ac44 e-block

I got this pistol over a year ago and I've been meaning to post it. I am wondering if everything is okay, as this is my first p38.
Main concerns are the light ac44 and s/n stamps, though I've seen this on a few examples here. Also, lack of red paint on F but white on S? If both are missing I take it to mean either reblue or heavy heavy use. That might be neither here nor there though.
The left side of the slide shows diagonal cross-hatching in the metal near the light stamps. Lastly the top bar on the slide that connects to the rear sight seems to have a different finish than the slide itself, bluer and more shiny.

I'm hoping I have an honest start to a collection here.
Forgot to mention - the mag is a postwar banner from 1963. Will remedy this soon. Enjoy, hopefully this most common Walther will be joined by friends from Mauser and Spreewerke.

Here are some better pics - my new camera has an optimizer which doesn't optimize too well.

Looks okay to me. Here's a photo of a AC 45 of mine struck like yours.

It’s perfect, a great start.


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Everything looks good on my end. The “F” should be red, but it’s just paint loss. Who knows what happened over 76 years and a world war. If the hammer drop and safety works, it’s a nice piece of history. The different bluing colors are what’s neat to look at with these.

Look out! These seem to multiply in collections. Check out the web site www.p38forum.com for a great P.38 place. You’ll learn tons about these.

The “correct” mag to look for is one marked P.38v and a single e/359 stamp on the back spine. Those are pretty plentiful and common. Before long, you may want to look into getting a second mag and a correct holster for it as well.

Tiger 2 Tank said:

. . . . .Check out the web site www.p38forum.com for a great P.38 place. You’ll learn tons about these. . . . . .

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BEFORE YOU SHOOT IT!! . . . . .

Be sure to read the section (sticky) under the war-time P38’s.

After viewing the BROKEN SLIDES of these WW2 P38’s, you may refrain from shooting it!

I would never shoot a matching ww2 p.38.


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Thanks for the comments all. I will look into that forum, I've just registered there. That thread with all the broken slides is pure gore.
Fortunately I have only shot it once since purchasing it, and that was with only ~3 mags or so of Winchester white box...I won't be shooting it anymore but thank God I didn't use the hot stuff. Thanks for the warnings, they don't fall on deaf ears here.

I'm glad it's only paint wear and nothing sinister, Tiger. I will be looking for the mag you have pointed out. Everything functions fine on this, safety, hammer drop and all. And I do enjoy the plum frame a lot. Looks good with the red bakelite grips.
And farb - part of the reason I'm looking more into p38's now is that you advised that for when k98k collecting is slow. And is it ever right now.

Edit: any idea what's going on with the locking block s/n? no letter block but a weird H or double-block looking stamp. Is this the "e"?

mb44kar said:

Edit: any idea what's going on with the locking block s/n? no letter block but a weird H or double-block looking stamp. Is this the "e"?

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The locking block to me looks fine. The "e" looks to me like they used a capital "E" stamp and it somehow struck to look similar to an "H". Occasionally they used capital letter stamps on the locking blocks. This one it looks like they did. If that doesn't satisfy someone looking at that, you have to think about what are the chances that someone found a correct Walther e/359 stamped locking block that has the correct last three digits of your gun, but in an "H" block? The numbers are absolutely correct on the locking block. It just looks like a sloppy stamp job on the "E".

IMHO it looks like they stamped it on the slant, then spun it 180 degrees and stamped it on the flat spot. Definitely not an H though.

Nice example!

I'll disagree. Occasionally shooting a wartime P-38 with the underloaded, clean Winchester 115 gr. white box ammo will not harm the gun, unless it is already well on its way to being worn out. Would I use surplus Swedish subgun ammo or a hot P+P load in it? No. This goes for any classic firearm in good condition. Enjoy what you have.

tsmgguy said:

Nice example!

I'll disagree. Occasionally shooting a wartime P-38 with the underloaded, clean Winchester 115 gr. white box ammo will not harm the gun

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Many thanks. But still I think I'll be overcautious and get a shooter grade p38 for plinking. The bore on this one is nice though! (not that you can tell from my photography..)

Tiger 2 Tank said:

The "e" looks to me like they used a capital "E" stamp and it somehow struck to look similar to an "H". Occasionally they used capital letter stamps on the locking blocks. This one it looks like they did. ... It just looks like a sloppy stamp job on the "E".

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phillynick said:

IMHO it looks like they stamped it on the slant, then spun it 180 degrees and stamped it on the flat spot. Definitely not an H though.

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I didn't think it was necessarily a replacement or anything, I just love these weird stamp errors, they're great reminders of the human error in these things. It does look like they used a capital E die and then stamped it in opposing directions, but wasn't sure if locking blocks got capital letters. Thanks for the info!

They definitely did.