Reinigungsgerät 34: Reinigungskette

The Reinigungskette or cleaning chain was comprised of a rotating head patch loop and a pull though chain made of S-shaped steel links covered (at first) with aluminium barrells. The chain was aprox.107 cm long and had normally 65 links (+/- 2). It was used equally on all type of weapons and oficially never was introduced a short version of it for to use on pistols or Mpi's.

A pre war cleaning chain. Note the high quality.

The rotating head base patch loop and chain.

A S-shaped steel link that has lost their aluminium cover.

German soldier at left introducing in the correct form the Reinigungskette in a Kar98 rifle, France 1940.

The cleaning chain was made with a high quality and represented the 40 % of the total manufacture cost of a complete Rg 34. With the war going and the necessity to increase production several changes and simplifications in the chain were introduced. One of the first changes has to do with the material of the barrels which covered the links. Aluminum, that was a strategic material, was substituted by a zinc alloy and then later by steel. Also the sturdy patch loop was replaced by a simplified patch loop made from a simple folded wire. Another significant change at late stage of the war was the use of another pull through chain type made from twisted wire uncoated refered by collectors as "Kriegsmodell" chain type. These and other modifications were introduced gradually by the manufacturers althought not all changes were adopted by all makers and each producer had its own peculiarities, resulting in the existence of a lot of variants.

The five main types of cleaning chain utilized during the war.

A very early chain with the loop made of two rotating hooks. This style of chain is named as "butterfly chain" by collectors.
This type of chain was used only in the very early kits and today are extremely rare pieces.

The WaA94 found on the "butterfly chain" shown before, indicating manufacture by the HAWIG firm.

Another "butterfly chain" made by Mundlos AG.
At least it is confirmed the manufacture of this type of chains by G. Appel, Mundlos and Hawig.

A close-up picture of the Mundlos AG markings on the "butterfly chain".

Three early chains.

Some differences of the link coverings:
a. All links from aluminium.
b. First link from zinc alloy, the rest from aluminium.
c. Two first links from aluminium, the rest from zinc alloy.
d. First link from aluminium, the rest from zinc alloy.
e. All links from zinc alloy.
f. First link from zinc alloy, the rest from steel.
g. Two first links from zinc alloy, the rest from steel.
h. Two first links from steel, the rest from zinc aloy.
i. All links from steel.

Four chains with folded wire head. From top: links with covers from zinc alloy, first link from steel (blued) and the rest from zinc alloy, all from steel (first blued) and at the bottom all from steel (blued).

Late war chain. Note the use of the regular patch loop only. The first link cover is from zinc alloy and the rest from steel (on top) and all are from steel (bottom).

Another late war chain with the regular - non rotating - patch loop. The first, last and one more link - near the end - are from zinc alloy, the rest from steel. Very probably made -or assembled in the kit- by the Hawig firm.

Three late war chains with twisted wire. The upper two chains have the covers from zinc alloy and that of the bottom have the first from zinc alloy and the other two from steel.

In some late war chains the tolerance between pieces are bigger. Note the loop hole is machined too deep in the middle chain. On top a mid war chain.

Two very late war chains with the loop made from simple wire folded.

At the bottom, an old chain of general use with the same twisted wire design as the "kriegsmodell" chains but smaller.

Unknown late war chains

These chains have been documented in recent years by collectors, they are chains with oval-shaped welded links and there are three variants of it, according to their loop head type:

Standard rotating head.
Folded wire head.
Welded wire simplified loop.

The presence of these chains has been reported by some collectors in Rg34s from the Hawig firm from the end of the war (cmr44 / cmr45), although also in some equipment manufactured by Braunsweigische Blechwarenfabrik (arr4) and Mundlos (ab44). These chains need more study to confirm their origin.

The three types of late chain (bottom to top): standard rotating head, folded wire head, and the most simplified head with the welded wire loop.

Some of the observed chains with the standard rotating head present the cnx (Gustav Appel) code markings on their head, although this only adds more unknowns about their origin.

There is some controversy among collectors about the originality of these chains as well as their possible origin. This image is from an eBay auction of a few years ago of a small batch of "funde" chains. Note the different types of chains present, all of them late manufacture.

Markings and manufacturers

The cleaning chains were normally stamped by the maker on the base patch loop, at first with the firm's name and often also with the year of manufacture, and from 1940/41 with the code asigned to the maker. This stamping was omited progressively and in the last years of production in general do not show any stamp. Also up to around 1942 generally a Waffenamt stamp was present indicating Military acceptance of the chain.

G.Appel markings evolution: Firm's name, number code and letter code.

Two "64" marked chains, note the diferent size.

A late war "Kriegsmodell" chain type "cnx" marked, no Waffenamt.

An early "M" marked chain from Mundlos.

Mundlos marking evolution,"M" (inverted), "M" and letter code ("ab").

A Mundlos chain with zinc coated links. It's marked with the M and Waffenamt 243, which suggest that the change in the chains of the "M" logo to the "ab" letters code was made in 1941 or perhaps the M marked patch loops were used until the stocks ended.

A close view of the markings of the chain shown above.

An "ab" marked chain with the two first links covered with zinc, the rest from aluminium.

"ab" marking, with letters one above the other !

A "HAWIG" marked chain, also with WaA100.

"Hawig" marking evolution (from top): "Hawig", "cmr", "cmr" and unmarked.

A "cnx" marked chain from Gustav Appel, also with WaA20.

A "cmr" marked chain from HAWIG, no Waffenamt, probably from 1942/43. Note the zinc alloy covering.

Waffenamt on Mundlos chain: Weimar-eagle 219 on top and nazi-style eagle 243 at the bottom.

A pre war chain made by HAWIG marked with WaA94 only.

The WaA20 on a "cnx" marked chain.

Two pre war chains. The front chain is unmarked and very probably also manufactured by HAWIG.

A "Ky193?" marked two times on this chain.

A "Ky1941" marked chain.

An mid war unmarked chain. Note the two first coverings made from steel, the rest from zinc alloy.

At first the cleaning chains were manufactured by the maker of the complete kit but with the increase of the production some manufacturers incorporated subcontracted made chains in their kits. I suspect also that at some point a large manufacturer might provide some cleaning chains to other firms.

Known subcontractors of the cleaning chain were:

Aktien-Maschinenfabrik Kyffhäuserhütte (vorm. Paul Reuß), (Artern).
Hahn & Kolb, Werkzeugmaschinen-Fabrik (Werk Sttutgart)
Vereinigte Kettenfabriken GmbH (Stolberg/ Rheinland)
Krafft & Schüll, Ketten und Drahtwaren (Düren)

A remark must be made with regard to the latest company mentioned and the chains marked with code "hlv". This code correspond to Maury & Co (Offenbach), that manufactured basically pistols holsters, leather pouches, helmet liners and similar hardware. In my opinion maybe this code is realy "hly" instead of "hlv", perhaps due to a wrong marking process or a defective stamping die. The "hly" code correspond to Kraft & Schüll (Düren) that was a well know manufacturer of wires and chains, machines, metal hardware,...