My AC44, P38 and question on AC45

[airborne_steve]

Hi WAF,

I have been very lazy lately of taking photos of my German small arms. Because I have been recovering from surgery to my lower back, so I have have had some time on my hands.

This is my AC44, all matched P38. The thing is near mint with some storage wear to the barrel.

I had the chance to pick up a all matching AC45, P38 with holster. It was $1100 and was stone mint! Do you think $1100 for an AC45 is a good deal?

Steve

[airborne_steve]

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[airborne_steve]

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[sneakerd]

I personally think that is at least $300 too high, and that's being generous. If you take your time and wait a little bit, you can find one at a fair price. In the last couple of months, I have purchased 2 AC45s, one a no prefix and one an "a" prefix. I believe that I paid about $1550 for both. One is stone mint.
The other is sure excellent, both with mint bores. Both with beautiful grips that match each other perfectly.

[airborne_steve]

Thanks for your reply. Living out here in Washington, there is not a lot to pick from and I have been looking for a mint AC45 with holster for a while now.

Regards Steve

[Matt Weber]

I wouldn't say that's a good price. I'm assuming it's an early AC45, and all matching? Not one of those factory mismatches is it?

If it's an all matching AC45, then $800-$900 would be fair price for a minty condition. If it's one of those factory MM ones, then $600-$650 range for a minty one.

Matt

[sneakerd]

Steve, watch the internet, Gunbroker, P-38 forum. www.ggrelics.com. That's Gil Hoffman. He charges a little too much, but he may deal depending on the market. I personally have kind of gotten away from looking for pistols with holsters. They usually add $200 to $300 to the price, especially for a "hard-shell" in nice shape. Unless of course there is a credible claim they were captured together and/or there is some provenance. You just end up with lots of pistols and holsters, and I don't collect holsters. That said, I have found that if I get a holster, I can really clean it up by using soap, water and a toothbrush on the stitching on the exterior. Also using Blackrock on the finished leather surfaces, couple of repeats, the holster is much nicer. I can then decide to keep it or sell, usually turning a little "profit", making the deal a lot nicer. I have done this half a dozen times without any issue.