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Gentlemen:
Can anyone tell me what the letters “ch” on a bnz MG42 Barrel denote? Is it that it’s Chrome lined, as it definitely is? However, it has a “cr” marking near the extension piece, and I thought that “cr” was the indication on the barrel that it’s lined.....not “ch”? I also wonder if it is an indication of the year of manufacture...as you see this type of year marking for late war Steyr 98K barrels, ie., “ED” for 1944. The difference however, is that the letters used to indicate Barrel production on the late war bnz made 98K’s are capital letters...not lower case. Perhaps someone can answer this question for me?

Jack

Made in CHina

NO, you got that wrong....I said lower case, so it would be “ch”ina!

All joking aside (Well, just for now) my mistake...as this barrel in question is not Chrome lined....or does it have a small “cr” near the extension....just the letter “c”. So, it is of my belief that the “ch” stamped on the barrel near the bnz shield with the number 1....is a production year! Now, which one...that is the question! FYI....the gun it’s from is a bnz “PJ” and is a mix of Phosphate and Blued parts.....this bbl is Phosphate green with appropriate wear in all the correct spots which tells me it was done some time ago!

Barrel extensions from worn out barrels were often reused with new barrels. A barrel extension cannot be dated by what is on the barrel, and vice versa. I even have a .308 barrel with an extension that has a waffenamt. If this was being done post-war, it was certainly being done in war-time.