bought my first P38 !!!!!

[pfchobart]

Yes I am hooked, I bought my first p38 at a gun show in NC. I am going to post some pic's so you guys can tell me what I have. what I can tell you is it's a,
P38 BYF 44 sr# 1719z all matching, about 97% finish.WaA135.

[pfchobart]

[pfchobart]

right side

[pfchobart]

close up

[fordgpw]

p38

nice looking gun, however i hate to be the bearer of bad news but i think its been reblued.the slide more so as you don,t see any milling on it and the legend is not cut deep. regards danny

[leondes]

Hi,

I don't really think that gun has been buffed. If you look closely at the serial number on the slide, you can see bulging around the stampings, especially toward the end of the number. That is characteristic of that range of Mausers and continued until the end of production. If a slide is buffed, it will flatten the metal around those numbers.

I can't see the finish well enough to evaluate it but I did notice that the "S" in the safety recess seems to be very white. That makes me suspect that it could be a dipped import. When the Russians dipped the guns it removed the paint in the safety markings. Some have been repainted.

Check for import marks. Disassemble the gun and check the locking block actuator pin. It should be in the white. If it is blued, it is likely a dipped one.

It could be a good one but I just can't tell from the pictures. I hope it's original for your sake.

Regards, Leon

[pfchobart]

its got 719 Z on it

it

[pfchobart]

.

.

[leondes]

Looks okay to me. The white paint still looks a little too white but that's probably okay. It does vary from gun to gun and what it was exposed to. From what I have seen, they never removed the actuator pin before they were dipped so your's looks good.

Your pistol was made by Mauser in about September-October 1944. Mauser, unlike Walther, didn't start their serial numbers over from 1 every year. Mauser was in the "q" letter block during the year change from 1943 to 1944 and you can figure roughly 10,000 guns per month. After your "z" block they went back to a serial number with no letter suffix, then "a", "b", etc. The production ended in April 1945 in the early "f" block.

Regards, Leon

[Matt Weber]

Finish on this P38 looks good to me. I don't know what Danny is referring to?
There are plenty of milling marks on that slide, and as Leon mentioned, the serial numbers are still bulging, so it definately hasn't been buffed. Bluing is typical of late Mauser, and matches one "byf44" that I have as well.

The bluing on the frame should have almost a "brownish" tint to it towards the top of the frame, just below the slide. It looks like it does have this tint to it, and would be correct, and is definately not a re-blue! Russian dipped ones usually look almost black.

As for the lettering on the safety, these vary greatly. I have one "byf43" that is 99.9% and has a great amount of white on the safety. It is so white it almost looks like it was bleached! The red on my "byf43" is so red, it looks like blood red. Anyways, it is correct, and so is yours. Looks good to me.

Nice looking P38, and great find!

Matt

[fordgpw]

P38

I guess my eyes are getting to old,but I,m still convinced that rascal has been fooled with.Look at the top of the trigger guard,its almost in the white as well as the area next to the take down lever.
The byf is to filled in .I hope its just me.My thoughts guys. Regards Danny
PS: Post it on the P38 forum and let Orv see it .

[Captain Emo]

That is if you can get on the P38 Forum. It has been very sloooooooooow.

It looks good to me, just that funny strip of color that confuses me.

My CYQ has bright white and blood red paint. It is as-carried home by a local GI. I was convinced too, that it was reblued. It was not, just that nice. The milling mark, and there are many on the CYQ are crisp and the small parts are in the white as they should be.