I will never understand what caused German gun makers to alter bolt handles in this hideous way, when they had a perfectly good example of what a flat bolt handle should look like in the Mannlicher Schoenauer and the Mauser Type M. This monstrosity looks to me as though it was simply heated red hot and hammered flat, with no effort made to create graceful lines. Then, in an attempt to hide the crime, a little metal checkering was added. I am equally at a loss as to why the gun buying public found this acceptable.