Online Walther PP serial number reference??

[dfariswheel]

A relative is in the process of buying a Walther post-war PP pistol imported by Interarms.

Are there any online serial number references where I can get a production date ?

Thanks.

 

[Mark G.]

I don't know of any list, but if it helps mine (serial number) is approximately 362,000 with a manufacture date of 1966.

 

[Franco2shoot]

online assist

I too, am now the owner of a Walther PP, and would like to do some research as to the firearm's dob/pob and any other information.

It has CAI Vt as the importer, and a Stag horn with a 75 which I am taking to mean the barrel was proofed in 1975. When it was assembled and sold might be something different. Ser. Number is something like 435356 and the 356 has been etched into the plastic of both magazines.

I'm also confused about the weapon's restriction of 68 and how it impacted the PP/PPK with one holding 8 rounds and the other holding 7 but making sense of gun laws is a contradiction of terms.

KKKKFL

 

[dfariswheel]

You Walther's Place of Birth is "officially" the Walther plant in Ulm Germany.
In fact, your gun was made at the Manurhin plant in Mulhouse, France.

After the war, the Walther company had no production plant, so they contracted with Manurhin to produce Walther firearms.
By the later 1950's Walther had a new plant up and running at Ulm and took back production of most guns.

However, the Manurhin company had done such a good job, and the price of production was so attractive, Walther just left production of the PP/PPK series guns in France.
The guns were manufactured in France, and the mostly finished guns were shipped across the border to Ulm, where they were blued, stamped "Made in Germany" and proof fired.

In Europe, the country where a gun is final proof-fired is considered to be the country of manufacture, so this is legal.

In 1968, the US passed the Gun Control Act of 1968.
This set standards on importation of firearms, including the size of the gun and presence of safety systems.
The PPK was determined to be too short in the grip to pass the size standard, so Walther took the shorter PPK slide and barrel, and mounted them on the longer PP frame.
This was known as the PPK/s.

The PP with it's longer grip and magazine holds 7 rounds in the magazine.
The short grip PPK holds 6, AND has a "skeleton" rear frame.
The PPK frame is open on the back side, exposing the mainspring, and there is no back strap.
Instead, the PPK uses a wrap-around plastic grip to cover the open frame, and provide a rear grip surface.

The PP has an enclosed steel grip frame that uses slap-type plastic grips, and the PPK/s also has the same frame, along with the longer PP 7 shot magazine.

 

[Franco2shoot]

Wealth of Info

Thanks for that wealth of info..
I'm kinda familiar with that Ulm/Mulhouse area as we lived in Germany for more than a couple of years.
One last question, involving the production. Any idea when Walther shifted totally to the Ulm facility?

Since mine was proofed in 75, I am guessing it was assembled about the same time and then went to some Politzei Patorlman that crusied the Autobahn for a number of years before being retired and making its way to U.S. shores.

guess this gets back to the serial number...

KKKKFL

 

[tipoc]

Try here.

www.p38forum.com/index.htm

Their are also a fair number of books which list dates of production, etc. Gangarosa's is worthwhile, as well as the Walther Book. Hoffschmidt's "Know Your Walther PP/PPK" is very useful and cheap.

tipoc

 

[Ron James]

Walther started up their own re-manufacturing of the PP line in 1985/1986. They also started a new serial number sequence, For the PP the serial numbers started at 700,001 and the the PPK at 800,001.

 

[aewronwoody]

WALTHER PP 7.65mm serial number: 309108

Trying to find Production Year THIS GUN WAS MADE...

 

[Jim K]

The postwar German proof markings include the year the gun was proved, which in most cases is the year it was made.

Jim

 

[wgsigs]

You might try here.

http://www.waltherforums.com/forum/

 

[kirby380]

Walther Serial Numbers

I just got a book written by Gene Gangarosa " The Walther Handgun Story". Very informative, and some info on Serial numbers. Still, the numbering system is vague even for Manurhin and German made Walters. It really takes some digging to get even close. It seems to me with all I have heard about German record keeping being way above board, that Walther, which built an excellent firearm, just couldn't get it's numbering system down.
Try this web site:
http://www.waltherforums.com/forum/...interarms-ppk-ppk-s-serial-numbers-dates.html

Re: Walther Manurhin PP .32 sn# 138XX Year Made?
________________________________________
What a tangled web we weave, when first we try and decipher Manurhin and Walther serial numbers. Having said that. All of the Walther PP's,PPK's, regardless of what is roll marked on the slide were manufactured by Manurhin from 1952 until 1984 when Walther started producing the guns again ( until 1989 ) At the same time Manurhin also sold the guns ( made under license by Walther ) under their own name. In fact if James Bond had been a real person, M-16 would have issued him a Manurhin PPK in lieu of a Walther. ( British intelligence bought a number of Manurhins ), they also sold a batch to the German police , go figure. Yours is a Manurhin made and sold under their name, Serial number 14,114was made about 1953, yours serial number 138XX would have been made about the same time. We have a Walther collector, Danny, who stops by ever so often, if I'm in error then he will have the correct information. Hope that helps, By the way, some where along the way the Manurhin grips were replaced with Walther grips .
__________________
RonJames
Below you'll find three charts of usable data. From the posts in the Sticky I've learned a very important fact in regards to Interarms made PPK and PPK/S models. Note the following:

PPK 9mm kurz stainless all start with "A"
PPK 9mm kurz blued all start with "K"
PPK 7.65 x 17mm stainless all start with "B"
PPK/S 9mm kurz stainless all start with "S"
PPK/S 7.65 x 17mm of unknown finish all start with "W"

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Actually there was a Customs country of origin fraud case made against Walther. Everyone in Europe knew they were made in France and the Made in Germany was even put on the pistols when they were made. The factory was just across the border. Anyway I had a friend that was working on the case as he was stationed in France for a while. No one denied that the guns were made in France and according to our marking requirements the guns origin was France as the proof marks have nothing to do with our origin requirements, but the powers to be told my friend to drop the case and so he did.