My new piece of history

Idle chat for all ACG and friends

Moderators: Board of Directors, Command

Post Reply
Spectre
Posts: 592
Joined: Sat May 14, 2016 12:55 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

My new piece of history

Post by Spectre » Wed May 01, 2019 10:40 pm

Some of you may or may not be aware but I am a bit of a historical collector, primarily of the firearm variety. Believe it or not, Canadians are actually allowed to own firearms for more than just polar bear defence and for me I have been slowly accumulating an entire closet full of WW2 history. After a lot of patient looking, I finally found another gem among all the AR15 & Glock garbage for sale at ridiculously high prices.

Im happy to have inducted a new type of member into "Spectre's closet bazaar of WW2 firearms" so say hello to my "new" Walther P38 pistol, my first pistol in the ever expanding collection. The P38 was the service pistol of the German forces throughout the second world war and was actually used extensively by the post-war German forces as the "P1" which was changed only slightly from its world war two predecessor and exported to other European military's. Chambered in the 9x19mm cartridge, it carries 8 rounds in a magazine and despite it's odd aesthetic it actually influenced many modern firearms with its features like the hammer decocker and overly-complex loaded chamber indicator.

The example below was made by the Mauser company at their Oberndorf factory in 1944. If you cross reference the year, serial number and letter suffix you can actually date the pistols age to the month. This one was made in March, and was brought back by a US GI and made it to Canada after the GI's family sold it to a collector, who then sold it to a Canadian, and that Canadian sold it to me. Despite its age, its in great condition and has the original finish still intact with zero rust or pitting and all the parts match.

Image

"byf" means it was made by Mauser, and "44" was the year manufactured. "1007 r" is the seiral number + letter suffix
Image

"1007 r" stamped on the barrel
Image

"Waffenamts" are the German army officially giving it their seal of approval, the code is unique to the inspector.
Image

The locking lug was stamped improperly and only three of the four digits of the serial number are present, note the "r" suffix is a different font than the external ones.
Image

The rifling inside of the barrel is a little worn, but to be expected on a 75 year old pistol.
Image

Lastly, the pistol taken down to its main parts.
Image

I look forward to taking this to the range very soon :fap:
Image
"On the edge of destiny, you must test your strength"
- Air Marshal Billy Bishop

Onebad
Posts: 2109
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2016 10:02 pm
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Re: My new piece of history

Post by Onebad » Thu May 02, 2019 6:27 am

Nice gun daddy.

Kildren
Posts: 1580
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2015 2:33 pm
Location: Adelaide, AUSTRALIA [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]

Re: My new piece of history

Post by Kildren » Thu May 02, 2019 6:30 pm

Fucken nazi jew killer :D
1







Speak to me about joining the ACG Pilots Union

Bunny
Posts: 5431
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 2:56 pm

Re: My new piece of history

Post by Bunny » Thu May 02, 2019 7:34 pm

The name's Spectre. James Spectre.

:nice:

“It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes I-16s.” - Douglas Adams


Image

Jammy
Posts: 1354
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 5:07 pm
Location: Värmland, Sweden

Re: My new piece of history

Post by Jammy » Thu May 02, 2019 8:33 pm

Cool!

Happened to obtain a vintage walther magazine used by the Norwegian forces after the war (leftovers from Norways ocupation) so its kind of nice to see how it would have looked like with the rest of the bits
Image
I do like to shoot down planes yes I do

BlackDog
Posts: 973
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:24 pm
Location: UK

Re: My new piece of history

Post by BlackDog » Thu May 02, 2019 11:03 pm

Very nice condition.... I wonder if the GI took it from combat claim or from a facility... bet it could tell an interesting tale.

:nice: find!
We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go always a little further; it may be beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow across that angry or that glimmering sea

Spectre
Posts: 592
Joined: Sat May 14, 2016 12:55 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: My new piece of history

Post by Spectre » Fri May 03, 2019 3:55 pm

BlackDog wrote:
Thu May 02, 2019 11:03 pm
Very nice condition.... I wonder if the GI took it from combat claim or from a facility... bet it could tell an interesting tale.

:nice: find!
From what I can gather, all the factories were overrun in '45 so anything '40 - '44 that has all matching parts was probably taken from a POW or KIA. Being made in March, it was probably given to someone in Normandy who didn't keep it for very long.
Image
"On the edge of destiny, you must test your strength"
- Air Marshal Billy Bishop

User avatar
Grunt
Pilot Officer
Pilot Officer
Posts: 155
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2017 1:14 am

Re: My new piece of history

Post by Grunt » Fri May 03, 2019 6:35 pm

Looks like it's in excellent condition. It looks like your collection of surplus arms would put mine to shame.
Image

Spectre
Posts: 592
Joined: Sat May 14, 2016 12:55 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: My new piece of history

Post by Spectre » Fri May 03, 2019 7:28 pm

Grunt wrote:
Fri May 03, 2019 6:35 pm
Looks like it's in excellent condition. It looks like your collection of surplus arms would put mine to shame.
Its definitely the nicest condition of anything I own, and my first "verified" all matching piece.

I own as follows;

- Kar98, Russian Capture.
- M1 Garand, all Springfield Armouries minus the barrel which is Danish.
- M1 Carbine, appears all matching but I can't say for sure.

and then obviously the P38 :moo:
Image
"On the edge of destiny, you must test your strength"
- Air Marshal Billy Bishop

Post Reply