Description

Mint, all matching (including magazine) with desirable brown hardshell holster!

Most people think of the Luger P.08 when the subject of Nazi hand guns comes up but the P.38 was the official sidearm of the German armed forces during WW2.

The Walther P38 (originally written Walther P.38) was developed by Carl Walther GmbH as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II to replace the costly Luger P.08, the production of which was scheduled to end in 1942. The P.38 concept was accepted by the German military in 1938 but production of actual pistols did not begin until late 1939 at Waffenfabrik Walther.

Since before the war the German army used secret codes on weapons to designate the manufacture. The Germans were concerned that the Allied forces could easily locate the German weapon production sites & bomb them when they knew the manufacturer. In June & July 1940 Walther used the secret code 480. The pistols produced in this period are therefore stamped with 480. The serial number was stamped on the slide. The secret code 480 for the Walther factory was already abandoned after two months use & replaced by a new code. This new code was AC & was introduced in August 1940. In addition to the secret code the last two digits of the year of production were also stamped on the slide.  Most of the serial numbers also have a suffix letter as does this.

This example was manufactured in 1941, as seen by AC 41 on the slide & the serial number with the suffix ‘a’ indicates it was made in Feb – March of that year.

Two other manufacturers were required due to wartime demand, these being Spreewerk & Mauser. Neither of these manufacturers were able to build to the same standard of quality that Walther did, although they are collectable for their own reasons.

Early war Walther made P.38’s demand a premium among knowledgeable collectors as they were the proprietary company & these were known to be finished to a higher standard, especially in 1941 before the situation became more dire.

This high gloss, deep bluing makes these instantly recognisable, which along with the brown Bakelite grips can be seen on this example.

Along with being a collectable WW2 pistol due to its Nazi heritage, the P38 is famous for being the first modern double action semi auto pistol which featured a manual de-cock, allowing the pistol to be loaded with a round in the chamber & then safely ‘de-cocked’ without the need to release the hammer while pulling the trigger. This allowed it to be safely carried with a round in the chamber & the hammer forward. Being double action, the user could draw & pull the trigger making it a good service pistol for soldiers wanting to be safe but ready for action. This set the standard for service pistols going forward.

Original Walther manufactured P.38’s are particularly desirable for collectors. This particular example is in excellent original condition & comes with the desirable dark brown original wartime hardshell holster clearly stamped gxy 1941 along with the large P38 embossed on it. The Nazi secret squirrel code of gxy was allocated to Gebr. Klinge, of Lederwarenfabrik, Dresden-Loebtau.

This is in outstanding condition & as can be seen in the photos, comes with two (2) original WW2 P.38 magazines, one of which is correctly numbered to this pistol!

Any dark specs which may look like rust is just old, hard grease.

Original WW2 ‘Hardshell’ holsters in this condition easily fetch $1,000 & are more desirable than the black versions as usually seen on Mausers & Spreewerk variants.

This is in original, untouched condition & was acquired from Legacy Collectables in the US. Legacy staff tour the US & are well known for acquiring US Army ‘bring backs’ & this has all the hallmarks of such a gun.

It was purchased & brought into the country by a serious collector who is now liquidating his entire collection of mint WW2 handguns.

This is a must have for your WW2 handgun collections & ticks the box as an original Walther.

We are offering this pistol as a collectable piece of military history & acknowledge the grievous atrocities committed by the Nazi regime & some of its military, particularly toward the peoples of occupied territory & the Jewish population in Europe. In no way do we condone or glorify the Nazi regime which must be remembered for the vile stain on human history that it was.

Please view all of the photos carefully as they form the main description & override all others so feel free to ask for more if desired.

Sold on consignment on behalf of a collector.