Latest Find! P38, AC45, "c-block"!

[Matt Weber]

Just picked up this baby yesterday. It is probably one of the last P38s made by Walther at the end of the war. It is a late war "c-block", factory MM.

check out the pics of this baby!

Matt

[Matt Weber]

Highest serial number on it, is on the slide, which is "4456c". Very late!

[Matt Weber]

Right side view, shows pretty good finish for such a late gun. Finish is very thing, and machine markings are prevelant throughout the gun.

[Matt Weber]

A closer look at the right side, reveals that there is only a single, "eagle/359" on the slide. NO test firing proof, and no acceptance proof for the entire pistol! They simply put it together and sent it out the door!

[Matt Weber]

Locking block has no serial number or proof markings at all!

[Matt Weber]

no test firing proof on the barrel either.

[Matt Weber]

magazine base is phosphated. However, magazine body is blued. Mag is made by "jvd".

[Matt Weber]

One last thing. The hammer is "in the white".

Pretty cool huh?

[leondes]

Hi Matt,

Nice pistol and a nice example to have.

Most collectors accept that the "c" block mismatch ac45s were guns that were assembled after the Walther plant was overrun and assembled by workers in the plant to trade to GIs for whatever. GIs had no concept of matching numbers so they didn't care and the workers only wanted to get a pistol put together for some consideration.

When the plant fell the workers were out of a job so trying to get something out of their jobs as a last ditch effort makes sense.

The fact that your gun is mismatched and because of the absense of the firing proof and the final inspection stamp, your gun was not assembled and test fired by the Germans. If your gun was all matching without the the 2 final stamps, I would say that it was assembled by the Germans but the plant was overrun before either the gun could be test fired or before it could be stamped after test firing.

Regards, Leon

[James Purnell]

Nice example. These mismatched guns start to appear at around 3000 c and go into the d block. They are a variation that is almost exclusively found in the US and are true vet bringbacks.

[R_Hessian]

Phosphate

Matt,

Again, very nice p38! I went through my magazines and while I found some of the normal black Phosphate bottom mag's. I like the grey phosphate mag you have thats why I wanted to post a complete grey phosphate magazine, its finish is almost more like a light wash ( I have a K43 magazine finished the same way ).

You can compare the worn areas to the finish which appears often the same, clearly a late war example.

Robert

[R_Hessian]

picture 2

picture 2 for you

[R_Hessian]

picture 3

picture 3 for you!

[R_Hessian]

picture 4

picture 4 !!!!!!!!!!

[P08]

Nice pictures in this thread. Matt your P38 looks like it's in very good condition. Especially the handle grips look clean. It's nice to see an example of the red/brown handle grips.