Description
Matching & Wehrmacht marked, with holster!
Offered for sale is this less well known but equally employed Nazi issued handgun from WW2 which comes complete with an appropriate late war holster.
The Sauer 38H is a straight blowback, double action, semi-automatic pistol made by J. P. Sauer & Sohn in Suhl in Germany during World War II.
Production started in 1938 & commercial pistols were made initially before June 1940 when the 1st military procurement of the Model H occured. Production was rudely interrupted by the Russians in 1945 after around 200,000 units were made.
The mark “H” in the name of the model stands for “hammerless” as the pistol uses an internal hammer.
The Sauer 38H was a very technically advanced pistol for it’s time. Some advanced features are: the first use of a lever that either cocked or decocked the hammer safely, load chamber indicator, magazine safety that deactivates the trigger when the magazine is removed from the pistol, etc. Another advanced feature for its time was the magazine safety, a device that deactivates the trigger when the magazine is removed from the pistol. Almost all modern pistols manufactured by SIG Sauer today feature a decocking lever, including the highly successful SIG Sauer P226 family. Most modern SIG Sauer pistols feature controls in almost the same place as on the Sauer 38H, though as these modern designs have exposed hammers the cocking feature is omitted from the lever. The Heckler & Koch P9 also utilizes a cocking/decocking lever based on the Sauer 38H.
A revolutionary feature was the use of a lever that either cocked or decocked (dropped the hammer) safely. This is the first handgun to have this type device (located on the left side below the slide, just forward of the grip). The hammer on the Sauer 38H could be lowered for safe carry at any time. The cocking feature was necessary due to the shrouded hammer & the decocking mechanism was a safety feature. A hollow space on the trigger indicated if the concealed hammer was cocked; if completely exposed, the hammer was lowered. A small pin protruded at the rear of the slide as a loaded chamber indicator.
The grips of the pistol were constructed of Bakelite. Age often results in the cracking & crumbling of the grips on surviving examples but these are in excellent condition as can be seen in the photos. All original grips featured “SUS” lettering standing for “Sauer und Sohn” which could be found on the same side of the pistol as the magazine release & it is unusual for a present-day example to have original, undamaged grips as this example does.
The Sauer 38H was overwhelmingly produced for the .32 ACP cartridge. The model 38H was used by German armed forces such as the Luftwaffe, as well as police forces in numbers nearly equal to the Walther PPK.
We believe this is what’s called the 3rd Variant, as indicated by the addition of a comma after JP SAUER & SOHN whereas previous variants did not. This change came about around the S/N 306,000 & became known as the late wartime finish due the lack of a high polish finish.
Correctly, the pistol is stamped WaA37, indicating acceptance into the Wehrmacht, as opposed to police issue which displays a different stamp.
Being 1944 manufacture, things were getting dire & so this comes with fairly rare black ersatz leather/vinyl/cardboard laminated holster which could be correct for this pistol.
Despite being a late war Nazi ‘last ditch’ holster, there are no Waffenamt or any other markings, assumedly because they had better things to be focussed on & they probably weren’t intended to last long.
This pistol is in excellent condition considering, as is the holster which is most uncommon for this type of holster because this material is basically coated cardboard so as you can well imagine finding one this nice after all these years is saying something!
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.
We think we have described it accurately & correctly but do not claim to be infallible so if we have got anything wrong, it is unintentional & are happy for feedback from people who know more than we do.
Make your decision based on the photos as these form the main description & override all other.
Whilst we check these out for serviceability, the warranty has expired & this is sold on an ‘as is’ basis. As with all used guns, we recommend you have this checked by a suitably qualified person prior to shooting.
We have a pretty unique refund policy on our collectable guns whereby we will refund your money if it is not as described when you receive it. Just let us know before you decide to send it back.
Standard shipping is $55 for all for metro shipping bar WA, otherwise call for a cost to your dealer.
