Location: "...upon the east bank of Big Blue River, a mile or two north of the point where that stream crosses the Michigan road"
Posts: 1,646
P38 Info wanted...Spreewerke
I've been shopping for a WWII era Walther P38 for several months now. I have mostly been watching them on gunbroker. I had my heart set on a Mauser made (byf) P38 circa '43 or '44, but the prices are crazy. So I had given up or at least put the notion on the back burner.
I went to my local FFL to do a transfer today. I mentioned that I had been looking for a P38. He pulls a P38 out of his safe an hands it to me. It is a SpreeWerke. Its number match(...at least the barrel, receiver and slide). It has the typical three eagle stamps on the left side of the slide, although these seem to be stamped more lightly than I've ever seen. On the right, it either had cyq or cvq and serial number. I didn't see a date. The bore was bright and sharp. The finish was surprisingly good. I'd give it 90%. There is just a little frosting on the left side of the slide. It doesn't have any of the "Xs" which is a sign of Russian capture.
I don't know much about the SpreeWerke P38s. Can anyone educate me? I think I could get him down to $500. Seems to me that's a pretty good deal.
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"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss." -- Lazarus Long
I have a byf 43 P38 to accompany my byf 42 K98. I paid about $500 for mine. I thought it was a great deal, as my Browning Buckmark paid for part of it too!
Check out this site for a little more info. Scroll to the bottom: Walther P-38
Sounds like an intriguing find. Good luck. Hopefully you can get it for close to what you want to offer. Sounds like a good deal if thats the case.
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Location: "...upon the east bank of Big Blue River, a mile or two north of the point where that stream crosses the Michigan road"
Posts: 1,646
I'm going to take another look at it this week. I've studied up a little.
There is some interesting controversary over the change in manufacturer codes. There is the "broken die theory" that says the "y" became "v" because the tail of the "y" broke off of the stamp around January '45.
If it is actually a cvq, I might offer him $500 for it. I'm afraid it might have been refinished. That would ruin the value. On the other hand, there'd be no reason to not shoot it.
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"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss." -- Lazarus Long
Location: "...upon the east bank of Big Blue River, a mile or two north of the point where that stream crosses the Michigan road"
Posts: 1,646
I ended up buying the P38. I got him down to $530. The metal finish is really rough, but the blue and bore are 98%. I still wonder if it has been reblued.
It has 'cvq' on the slide and 'cyq' on the frame, but the serial numbers match.
The serial number has an 'a' prefix. I think I've got a nice example of a "last ditch" P38. The crudeness of the machining gives it a lot of character.
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"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss." -- Lazarus Long
