Luftwaffe stamp, question

[Larry C]

Hi Ian,,Yes,, It makes perfect sense as the "waffenamt" stood for the word weapon stamp,, I do not see an issue with your P38 being stamped in this manner,, but that is a great question to ask on the small arms forum as, I am sure The German pistol makers had used various stampings seen on many type pistols.

[gerrit]

Its in fact very easy, they are related to the factory:
see the link below:
Waffenamt codes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

so your WaA938 stands for Albrecht Kind, AG 1942-44 or WaA938 bym , Maschinenhaus der Büchsenmacher Baj., Ferlach, Kärnten (AT) 1943-44

so this inspector did inspect more factories as stated in my previous post.


Cheers Ger

[ian]

while i understand what you are saying
this waffenamt is a wrap around eagle as the one that started this thread
but it is very diferent from the norm ,, and the walther banner (as far as i know) was not used at that time ???

when i say diferent from the norm ,, i meen the normal waffenamt eagle has strait wings

[gerrit]

The one starting this thread is a Luftwaffe waffenambt stamp.
The army stamp looks like this:

when you look at the number 159 you see in the waffenambt codes that the inspector is right for:
WaA159, bla ,E. G. Leuner Bautzen, 1937- 1944

Hope this will bring some light on the subject!
Cheers Ger

[bichon]

Hello Gentlemen
thanks a lot for all explanations
so, it's not call LZA at all
cordially
Didier

[Frogprince]

Many U.S. gun collectors seem to like referring to the marking as a Luftwaffe acceptance stamp, which over time has become my preference as well. I also not that long ago saw the book or booklet written by General Leeb so I know that I have it, but for the sake of timeliness will operate from a few notes and memory. As was correctly noted for the Luftwaffe, there were some similarities with the Heeres-Abnahmewesen, which was a part of the of the Army Ordnance Office. With Waffenamt a term that I use quite often myself, I believe that the term used by the Germans was Wehrmachtabnahmestempel, with the WaA xxx possibly representing Wehrmacht-abnahme-Amt followed by the commission number of the civil service officer (with equivalent military rank) in charge of the district. Which could be a geographic area, a single large factory like the Mauser factory, or a group of factories like those in Solingen, and traveled with the officer in charge if he was transferred.

With a much smaller presence (and number of Inspectorates) in the small arms aspect of Wehrmacht production, the Luftwaffe apparently accepted at face value the markings that we call Waffenamts on all of its service bayonets, almost all of its pistols, holsters, the vast bulk of its rifles etc. But not for the (Luftwaffe only) aircraft machine guns, the Luftwaffe’s FG 42, P. 08 pistols and shotguns made by Krieghoff, many small caliber pistol holsters, dress sidearms that are otherwise indistinguishable from private purchases, and of course the Luftwaffe paratrooper gravity knives, and Luftwaffe fighting knives (etc.).

Which leads me to believe that while the marking was used the same as a Waffenamt for some things, for others it was probably used as more of a Luftwaffe property stamp. For items that were presumably procured with a separate contract from the rest of the Wehrmacht using Luftwaffe funding.

PS: The early Waffenamts (used by the German Army Inspectorates) had wings that drooped down like the Luftwaffe stamps. Later in the 1930‘s they were changed to straight out, and with some transitional/changeover examples with multiple Waffenamts you can see both styles. Best Regards to All, Fred

[Frogprince]

this is the kind of stamp i have on a P38 magazine but it has the no 983 in it
does this make any sence ? the mag also has the walther benner on it
cheers ian

A period Walther military contract P. 38 magazine should have the 'straightwing' Eagle/359 Waffenamts on it. Is the "983" on the bottom of the magazine - as the early pistols had numbered magazines? And for reference purposes here is a poor quality image (with my apologies) of a pair of later 1930's 'droopwing' Eagle/WaA 253 style Waffenamts that was enlarged from an old image taken for another purpose. Best Regards, Fred