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**Spanky** · 08-19-2005, 11:13 PM

Originally posted by Mike Pilcher

A local gun shop has had the above for several months. He says it came out of an estate. It looks reblued to me, but he assures me it's not. It has several Nazi markings on it and the numbers appear to match.

I am totally uneducated on German pistols. Can comeone give me a quick tutorial on what to look for. He's had it priced at $900 which I thought was quite high. He was mumbling something about $650 this week, and that got my attention. I know prices are relative to condition, markings, etc. and that's where I need help.

All advice appreciated,

Thanks,

Mike Pilcher

There are several variations of these. Early guns have the slotted grip for a shoulder stock and the tangent sight (can be adjusted for range). These features were used until the parts on hand when the FN factory was captured were used up. These early guns will have 5 or 6 digit serial numbers and WaA613, WaA103 or WaA140 waffenamt. The slotted grips went away before the tangent sights. The finish quality on the early guns is pretty good.

Later guns with all parts manufactured under Nazi occupation don't have the slot and have a fixed rear sight. These later guns are in three serial number ranges (one with no suffix and an "a" and "b" suffix range) and all have the WaA140 waffenamt. The later guns have a very weak military blue finish that didn't hold up very well. I would be very suspicious of a late gun with excellent bluing (although there are a few original ones around with strong bluing)

The early guns are pricey but you can still find the later guns in the $600 range.

**Mike Pilcher** · 08-19-2005, 11:37 PM

Thanks, Spanky! This one has the tangent rear sight for sure. I'm not sure about the slot for the shoulder stock. I noticed that the serial number was shorter than most. It should be a 5 or 6 digit number. That's all I remember.
I think I'll go take another look at it tomorrow.

Mike

Originally posted by Spanky

There are several variations of these. Early guns have the slotted grip for a shoulder stock and the tangent sight (can be adjusted for range). These features were used until the parts on hand when the FN factory was captured were used up. These early guns will have 5 or 6 digit serial numbers and WaA613, WaA103 or WaA140 waffenamt. The slotted grips went away before the tangent sights. The finish quality on the early guns is pretty good.

Later guns with all parts manufactured under Nazi occupation don't have the slot and have a fixed rear sight. These later guns are in three serial number ranges (one with no suffix and an "a" and "b" suffix range) and all have the WaA140 waffenamt. The later guns have a very weak military blue finish that didn't hold up very well. I would be very suspicious of a late gun with excellent bluing (although there are a few original ones around with strong bluing)

The early guns are pricey but you can still find the later guns in the $600 range.

**Spanky** · 08-20-2005, 11:59 AM

Here are the serial number ranges for early Nazi High Powers from Still's "Axis Pistols" (a good reference if you should consider getting if you have a general interest in Nazi military sidearms):

Tangent sight and slotted grip (high polish finish, walnut grips - WaA613 marked) 45000 to 46000 and 50000 to 53000

Tangent sight no slot (high polish - walnut grips) Serial numbers between about 53000 to 145000 with WaA613 (early), WaA103 (mid) and WaA140 (later) waffenamts.

I paid about $1000 for an excellent condition tangent sight (no slot) with an excellent original holster and spare mag in 2001, which I felt was a fair price at the time.

There are also pre-occupation Belgian issue pistols captured by the Nazi's with both Belgian commercial and military proofs - some with Nazi waffenamt's added (WaA613) - but these are really rare.

**chris ulkesh** · 08-20-2005, 05:40 PM

be sure the magazine is waa'd. they are expensive to replace and almost every WW2 german BHP i've seen for sale recently has a commercial mag in it.

**phild** · 08-20-2005, 09:45 PM

Originally posted by chris ulkesh

be sure the magazine is waa'd. they are expensive to replace and almost every WW2 german BHP i've seen for sale recently has a commercial mag in it.

Many if not all of the HP mags used for the a and b block pistols had no Wa stamp. Really a Wa stamped mag for a pistol of these series is incorrect. I don't know exactly how early they stopped Wa marking the mags, but it was certainly being dropped by the 10,000 range of the a block and may have have been dropped back in the no letter range.

There are ways to tell post war mags by the floorplate construction and other tell tale signs. I would never rely on a Wa (on anything) to be the determining factor of wartime origin.

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