help on a Walther P38
Another of my husbands guns to be sold.
Walther P38 serial number 696 with holster that is marked P38. I has small eagle wing symbols and a byf 44 mark. Any help info would be great.
Walther P38 serial number 696 with holster that is marked P38. I has small eagle wing symbols and a byf 44 mark. Any help info would be great.
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Mauser, early 1944 production. Need to see same serial No. on front of frame(below barrel) holster looks like pigskin but still worth $100 + SOOOO without actually seeing the gun it should be in the $400 - $500 range BUT only if the numbers match. Still lots of German lovers around! 0 -
quote:Originally posted by gundoglady
Another of my husbands guns to be sold.
Walther P38 serial number 696 with holster that is marked P38. I has small eagle wing symbols and a byf 44 mark. Any help info would be great.
One of my favorite pistols of all time!
696? On a byf 44? I am curious about that. Can you post a photo of the left side of the slide, clear and close up enough to see the serial? Like this?
The safety markings appear to be minus the paint on that byf '44 P.38. This could be from wear, or a re-finish. Hard to tell. Many P.38s were captured by the Soviets and re-finished. The grips have some initials carved in them and may be Spreewerk grips, not that this is "bad" or even technically "incorrect". Are there markings on the back of the holster? Also, are there any 'import marks' on teh frame? These will be a company's name in English, most likely, perhaps even a town name
Here's the location of the frame serial that Ol Hickory mentions:
In addition to the serial number Ol Hickory mentions, there's another on the barrel group. If you place a finger under the barrel, and then slide your finger to the pistol, your finger will be covering the serial number on the barrel. Can you please report that serial number?
This is where that serial is:
Do you know how to field strip the pistol? It would be worthwhile to see the locking block as well, and whether or not the locking block pin is "in the white" or blued, and this would also enable you to peer through the barrel without the disconcerting action of pointing the pistol at your face
Are there markings on the magazine? Like these?0 -
As a follow up - I made a mistake on the number it is 695 and appears to have a t after that number. All parts are the same number. See the new photos. There is red paint on the F and no paint on S. Clip has P.38 no other markings. Holster has P30 and CBX stamped into the leather. I do not know how to take down the gun so I hope these photos are a help. Any idea of value or information? 0 -
Very nicely stamped pistol, good clear stampings, not refinished in my opinion- the locking block is not blued
Difficult to give an idea of value if it's not in my hands, but depending on the bore and rifling I wouldn't be surprised at 500+ for the pistol alone if there are no import stamps, perhaps more for a motivated buyer looking for a good Mauser. It looks well made for a relatively late war pistol. I don't recognize the stamps on the holster myself
Have you heard of http://www.p38forum.com/ ?
They are experts on any facet of these pistols you could name0 -
Hello The German Military marked most all Lugers and most P38 with the serial numbers starting over every month of every year so the serial numbers never got very high the also used codes to denote what factory made the pistol BYF was the code for Mauser and the letter T is most likely the code for a month of 1944 Your second set of pictures are LIGHT YEARS better then the first pictures You have a pistol in amazingly good condition. make sure you lat us know the auction number on any guns you put up for sale. PERRY SHOOTER 0 -
Perry Shooter is pretty well on it, Mauser numbered their guns with no more than 4-digit numbers, and the alpha suffix was advanced and the numbering was re-started when the number reached 9999. For example, when 9999e was reached, the next gun was 1f. At the end of the year, they started with the same system all over again, and so there can exist several guns with the same serial number, but they won't have the same year of production. This applies to the systems used by Walther and Mauser, but not to Spreewerk, as Spreewerk did not date their guns and therefore did not re-use serial numbers with their alpha suffix'.
Many people believe that they have a low-numbered P.38 because it has a 4-digit or less, serial number. But all P.38's which were in the military numbering scheme, do, which is about 1.14 million guns.
Mauser made around a quarter of the total of P.38's that were produced.0 -
Appears to be in real primo original condition other then the initials scratched on the grip. If the locking block matches and the bore is in the same condition as the rest of the pistol? My WAG is that the whole rig would be in the $600 to $800 range. Unfortunately with the economy in the toilet, firearms like everything else aren't selling like they use to. Hold on to if if you don't need the money right away. It will never lose value in the condition it's in. 0 -
I too have a Walther P38 in great condition. My Father brought it home from WW2 along with a Luger he sold a while ago. But I have the C-E-R-T-I-F-C-A-T-E dated 15 June 1945 that states his name and states "captured military enemy equipment" "One (1) German P.38 Pistol Cal. .38 #7817" with a list of all the stuff he brought home.
He was a radio operator with the 4th Army and was awarded a Bronze Star. His twin brother Tony was Awarded a Purple Heart.
Does this paper work make the gun worth more?0 -
quote:Originally posted by FastFusion
I too have a Walther P38 in great condition. My Father brought it home from WW2 along with a Luger he sold a while ago. But I have the C-E-R-T-I-F-C-A-T-E dated 15 June 1945 that states his name and states "captured military enemy equipment" "One (1) German P.38 Pistol Cal. .38 #7817" with a list of all the stuff he brought home.
He was a radio operator with the 4th Army and was awarded a Bronze Star. His twin brother Tony was Awarded a Purple Heart.
Does this paper work make the gun worth more?
Collectors call these authorization documents, "Bring Back Papers". They are highly sought after and add to the value of the pistol.
Years ago I bought a P 38 with similar papers. In one of my many senior moments I mislaid the papers and never could find them again. To put it mildly I was quite upset by this.0 -
gundoglady...you have been given some good advice on your late war Mauser P38. From the photos about the only thing wrong with it are those initials scratched in the grip...many GI's did that on their bringbacks to make sure everyone knew who owned them! Now is not the time to sell this rig as in this economy you most likely will not get what it is worth as it is a buyers market. Unless you need the $ bad and are prepared to lose some $ from what it is worth (and I would agree that @ 800-1000 is about the range for the rig)I would sit on it and wait for a better market to sell. There will always be a market for P38's in the future, it being the first double action military accepted 9mm pistol by a major world power. It is also one fine gun to shoot...I keep a byf 43 in the nightstand constantly and at the range it is still a tack driver! And as to the question of the value of capture papers...in most cases they add a good 30% or so to value as they establish both a date and a provenance for the weapon. Good shooting! 0
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