 1945, but one of the rifles ending up in Lithuanian forest brother resistance fighters is really interesting.
Get_Em_Puppy@reddit
Unlikely that this is a Gerät 03, which was visually indistinguishable from the Gewehr 43.
More likely this is a modified G43 or a custom-made rifle. The Forest Brothers did use some unusual custom rifles.
KaijuTia@reddit
It’s definitely not “visually indistinguishable from a G43”. The Royal Armory photos show a very different charging handle arrangement and the bolt carrier doesn’t have that rounded contouring you see on a G43. It’s hard to tell if it has the Gerät 03 charging handle or not, but it looks more like some kind of custom or homebuilt rifle.
_Killerwolf_@reddit
The stock looks very crude, might be a repaired G43 action with a self-made stock and while they were at it the 20rnd ZB mag was added.
kerpuzz@reddit
The Gerät 03 had a completely different trunnion, bolt and receiver. The bolt looks captive in a smooth boxy receiver in the 03, while the g43’s bolt rides on the outside of the stamped receiver which has tracks to accomodate bolt.
But i agree with you, looks like a pimped g43.
The mag looks like a ZB26 mag to me, and its a 7.92x57 mag so the conversion would be managable by resistance fighters.
alexmikli@reddit
If there's a specific reason it's claimed to be a Gerat 03 I could believe it, like this guy's life story attesting it was specifically an experimental gun, but I don't really see why that would be the assumption if all we have to go on is the photo.
Still totally possible but...I mean.
spizzlemeister@reddit
baltic forest brothers were badass
justaheatattack@reddit
but doomed....
FeedbackOther5215@reddit
HK SL7’s grandpa.
GigabyteAorusRTX4090@reddit
Is that the version of the G43 that had select fire?
BigFreakingZombie@reddit
The Gerät 03 was more than that : it used a roller-locking mechanism(which was very difficult to get to cooperate with the gas system of the gun)compared to the standard G43's flapper-locking action.
However I highly doubt that's a Gerät 03 : while technically not impossible as the Germans in 1944-45 issued anything that could fire to their troops (experimental prototypes would obviously not be immune to the " we need guns now" mentality) it's far FAR more likely this is merely a standard G43 with an extended magazine and a scope attached. Whether it was done by the Germans or by the Baltic resistance fighter seen carrying it I do not know.
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