Pouches for the Gewehr 43

A visit to Claus Espeholts Gewehr43 site is highly recommended, he has done a lot of very good research on the subject and the in depth information is to be found there.

The selbstladegewehr 41 used the standard ammunition clips as the K98, fed from the top in a non detachable magazine. The soldier used the standard k98 pouches. As the gewehr 43 was developed it used a ten round detachable magazin and therefore a magazin pouch holding two magazines was developed. The soldier carried one G43 pouch containing 2 magazines and one K98 pouch carring 30 rounds in clips. The G43 pouch was carried on the right side on the belt.

The first issue are stated to be of black leather, but later on severeal models were added. Erzatsleather in beige and green. Both leather and canvas straps on the back has been observed. As the war progressed the manufacturers used what they had availeable. Some of them are marked with the three letter code and waffenamt, some are not. The late ones are hard to difference from the postwar made ones. The 3 letter code and waa mark are no guaranty for originality. A european well known dealer are stated to have said :"they are original, but if I stamp them they sell faster".

The same pouch showing brown leather straps for the belt. These are marked on the inside of the left compartment. The markings are often very hard to find. These are marked "Bla 44" indicating they are made by E.G Leuner gmbh from Leutzen. These pouches were rare and expensive but in 2002 a warehouse in Demjansk Russia was found containing thousands of them.  Sounds like a good fakers explanation, but they are considered to be original ww2. The one displayed here is full of mould and the leather smells very old with no indication of Tannine 

Picture on the left shows the details of the D-ring. Pay attention to the form of stitching and distance between the two rivets on the loop holding the D-ring.

Setup for a soldier equipped with the Gewehr43.

Reproductions sold from ATF. Compare it to the backside of the one above. They are getting very close to the original. Again, why dont they marked it "repro" inside the lids. In many years with aging this pouch might fool someone. Earlier they had closer distance between the rivets, but no the rivets are identical to the original one. They also sell the erzatsleder one in Beige.

Repro of the beige to the right. The belt loops are wider than the original and the repro has more stitches on the belt loops than the original.