Walther P38, supposedly brought back from Iraq

[gopguy]

I picked up an interesting Walther P38 at a gunshow over the weekend. It is a wartime pistol Code AC 44 meaning it was built by Walther in 1944.It is all matching, I would rate it 97%.I got it very reasonable ($315)from a fellow wishing to raise money for a .22 pistol. He told me an interesting story about it. I doubted it at first and with his permission stripped the gun down and even took off the grips looking to see if there were importation stamps. There were none. He claimed his son snuck it back from the fighting in Iraq. I was thinking if that was true his boy would be very annoyed with his selling it as it is not easy to bring anything back this time around. I know from having kept touch with a buddy who is a Major in the Marine Corps a little of everything has been found in Iraq......but does anyone know if Iraq itself ever use the P38 for military use? Anyway what makes me think there maybe some truth to the story is there is a Arabic letter stamped prior to the P38. It looks like a wide V pointing to the right. It is not a British Broad Arrow property stamp, I know that... Anyone else ever see one of these? If I can get my digital camera working I will snap a shot. By the way it also shoots very nicely.

 

[glockamolee]

Iraq P-38

First off, it could have got there anyone of a number of ways.

1)Ex-Nazi becomes a mercenary and goes to the middle East.
2)England gives war booty to a former possession after WW2.

See where I am going with this?

 

[gopguy]

Hello,

I'm not surprised it got there. Plenty of WWII surplus went to Africa and the middle east. What I am wondering about official use. I know Algeria for instance officially used the P38 according to the late Edward Ezell. With the Rommel's Africa Korps operating in Egypt and Libya I would not be surprised to see some there. What I am wondering about is this marking, is it some sort of property stamp? I have a Hakim, Helwan and Rashid in my collection. The > looks like a marking on those. So what I am asking is does anyone know if Iraq officially used the P38 in any capacity and has anyone else with connections to those in the sand box know of any others? Thanks

 

[dfariswheel]

As above, after WWII millions of guns tuned up in Africa and the Mid East.

Recently there was a picture on the news of a bunch of African kids waving around gun.

In the picture were AK's, some Mauser KAR98's, an MP-44, and other guns that are rare in the rest of the world.

The P-38 was always a popular gun in those parts of the world, although only a few countries in Africa "Officially" adopted it.
As in most third world countries, the P-38 was just part of a large mixed bag of whatever guns happened to turn up.

If you were watching the news during the war, there were some pictures of Saddam's scattered arsenals with a wild mix of guns ranging from Colt Python's to gold plated AK's to expensive antique guns.

I wouldn't be surprised in the least that a AC code P-38 turned up in Iraq, but as in all cases, you buy the gun, NOT the story.

Over the last years, I've seen WWII German KAR98's being sold as Vietnam "bring backs", and cheap commercial hunting knives as WWI trench knives.

Possible, or just a way to punch up the value of a common item.

In short, I've be very surprised NOT to find WWII P-38 pistols in the Mid East.

 

[gopguy]

Indeed I bought the gun for the gun, and the price was right. Condition was excellent as mentioned before and the marking had my attention. I am just trying to find out if anyone else has seen one with a marking that looks like this ">P 38 ". I think the story is plausable and probably true, just wondered if anyone else has one with such a marking.

 

[Pilot]

They're stll using Mauser C-96's over there. Look at pics from Afganistan, Bosnia, etc and you'll see Broomhandles in their hands.

The P-38 is still a damn fine pistol. If it were a double stack, we'd still see them on front line service.

 

[alamo]

Just makes me wonder if the guy's son really went through all the trouble and risk to smugggle a P-38 out of Iraq only for his dad to turn around and sell it at a gun show. Doesn't mean the story is not true but is very suspicious.

 

[Jim K]

This is sort of like the story of the guy who wanted to bring back an SMLE, and another who seemed hell-bent on figuring out a way to bring in a 98 Mauser. I am sure it happens, but somehow it is hard to see the sense of risking a court martial, jail time, and the permanent loss of gun rights in order to smuggle in a common gun that can be bought here for a couple of hundred dollars or less. I like to think that if I ever decided to become a crook and risk prison, I would at least make it worth while.

Jim

 

[hillbilly]

I have heard from servicemen who have been to Iraq and Afghanistan, that in the early days of the Afghan operation, and even into Iraq, it was possible to get back pistols without too much trouble.

However, when a couple of high-profile cases of folks smuggling fully-auto AK-47s started to pop up, then everything got cracked down upon in a very harsh fashion.

That's what I've been told by people whom I trust who have been over there.

hillbilly

 

[rudolf]

Have a look at this picture:

http://www.gunboards.com/militaria/uploaded/Greg/2004524182255_StG-44.jpg

I guess a P-38 would be more common than a StGw-44 anywhere.

 

[CAnnoneer]

However, when a couple of high-profile cases of folks smuggling fully-auto AK-47s started to pop up, then everything got cracked down upon in a very harsh fashion.

Which comes to show yet again how a small group of @#$% can screw up a good thing for everyone.

 

[Moonclip]

Buy the gun, not the story but I think you did ok for a non import marked P38. Guns can and do end up in interesting places and my dad knew someone in Vietnam who captured a P38 after a firefight. Not that unusual as some of the French units had them in the 1950s.