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Walther P38 AC42

Bongiovanni275
Recently inherited this from my father, along with many other firearms.
Didn't really put much thought into this, and figured it was probably post war. Turns out it was within the first group of 19,000 made in 1942, which was surprising.

My question is, it has a fair amount of wear. I'd like to clean it up a bit, but honestly I don't have much experience with stuff like this. I can make guns function, never really had to I guess restore one.

There's no visible rust, but it just looks faded and beaten in certain spots. Would any of you suggest anything? Or should I leave it be?
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Comments

4 comments

Date Votes
  • mark christian
    The best advice is to just leave it alone. Tinkering around with these guns almost always amounts to doing more harm than good if it involves more than basic disassembly and cleaning. It is an early pistol but not valuable enough to be worth the time and expense of a restoration project. Just enjoy it as it is.
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  • Bongiovanni275
    Worth doesn't really matter much to me. Just wanted to make sure I didn't ruin something handed down to me.

    Appreciate the advice, and I'm glad I asked.
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  • 45er
    Howdy Bong,

    I'm seeing "worth" here not so much in $$$ value, but of historic interest. 'Specially so if the fair amount of wear as you describe is the condition it came from after it's war servce days were over. Sorta like my graying hair-- I earned each and every one of them!

    In that context, the effort is for to preservation, as opposed to restoration. Again, 'specially so if the Walther is a G.I. "bring back", rather than imported, and stamped so, by a company.

    You ask should you leave it be? My vote, too, is yes.

    45er
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  • 62fuelie
    A good cleaning that does not wear on the finish is the most I would do to this pistol. The "ac" code indicates Walther production, the "42" obviously is year of production. If there are "bring back" papers associated with it this will increase its value, either on the market or as a family heirloom. Oil it and repeat regularly.
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