My first German weapon- P38 pistol

[ToxicGas]

I'll see what I can do Terry, haha. They do accept returns, so there should be no problem, but I'd rather they supply a correct mag- I'd have to cover the cost of postage and insurance to return the pistol if it came to that, and I've lost enough money returning another item recently! Both times down to the dealer incorrectly describing their items- I shouldn't be losing money because of their mistakes!

Mat

[Adrian Stevenson]

Failing a new mag, I would get a part refund or credit note from them if possible.

Cheers, Ade.

[ToxicGas]

Ok, so I have a partial refund to compensate for the incorrect magazine. Now does anyone have (or know of a place that has) a 359 Walther marked P38 mag like that which Ade posted? Any help would be much appreciated.

Mat

[Wagriff]

I would imagine that Any waffenamt marked clip would do just fine-not just a 359. I see them being offered occasionally, but they generally run in the 100 dollar mark for a wartime marked mag.

[ToxicGas]

$100?? Ugh, so £20 refund didn't quite cover it then... I might just stick with this one, if they're all that expensive. I'm pissed off at the dealer for not listing the fact that the magazine was post-war, I don't think I'm being too pedantic here when it's a high-end collectors piece he failed to describe appropriately. It's the most money I've ever spent on one thing. At least the pistol itself is nice.

Mat

[rogge16]

Great P38, Mat! Don't worry you'll come across a magazine sooner or later that you will be happy with. It's very frustrating when a dealer doesn't describe accurately. Nice pistol.

Luke

[ToxicGas]

It is indeed Luke. Cheers!

Mat

[buster]

its your lucky day,just found this on ukmsales http://www.ukmsales.com/viewphoto.php?x=0 not a bad price to.

[drm3m]

It is my understanding that the ac42s had matching number magazines up to the "c" block.
I have an ac42 in the "k" block.
Your pistol is in the "a" block.
Short of having a numbered magazine either the single or double E/359 spine marked magazines would be correct for your "a" block pistol.

I am not a P.38 expert.....but this is what I recall.

David

[drm3m]

Mat,

Your "a" Block ac42 is an early gun Sn. 5515a.

Yes, it is an RC refinished pistol....but it had its own history before the Russians (or who ever did the refurb.)

Look at ac42 First Variation in the link below this shows an “a” Block pistol that has two matching magazines. (Sn. 2630a)

Page 299

You might enjoy this P.38 Forum.
A lot of things to be learned about P.38s
Many very knowledgeable P.38 collectors.

Welcome to the P38 Web Site....

I suspect that because your ac42 pistol is in the “a” Block (in the absense of a matching serial numbered magazine) the double E/359 spine marked magazine would be more correct.

However...I sent this question to a P.38 expert to get his opinion.
I will let you know what he says.


David

The “k’ Block ac42 that I own is like the ‘copper colored frame’ shown in the first link.

I suspect that the "J" and "K" Block ac42s had this 'copper colored frame' issue.

My "k" Block ac42 is shown below.

The photo below shows the top magazine with one E/359 stamp and the other two magazines with the double E/359 marking.

As long as you are going through the exercise to replace the post war mag that you got with this pistol you might be wise to take your time and get it right.

The second photo shows Warren Buxton's book Volume one on Walter P.38s.

The last three photo shows a 1943 manufactured Spreewerk code "cyq" P.38 that I own.
The last photo shows a Spreewerk manufactured E/88 marked magazine.

A substantial part of this post deals with P.38 magazines and P.38 pistol markings.