fallout mike
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Anyone know about these?
What do I have?
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Anyone know about these?
DocRock
member
Cool. FEG Model 37, supplied to the Nazis in 9 Kurz and in 32 ACP to the Hungarian military. But, you have the manual safety and jhv markings that are more typical of the German variants. Any waffenamt markings? That might be a somewhat unique pistol if in 32 ACP and accepted by the Germans.
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fallout mike
Member
This is all the markings that I see.
DocRock
member
Well, I am no expert. Allegedly the Hungarian military version did not have the manual safety. Yours does. So that’s bollocks. Cool pistol and possibly rare, but people who know more will have to opine on that.
mokin
Member
I can't help you but it looks like a nice little pistol. If it was manufactured in 1941 it appears to have been very well cared for.
You have a Hungarian Femaru M37 chambered in 7.65mm/ 32acp that was made in 1941 for the Nazi Luftwaffe. I have two of those. Cool little guys, that are well made, easy to field strip, but with only a fair trigger. Holsters for them are rare and expensive. I love those WWII Femarus.
Is it numbers matching? The mags were also numbered to the pistol.
Is it numbers matching? The mags were also numbered to the pistol.
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fallout mike
Member
Yes, the magazine number matches. Thanks for the information. Any idea what its worth? I bought it yesterday foe what I thought is a good deal.
I don't have my Blue Book handy and more photos would help, but I guessing $900-$1300. You don't find these very often in good condition with matching mag. One with two matching mags sold for over $2k on GunBroker a few years ago.
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fallout mike
Member
Awesome. I came out a bit better than I thought. I'll probably hang on to this one for a while. I have a habit of trading if S&W revolvers are involved.
wiscoaster
Member
Looks like there's one on the left side of the slide, maybe partially scrubbed.
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fallout mike
Member
I googled that. That is exactly what those markings appear to be. They are just really small.
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fallout mike
Member
So from the info I'm getting, this was probably made for the third reich, in 1941, for the airforce? And only 50,000 were made?
Monac
Member
You're pretty much spot on, DocRock, but you got one thing backwards: The Germans got the 32 ACP's (with safety catches), and the Hungarians got the 380 ACPs (without safety catches).
Monac
Member
That happened to a surprising number of WWII guns that were either GI bring-backs or sold by surplus dealers. I've seen chrome-plated Lugers, P-38's, Tokarevs, Nambus, Webleys, High Powers, - you name it. Apparently in the 1950's and 1960's, there was a bumper re-chroming shop on every corner.
That one looks very well done. Since it has no safety catch, that should be a Hungarian one in 380.
The designer's name was Frommer. It is my opinion that he had a thing for the 1911. Look again at that pistol ... it looks much like a scaled down 1911 , grip safety and angle , trigger and so on.
Also , the ergonomics are very good for a small frame.
The Lufftwaffe crews preferred small sidearms for practical reasons - airplanes tend to be cramped. The "Femaru" was carried as well as PPKs. I've never understood why , when ordering FEG to produce a modified 37M for the Wehrmacht , the Germans specified a caliber reduction from 9mm kurz to 7.65. You are fortunate to have a numbers matching magazine , they got swapped a lot.
Very nice.
Also , the ergonomics are very good for a small frame.
The Lufftwaffe crews preferred small sidearms for practical reasons - airplanes tend to be cramped. The "Femaru" was carried as well as PPKs. I've never understood why , when ordering FEG to produce a modified 37M for the Wehrmacht , the Germans specified a caliber reduction from 9mm kurz to 7.65. You are fortunate to have a numbers matching magazine , they got swapped a lot.
Very nice.
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NIGHTLORD40K
Member
Probably because .32 was the defacto standard police caliber in Germany for many years. Would have been alot more ammo floating about in their stocks than .380.
bannockburn
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I think the Luftwaffe crews also liked carrying the Sauer M38h. Maybe they had a "thing" for sidearms slightly off the Walther PPK path!
I have read that of the various factions within the Wehrmacht , Hitler strongly favored the Army (Heer) , having been in the infantry in WWI. He had limited confidence in the Kriegsmarine , and only slightly more in the Luftwaffe. As a result , equipment in those branches was not always optimal. In short , if you were a Luftwaffe pilot in need of sidearm - you took what you could get.
bannockburn
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Waveski
Very true though Goering had his fingers in quite a few pies (for instance he had a financial interest in Krieghoff which made Lugers for the Wehrmacht). But ultimately you got to believe that procuring any weapons, such as small compact pistols, for any branch was every supply officer's personal headache!
Very true though Goering had his fingers in quite a few pies (for instance he had a financial interest in Krieghoff which made Lugers for the Wehrmacht). But ultimately you got to believe that procuring any weapons, such as small compact pistols, for any branch was every supply officer's personal headache!
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