Walther P38

[Adrian Stevenson]

Here is my P38, deact of course with me being in the UK.

Serial number 3924K. (December 1943.)

Maker marked ‘CYQ’ for "Spreewerk GmbH Berlin - Spandau".

Being a later war produced gun, standards dropped, so note the crude milling marks evident to the slide.

As with all my weapons I like to have full mags. The 9mm rounds are original wartime dated, but rended inert with no powder and the primers made safe.

Cheers, Ade.

[Chris]

Nice! - excuse my ex-pat ignorance Ade but how do they go about de-activating firearms in England?.
Is it down to parts removal, machine milling or barrel replacement?.
The reason I ask is that a few years ago the NZ army 'dumped' many thousands of SLR's onto the civilian market (aaah! those were the days!) which had the original select fire parts replaced or welded up.

Cheers

Chris

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Chris, deact work in the UK has to follow a series of guidelines set down by the Proof House. (Any gun sold in the UK has to be passed by either the London or Birmingham proof house)

These guidelines have altered over the years and will vary a little depending on the type of gun. But basically:

Bolt face will be cut off at a 45 degree angle and firing pin removed or cut short.
Barrel has a milled slot cut in it. A steel rod is then welded in place to block the barrel.
Chamber will be either pinned, welded up or blocked via the aforesaid steel rod.

These pics will show the full horror of what has been done to this P38

Cheers, Ade.

[Davidh]

hi ade,thats a nice looking pistol, heres my 45 dated piece early deact

[buellmeister]

Gents,

Here in the States we have it nice to be able to fire these guns! I have a Walther, "AC42" and I have personally fired about 500 rounds through it without a jam. What a well balanced firearm! Sorry, didn't mean to gloat to those over the pond..

Regards,

Joel

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Joel, no worries. I wish we still had your liberties here in the UK.

But here I am firing Walther P38 only two weeks ago in Austria. I entered a pistol competition at the club where I was a guest and came 17th out of 32 entrants. Not too bad to say I had never shot pistol before? Thanks to two forum members here "Roughshooter" and "Ostmark"

Cheers, Ade.

[colt45]

This is Adolf Hitlers gun I found in West Point museum behind glass

[copdoc]

It is a shame they are getting deactivated over there. It is something that can never be properly corrected and would be very difficult to correct even if allowed.

[Chris]

Ade if you're ever in New Zealand please feel free to familiarize yourself with any and all of my post war arsenal!

[buellmeister]

Ade,

Well done on you shooting skills. I'm goad you had the opportunity to fire the P-38. It certainly is one of my true favorites.

Regards,

Joel