G41 in General - G41 & G43 Parts
A General description of G41
The bolt action K98k was still standard-issue for the German soldiers when the war began in 1939, but it became apparant for the German High-Command in 1940 that some kind of a new semi-automatic rifle was necessary. They had four requirements:
1. The barrel should not have gas ports for the reloading mechanism
2. No moving parts on the surface
3. In case the auto-loading mechanism failed, a bolt action was to be included
4. The weapon must utilize the standard 7.92x57JS cartridge.
There are 4 possible solutions for making a self-loading rifle: 1) Recoiling barrel, 2) Delayed blow-back (later seen on Mausers StG45), 3) Gas tapped from the barrel (out of question) and 4) Gas cone around the muzzle part of the barrel - both Mauser and Walther choose that idea.
The Mauser G41(M)
Mauser followed all 4 requirements. It used a circular gas piston, located inside the gas cylinder which was installed around the muzzle part of the barrel. Upon discharge, powder gases expanded in the muzzle attachment, pushing the gas piston rearwards. This movement was transferred to the bolt carrier via the actuating rod that ran below the barrel, inside the stock. Barrel locking was achieved by rotating bolt with dual locking lugs. The charging handle remains stationary when gun is fired. To retract the bolt manually, the shooter has to rotate the charging handle up from horizontal position to vertical, pull it all the way back, then return it forward and rotate back to horizontal position. The return spring isn't compressed when cocking.
The magazine had a capacity of 10 rounds and was fixed so loading was from the top using standard 5-round clips.
The reports from the field weren't encouraging. It was so unpopular that most were relegated to second-line troops.
The soldiers disliked the added langth and muzzle-heaviness, it's awkward action and it's heavy weight. In addition, it was a particularly difficult
weapon to keep clean, which made it very prone to gas system fouling, with resultant failures to cycle.The weapon was complicated and expensive to manufacture; 110 parts - and the whole story ended on Dec. 29, 1942 when the Wehrmacht officially adopted the Walther G41(W) as the G41. 1673 were produced in 1941 and about 5000 more in 1942. A real collectors item today - only a few have survived.
Specifications: Weight: 4.6 kg (10.0 lb) empty, Length: 1135 mm (46.25"), Barrel length: 550 mm (21.65"), Cartridge: 7.92x57JS, Action: gas-operated, semi auto, Velocity: 746m/s - sS-ammo (2448 ft/s), Feed system: 10 round fixed magazine, Sights: rear adjustable sight, V-notch up to 1200m, front: hooded post.
The Walther G41(W)
Walther dismissed the requirement: "No moving parts on the surface" - and in some way also the demand: "A bolt action was to be included" because they didn't use a turning bolt, but a pull back mechanism. This movement had to overcome the force of the recoil springs. It was revealed that the G41(W) easier and cheaper to manufacture than it's Mauser rival, so the German High-Command ignored it's own specifactions and placed a contract with Walther for 5000 G41. After a year or so it had presumably become apparent to everyone involved that the G41(W) was superior to the G41(M), and on the Dec. 29, 1942 it was officially decided that Walthers G41W was adopted as the new G41.
The G41W had also a floating gas piston located inside the gas chamber / front sight base and outside the barrel at the forward end. A long actuator rod over the barrel operates the self loading mechanism. When a round is fired, the gas compressed in the gas choke at the muzzle end acting on the piston which forces the actuator rod to the rear. The bolt carrier is forced rearwards for about 14mm during which time the bolt remains locked. The locking lugs are then withdrawn from the recesses in the receiver by the lug on the bolt carrier cocking forcing back the firing pin housing and the bolt assembly and bolt carrier recoil together under residual pressure.
Walther's production capacity was low becuase of many other obligations to the Wehrmacht so Berlin-Luebecker Maschinenfabrik was awarded with a second production contract for the G41. BLM had until then produced K98k. Serial number studies show that Walther made about 30,800 G41 (code "ac") and BLM about 86,600 (code "duv"). It's reported that 127,843 were made - so it appears that some kind of miscalculation exits. The last G41 was made in March 1944, when BLM switched from making G41 to G43. All BLM's G41 are marked "duv-43" - an explanation can be that the receivers were produced in 1943 - and some then assembled in 1944.
