What's a bnz??? :confused:

Mark,

You are sure good with the camera.

BNZ>>>>>Mauser

Mark's prices for P-38 parts are quite reasonable as well. :D

bnz- Steyr-Daimler-Puch,AG Steyr,Austria, according to the code book.

Thanks guys ... here is another photo I took for the guys on the P38 Forum.

Check out the grip color on the P.38 and the MP40.

Correct. Mauser had nothing to do with MP40 production. Only 3 manufacturers were involved: Erma, Haenel and Steyr.

The phenolic grips on the P38 and the forend on the MP40 are essencially the same material. Really late war examples can even be seen with woodchip/sawdust filler in them to help stretch raw materials. The resting bar on your MP40 is a mid-late war pressed steel assembly, versus the early war fiber or aluminum units. Your MP40 also has a "type 2" two-slot barrel nut, versus the earlier six sided nut. I cannot see the top of the trunnion/chamber area, but I imagine there is a deep dimple, which is holding the trunnion into the receiver tube. There should be a corresponding dimple on the bottom of the tube as well.

The deep brown of your forend is from a different producer than the pistol grips. The difference in color does not seem to related to date, according to sources, but of who made the part. brown forends are common. Brown pistol grips are very rare. It is not unusual to see both colors on mid war guns, such as yours.

Did the pouches, belt and buckle come with the gun or are they reproductions? Too hard to tell from the photo.

No repros, they all came together, the sling was hard as a rock and all cracked so I didn't include it in the photo. The belt buckle was added for "window dressing" but is 100% original. The MP40 came with 7 mags, the pouches and loading tool with the sling.

Mark

Wasn't bnz also used by Mauser at one time?

Mauser used byf as their code during most of the war.

Mark, your extremely rare, matched, (left and right), tropical MP40 mag pouches are worth $800-$1,000 or more to today's collector. The magazines are going for $100-$150 each, depending on maker and condition. The mag loader, about $100.

I would personally buy a repro set of pouches, (about $30-$50 from several vendors) and put the originals away. Condition is everything to maintaining their value and keeping magazines in them will eventually wear through the bottom corners. The leather tabs and keepers will also suffer. Can you tell us the waaffenampt and maker code, which should be on the belt loops?

VERY nice find on a complete MP40 set.

If you still need an early resting bar, my friend Rich Urich is an MP40 Guru. I have sold many spare MP40 parts to Rich over the years and I know he has many spares of all types. Let me know if still interested.

Thanks Mark, that was what I was looking for with the MP40 and P.38 like that together. Very, very nice photo.