Walther PPK WWII Clip with Finger Rest

tbird1961

April 12, 2015 19:24

Hi,

I have emailed several guys asking about the PPK 7.65 ammo clips with the brown (tan) Finger Rest. How do you tell a genuine Nazi era clip from a Pre-war or Post-war, or an outright reproduction. I see these magazines offered on Gun Broker and Ebay and they are not cheap. Everyone that responded to my emails say thiers is genuine WWII vintage, but I never get a good answer on "What do you look for to prove it is from 1939-1945"? Most guys talk around the subject, sometimes talking about the Walther clip itself, but anyone can take a regular (authentic) vintage banner clip and put a repro finger rest on it. Who can set the record straight before I pay alot of money for a post war finger rest? Thanks, guys.

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  rufe-snow

  April 12, 2015 21:03

  The Germans were big on markings. This is a commercial marked Walther PP magazine. There are also a variety of different military markings used during W W II, by them.
  
  Some of them, might have a (3) lower case letter manufacturers code.
  
  Also what is called Waffenamt code. This consists of a very small eagle stamping, with a number under it. The number is a code of a chief inspector, assigned to each factory.
  
  If different factories made a similar magazine. The manufacturers code and Waffenamts are used for identification.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  EDIT #1,
  
  Went thru all my references. The Walther PP & PPK magazines made during the war. Were marked same as this one. Couldn't find any with 3 letter codes or Waffenamts.

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  p3skyking

  April 13, 2015 02:50

  The original brown fingerrest are not really brown, but a marble of lighter brown/darker brown swirled into the bakelite. If the fingerrest is a solid color, it's probably not original.
  
  This nuance is readily apparent to people that have seen and handled the pre-war finger grips.
  
  The black is more difficult to tell as it was a solid color. Still, thje feel and gloss are a bit different, but to the best of my knowledge, no pre-war or wartime PPk fingerrest were black.

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  babun

  April 13, 2015 04:43

  I don't know about the real vs fake/repro finger rests.
  
  BUT, if the real ones were made of bakelite, then a simple test...
  
  Rub the piece very hard with your finger to build up friction heat, then smell it. If bakelite it will smell of a chemical stink. Any thing else won't, I don't believe anyone could/would use bakelite for a repro.
  
  A bit of Simichrome polish rubbed into a unseen spot will turn yellow on real bakelite only is another test. Some times it won't on SOME black bakelite, but on the marbled stuff yes.

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