AG-42B and sealing ships

cyclone said:
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Once upon a time, I heard of seal-hunters on the Atlantic coast using the AG-42/B.


Are there any accounts/stories about this?
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This is true.

My first AG-42 had the name of a Nfld sealing ship etched into the side of the frame.

I've seen a couple of them over the years.

The only real problem with these sealing rifles is that they almost always had the barrels shot out; they were shot A LOT; and literally used hard and put away wet.
 
I had a couple go through my hands also.

Apparently the sealers like the guns because they were very flat shooting, easy recoil, and the smaller caliber didn't tear up the pelts too bad.
 
Most of the sealing ships contracted to Job Bros used Krags, sometimes rebuilts. Quite a few were cut back to resemble the 1912 Carbine: easier to carry when coppying from pan to pan.

They got worked to death at the Front and quite a few turned up on Fogo Island and the general Notre Dame Bay area. Comp[any did not mind if they disappeared; after a month on the Ice, they were pretty much fagged-out.

Went shooting one day on the Island, I took a 303, other fellow brought an AG42B and 2 5-gallon buckets of Norma ammo. This was Norma Oslo make, Berdan primed, 156-grain RN slugs with cupronickel jackets. It was packed in 50-round brown boxes labelled "Spesielt Fabrikert for Selfangst"; Specially made for Seal Hunt. Headstamp was "norma at 12, 6.5m/m at 6, o at 3 and 9. He told me that he had 3 more buckets at home. It had all been found on an ice-floe and "rescued". He got his rifle from International after mailing them a live round and asking for something to fit it!
 
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