P38 Nickle Plated

[leggsbro]

I have a P38 that was "brought back from WWII" by my grandfather. I just wanted to learn a little bit more about it. I have done some research but there is so much out there to keep straight.

First off the pistol is silver, I guess nickle plated anbd none of it seems to be stripped off, with black grips(some type of plastic). It has a black leather holster with kko1944 stamped over P38. It has two mags both stamped with ivd and one with a crown over an eagle.

On the left side of the slide assembly it is stamped with P38, cyq, MP, MP, and 7883m. On the rights side it is stamped with MP again twice and what looks like three eagle of swastikas. Underneath the barrel it has 7883m and on the left side of the action assembly is has 7883m with another eagle over swastika. Underneath the left side of the grip are the numbers 509 stamped onto the pistol not the plastic grip.

My father says he remembers firing it as a kid about 40+ years ago and that was the last time it has been used, but he stated it worked flawlessly.

I field stripped this pistol and the locking block also has 7883m with an eagle over swastica on it. On the left side of the barrel assembly there is another eagle with cyq stamped. On the right side it has B b on the barrel assembly with another eagle on the locking block.

 

[SDC]

This would be a WW2 bring-back that was re-finished after it came back to the US; the "cyq" mark on the slide shows it was built by Spreewerke, and the 7883m is the serial number (each year, each factory would restart their serial numbers at 1, go up to 9999, then 1a up to 9999a, then 1b up to 9999b, etc.) That pistol would've been the 129,987th pistol that Spreewerke built during that series.

 

[Ron James]

There is a P-38 collectors web site that can better answer your questions. Http:www.p38forum.com/ I will add one bit of bad news. No chrome, nickle, or silver plated P38 was ever accepted into the German military. This was done after the war to make it pretty. The value now is as a shooter, not as a collectors peice. It can be restored but it is not a cheap process.

 

[leggsbro]

Thank you all for your help. I reposted this topic in the P38 forum.

 

[rufe-snow]

"MP" marking on slide.

The "MP" marking you reference on the slide of your pistol, is quite unique. Most CYQ's found with similar markings, ( denoting being manufactured by F N in Belgium ) are found in the "k" serial number range not the "m" such as yours.

It's a pity that it's been nickeled, as the variant slide markings would make it very desirable/valuable to a collector.

 

[45crittergitter]

Nickel.

 

[Slamfire]

This is a WWII Walther made "AC40" P-38. It is all matching, including the magazine. And it is all chromed. The GI who brought it back had it chromed after the war. That's what these guys did. If you look at the picture, the lettering is deep and the edges are sharp, no pitting in the barrel. It must have been darn near new when he got it. Without the chrome job it would have been worth easily about $800.00

The guy was infantry, and when I asked him how he got it, he said he took it from a German who did not need it any more. I did not ask for any more details.

 

[Sunray]

"...he took it from a German who did not need it any more..." If all the Germans "who didn't need it anymore" were added up, the war would have been over in 1942.

 

[Slamfire]

He was there in 1945. I think in theater less than six months. Now that I think of it, he might have been in a Parachute regiment. Walked all the way through Germany to some well known alpine pass between Germany or Austria, and Italy. The allies were trying to block off the retreat of Germans through this pass.

Said he got to the pass in a Jeep with some buds. They stopped, looked ahead, and the face of a Hilter Jugend pops up above them. He said the face was pale, apparently that was a characteristic he had seen before with these dangerous kids. This one shoots a Panzerfaust at the Jeep. At the sight of the face he and his buds scattered. Probably saved his life, he was wounded badly enough that he was out of the war. I don’t remember if any of his buds made it. I don’t know what happened to the kid. I think the reinforcing troops would have made short order of him. 14 year olds with antitank weapons are just as lethal as mature men with antitank weapons. And I think by then, GI’s were no longer amused by any of the locals killing Americans.

 

[Trebor]

You know, I bet the value of these chromed guns is going to go up in the future. They'll never be as high as a "factory original" gun, but I think the interest in "vet bringbacks," especially with the paperwork, is going to go through the roof in a few years as the last of the vets pass on.