Phosphate finished bolt

[schmisser]

[attachm

I acquired a war time mg-42 bolt that has parkerized or green finish.Are these war time original
Say late 1944 or45 production? The bolt is marked bhy.

[JBaum]

It is a very early bolt, before they started hard=chroming them. Like any bolt from WWII, I recommend not shooting with it, as its wartime quality is not known, and old steel that has been stressed will crystalize and then shatter under more stress.

M53 or MG3 bolts are fine, but with wartime shortages of certain ores and slave and unskilled labor, the dependability of a wartime bolt certainly is questionable at best.

[planejack777]

I’d love to purchase it if you ever wish to sell it?

Jack

[JBaum]

I acquired one of those unchromed bolts a few years ago, but I'm figuring on living to around 96, so I'd say if Schmisser doesn't sell his to you, remind me in about 30 years if you're still interested in buying one.

They're certainly an uncommon find, and I'll be keeping mine for a while. I have it next to the extractor tool/small parts boxes, medium sized small parts boxes, the deckungswinkelmessers, the lafette tools, ruptured case extractors, muzzle booster soaking jars, sulfur containers, recoil spring storage tubes for the 42 and 34, and a few other little accessories. A really tough item to find is the little sheet metal device that holds the bolt together while it is in the tool pouch.

(CAUTION: Explicit gun porn is shown below.)
Click the picture to enlarge.

[42rocker]

John
What a display!! Thanks for sharing pics of it.

Later 42rocker

[planejack777]

John,
Now I’m drooling......Don’t be so greedy!

Jack