There are scarce information about the brushes - a piece that is often overlooked by many collectors -, so nearly all info included here is based on the observation of original brushes.
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| Several soldiers cleaning their rifles. Note the Reinigungsgbürste onto the table, next to the K98. |
Every
Rg 34 carried inside two brushes:
- The Reinigungsbürste or cleaning brush, made with bristles from brass in the middle, and ordinary bristles at both ends.
- The Ölbürste or oiling brush, made with ordinary bristles only, that was a little wider.
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| The Ölbürste above and the Reinigungsbürste down. |
Around 1939/40 appeared with some "G.Appel" kits, that had an extra clamp under the lid, a shorter additional cleaning brush for 9mm weapons, with a characteristic little cylindrical piece just next to the hook. It seems that this cylinder was for to avoid their use into 8mm weapons. It appears that the use of these 9mm brushes was limited, and the normal brushes were used in all type of weapons of 7,9 to 9mm. As happened with the chain, special small diameter brushes were included in the
Reinigungsgerät 34 für kal 5,4mm.
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| The three brushes present in a "G.Appel" kit with the extra clamp. Note the different colour of the natural bristles. |
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| Two 9mm brushes. Note that the bristles from brass are longer. |
Like all the Rg34 parts, the brushes suffered also modifications during the war, and the differences between the pre war brushes and those from late war are evident. The pre- and early war brushes were made normally only with natural bristles, but since around 1941, the use of synthetic bristles was introduced in both types of brushes, although the use of natural bristle in the brushes continued also throughout the war, so you can find original kits with different combinations of natural/synthetic bristles in both brushes. Also, a common feature found only in the pre- and early war brushes is that the two interlaced wires were soldered at the end.
In the vast majority of the pre- and early war made brushes, the natural bristles were black, but later these were beige or sometimes a mix of bristles of beige, brown and black colour. The synthetic bristles were yellowish beige.
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| Two pairs of brushes from two "ab 41" marked kits. The upper Reinigungsbürste was made with natural bristles and the bottom one, with synthetic bristles. All have their wires soldered at its end. |
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| The two Reinigungsbürste shown before. Natural (top) and synthetic (bottom). |
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| Two Ölburste, with synthetic bristles at left and natural bristles at right. Note also solder at its ends. |
A thing we need to keep in consideration is that the brushes wear with the use and there exist the possibility that at some point could be replaced originally during the war. From the point of view of a collector, it's interesting to compare the two brushes from a kit and observe whether have similarities, for example, the same type of hook. Normally this would be a good sign.
All signs indicate that each manufacturer of Rg34 made their brushes, although we cannot discard the existence of subcontracted companies dedicated to the manufacture of the brushes.
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| A pair of brushes fom a kit with identical hooks. Note also the similar manufacturing marks on the wire. |
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| Machining marks on the wires in two Reinigungsbürste of late war manufacture. Both brushes have synthetic bristles. |
Some examples of original brushes found in the
Rg 34:
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| A pair of brushes from a pre war kit from G. Appel. |
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Two pairs of brushes from early (top) and mid war (bottom) "cnx" marked kits. All with natural bristles, but in a different colour. The pair from top have the brush end soldered.
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| A pair of brushes from a "cmr 42" kit. With natural bristles (up) and synthetic bristles (bellow). |
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| A pair of brushes from a late war "cnx" marked kit. Both with synthetic bristles. |
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| Two pairs of brushes from two "CNX" kits from 1945. Note that are identical. All with natural bristles. |
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| A pair of brushes from a "ab 43" marked kit. Both brushes with natural bristles. |
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| A pair of brushes from a "ab 44" marked kit. Both brushes with synthetic bristles. |
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| A pair of brushes from a "cmr 44" marked kit. With natural bristles (bellow) and synthetic bristles (up). |
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| Two pairs of brushes from two "cmr 44" marked kits. All with synthetc bristles, except the upper oiling brush. |
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| A pair of brushes from a late war "arr 4" marked kit. Both brushes with synthetic bristles. |
