Walther Sportmodell V

[Deejay]

Hardly what you would call a military trainer, although the rifle is documented in the hands of Wehrmacht soldiers in Bruno Guigues' book, but here is my Walther Sportmodell V.



The stock is marked with the letters FD, which, I suppose, stand for the initials of the original owner of the rifle.

Crown BUG proofmarks + W suffix serial number, so, logically, the rifle should have been made sometime between 1936 and January 1940.

 

[Deejay]

The photos in Guigues' book (p. 155).

 

[Fal Grunt]

I sold a Walther Sportmodell V to someone on the board that had a "military" marking on it. "kh" if I remember correctly.

 

[Deejay]

I sold a Walther Sportmodell V to someone on the board that had a "military" marking on it. "kh" if I remember correctly.

I had hoped that FD could have been some kind of military or, more exactly, paramilitary marking, but could not find any conclusive match among the many German Abkürzungen.

 

[R.W. Parker]

I had hoped that FD could have been some kind of military or, more exactly, paramilitary marking, but could not find any conclusive match among the many German Abkürzungen.

Wishful thinking, Dee. Your original observation was correct, it's likely someone's initials.

It's still a nice piece though, and with the right ammunition those are VERY accurate rifles.

Enjoy!

Richie

 

[flynaked]

The branded district marking as mentioned by Mr.Grunt

 

[Deejay]

Thank you very much indeed for your replies
What do you mean by "district marking"? Was yours, by any chance, an SA marking or something of the like?
I had no great expectations regarding mine as I thought the quality of the walnut was rather indicative of a rifle built for the civilian market.

 

[Mikegermany]

......although the rifle is documented in the hands of Wehrmacht soldiers in Bruno Guigues' book,......

What says nothing, the most of these pics are taken in leisure time. I have a bunch of pics like these, with wehrmacht soldiers in uniform an smallbores or hunting rifles.

 

[Deejay]

You may be right, Mike, as quite a number of DSM 34 rifles and the like are known to have been left behind by the German army in France, which is not proof in itself that those smallbore rifles were used solely for leisure shooting during the Nazi occupation of France.

 

[JoeW]

IMO, a confusing and deceptive juxtaposition of a photograph and a Walther advertisement. Was it meant to imply official military use? In fact the ad merely reinforces what is shown in the photo: some soldiers shooting a commercial Walther Sportwaffen. Like the ad tells us "Sport in leisure time strengthens the body for the day's work and, above all, makes it more resilient. What the body mainly needs is relaxation and recovery - and none other than shooting sports ... because it brings you to rest........."

 

[mag318]

My first German small bore was a Mauser ES340b, a wonderful rifle by the way. These rifles are addictive so I had to have a Walther to go along with it.

 

[Deejay]

Personally, I was surprised by my Walther's accuracy at 50 meters and I am planning to add a little scope on it for greater distances. I have tried both RWS Match and CCI Standard with it, but, believe it or not, I got much better groupings with the cheaper ammo.