P38 Serial number ending in K. NEED HELP!

[army_inc]

Hey Guys,
A buddy of mine brought in two pistols to look at. He brought in an AC42 P38. It has all numbers matching. My question is this. The serial number is 5956K. What does the K stand for on the P38. He also brought in a Beretta. The markings on that is: P Beretta-CAL 7.65 BrevettatA gARDONE v.t. 1940-XVIII. There is also a stamping of an eagle with a crown right behind the left pistol grip.

Any idea what the K stands for on the P38 and how can I figure out what type of Beretta he has? Thanks for you help guys.
-Dave

[Richie B]

Dave

The "k" is part of the serial number.

Issued in blocks.

0001 - 9999
0001a - 9999a
etc
0001k - 9999k
etc
0001z - 9999z

Beretta - Model 1935 possibly, they were 7.65mm I think.

Regards

Richie

[mauriziods]

Royal Beretta M. 35 Airforce

Saluti

[mauriziods]

Beretta Mod. 35 Royal Airforce

regards

[army_inc]

Thanks for the help. I think I just had a brain fart because I should've know that. Thanks for the help though guys!

[Tepo911]

K Suffix P38

I'm not a P38 expert by any means, so I have been waiting patiently for one to check in.
Since none have I would like to comment on your P38 question. The letter suffix after the number digits represents the month of manufacture.
January would have no suffix. February would have an "A" and so on.....making your "K" suffix gun a product of December of 1942.

[Richie B]

I'm not a P38 expert by any means, so I have been waiting patiently for one to check in.
Since none have I would like to comment on your P38 question. The letter suffix after the number digits represents the month of manufacture.
January would have no suffix. February would have an "A" and so on.....making your "K" suffix gun a product of December of 1942.

Never heard that before - do you have sources/references for this information ?

Regards

Richie

[Johnny Peppers]

I'm not a P38 expert by any means, so I have been waiting patiently for one to check in.
Since none have I would like to comment on your P38 question. The letter suffix after the number digits represents the month of manufacture.
January would have no suffix. February would have an "A" and so on.....making your "K" suffix gun a product of December of 1942.

Whoa! That is incorrect. The question has already been answered, as the k is part of the serial number. The 1942 Walthers were serial numbered in batches of 9999, with the first 9999 having no suffix, the next starting at 1a and going through 9999a, the starting over at 1b to 9999b and so on until the end of production that year.
In 1943 Walther, (ac 43), serial numbers went into the n letter block, so what month would the letter n be by your reckoning?
True the pistol was probably made in December, but the k does not represent December.

[DaveG]

I'm not a P38 expert by any means, so I have been waiting patiently for one to check in.
Since none have I would like to comment on your P38 question. The letter suffix after the number digits represents the month of manufacture.
January would have no suffix. February would have an "A" and so on.....making your "K" suffix gun a product of December of 1942.

I believe that is incorrect. It is simply as a previous poster posted a block range of a particular year, in this case 1942. I do believe that it would be late in 1942 though.

[Biomass]

ac42 K-block was produced in December 1942. Magazines were not serial numbered anymore at that moment.

http://www.pistole38.nl/eng/tech/P38ProductionDates.pdf

regards,
Dennis

[Tepo911]

ac42

Richie B and Johnny Peppers and Dave G,

My comments regarding ac42 P38 production are correct as noted by Biomass and indicated on the referenced production chart. Production by month and suffix letters DO correspond as noted. Production chart and data was compiled by Orv Reichert including data provided by Alex Krutzek.
Regards,
Steve

[Johnny Peppers]

Richie B and Johnny Peppers and Dave G,

My comments regarding ac42 P38 production are correct as noted by Biomass and indicated on the referenced production chart. Production by month and suffix letters DO correspond as noted. Production chart and data was compiled by Orv Reichert including data provided by Alex Krutzek.
Regards,
Steve

It just happened to work out that way in 1942, but is not an intentional representation of the month manufactured. The serial numbers in the list are based on an estimation of production of 10,000 a month, but there are no records to indicate whether production was more or less for any given month. The letter suffix was simply a way of keeping records of serial numbers without having to go past four numbers and a letter.
Is there any reason the month/letter representation would have been used only in 1942? Would this mean that all 480 Code pistols were made in January only as they have no letter suffix? Actually 480 code production started in mid 1940.
The ac no date pistols don't have a letter suffix, but were made in October of 1940. The ac 40 added are no suffix and a, but were made in November of 1940. Why wouldn't these pistols have an i and a j letter suffix if the suffix represents the month of manufacture?
I can see where you would assume the letter suffix on 1942 production was a representation of the month manufactured, but it just doesn't happen to be the case.