Bolt release: When the last round was fired a bolt catch activated by the magazine follower blocked the bolt during it's forward moving. This was a feature of all G41, but the very first G41(W) - up to about number 5000 - had a bolt release button, so the soldier easily could close the weapon. Later they had to use two hands for the same operation. See the button on the picture below - left side:
Scope rails: About the same time as the bolt release button disappeared, a pair of rails for a "straddle scope mount" was introduced. They were milled as a part of the receiver - see the two pictures above. The field use of this tiny scope (1.5 X) was very limited so the scope rails were discontinued on the last G41 production. A little more information here.
These rifles suffered from gas system fouling problems. The problems seemed to stem from the very sensitive muzzle trap system becoming excessively corroded from the use of corrosive salts in the ammunition primers and carbon fouling. The rifle was redesigned in 1943 into the Gewehr 43, utilizing a gas system - with a gas port - somewhat similar to that on the SVT40 and had a detachable magazine. We do not have many reports from the war about the use of this weapon. The guess is that the normal "Karabiner" was preferred over the G41 because of it was too heavy, too complex to maintain and not quite reliable. A rare and interesting weapon today - but no military breakthrough.
Specifications: Weight: 4.6 kg (10.1 lb) empty, Length: 1138 mm (44.80"), Barrel length: 550 mm (21.65"), Cartridge: 7.92x57JS, Action: gas-operated, semi auto, Velocity: 746 m/s - sS-ammo (2448 ft/s), Feed system: 10 round fixed magazine, Sights: rear adjustable sight, V-notch up to 1200m, front: hooded post.
See a database of more than 550 observations of the G41 - both types here.
A very special G41 with sidemount for ZF41
Click on the pictures to see more details of this particular rifle.
The rifle is marked: G41(W) v 4. "V" means probably "Versuch" = "Test". Click on the picture to see more details of this particular rifle.
The carriers are different - it's easily seen.
The bolt housings are different too (here compared to the rather rare milled G/K43 type). The G41 type is about 1.5 mm shorter and 0.10 mm wider. The front parts are different and note also that the cut-outs at the rear part are different.
Some claim BLM used previously rejected G41 bolt housings in their G43 production. This isn't true. They must have had problems with the delivery of the stamped steel housing, and that's why they made their own milled bolt housing. The G43 milled housing appears on Jan. 1945 and very late BLM production - plus on BLM duv 44 in the "c" and "d" blocks.
The milled bolt housing is also seen on the very first (from 1943) Walther G43's.
Upper: G43, lower: G41. Notice that the G41 bolt has flat sides while the length is the same.
The G41 firing pin housing is much higher. The locking lugs and the firing pin are the same.
The recoil assembly ("recuperator") for the G41W actuator rod below:
| Receiver parts |
As seen below only some pins and washers are the same in the two models. The ejector appears to be the same (not seen on the picture).
 |
| Narrow dustcover |
|
There are 4 types of dustcover for G43: 1. Narrow (seen here) used with the milled G41 housing. 2. Automatic closing cover with a little projection. 2a. Manual - shortened type 2. 3. Manual - long (it interferes with the safety lever). See picture above with stamped steel housing. |
Recoil spring guides
From left to right
G41, G43 cut at an angle, common G43
| Cross lug |
|
Dimensions (in mm): Rectangular part: 38.4 x 9.9 x 6.0 thread: 6.0 x 1.0 - 5.5 long Disks: diam. 13.0, 3.0 thick Knob on left disk: 1.4 high, 7.5 in diam. Right disk. 2 x 2,0 holes, depth: 1.7, dist.: 10.8 |
| G41 blank firing device |
Seen for sale with
WaA135 (= Mauser) which is strange because Mauser didn't
make that type G41 - it looks like new. Most probably a modern repro. |
During the last part of the war and after the German surrender huge dumps of small arms could be found throughout Germany. It didn't take a long time before US duffel bags were overflowed with German souvenirs, such as Lugers, iron crosses and SS daggers. Also some G41 and G43 were shipped to USA. It wouldn't fit into a duffel bag without being disassembled, and even then the stock was too long and had to be cut before the bag would close properly. With such a crude looking weapon, not all of these cuts were made carefully.
See below a fine G43 (from 1943) with the GIs uniform. I don't think this G43 has been cut - it could have been sent in a longer wooden crate.
The next pictures shows an examples of "Duffel bag cut". The last shows the smartest way to do it - not much had to be cut. In many cases the butt-stock end was cut.
Further below an example of "capture papers". The mentioned rifle is a K43 ac 45 3746
