German K43 Rifle: Deutschland’s DMR

[Mike H.]

Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “German K43 Rifle: Deutschland’s DMR” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/german-k43-rifle/.

 

[Belt Fed]

Got to fondle a couple of those years ago, never shot them but could have. like most German weapons of that era, it weighed a ton. lol

 

[Snake45]

G43s are cool! I've never owned, shot, or even handled one, but I kinda dig 'em just the same.

About 15 years ago I bought a Chinese JW-14 semiauto .22 rifle, and it eventually struck me that it looked kinda sorta a little G43-ish and thought it might be fun to turn it into a faux mini-G43 sniper. Bought the smallest cheap scope I could find (I think it's for a shotgun) and mounted it on high rings as far back as I could get it. Then I'd print up 1/6 scale silhouette targets and "snipe" them at 50 yards. Pretty fun for the minimal investment involved.

Here's the JW-14 between an Israeli suplus K98 in 7.62 NATO and a Russian Tula SKS. Doesn't look THAT out of place, does it?

 

[Y2K-WS.6]

Got to handle a couple of G43's at gun shows but never had any interest in taking a 2nd mortgage for one. Did get to fire a friend's Hakim a couple of times though. I know it's not the same but the feel is close. My Garand is way more accurate than the Hakim was.

 

[Bemused Berserker]

Congratulations Doctor on your new (old) gun, and getting it set up as a DM/Sniper Rifle. It's always perplexed me why the German High Command was so hidebound in their insistence of No Gas Port on small arms barrels. Gas Trap works, but a host of issues makes it a lot less effective than ported systems, and excessive fouling was a problem.
Enjoyed the article and brief history very much. Thank you, and Best Wishes to you and your family for a Happy New Year.