New member looking for some help in identification of a Walther PPK.32 auto. I've hit a ton of websites trying to identify this pistol, and while I've found a lot of info, I can't find a picture like it. Has some holster wear on slide, but other than that, pretty clean with original bluing. The serial number is 383199P, and is also stamped 'ac' under the serial on the slide, but not by the handle.

There is nothing on the left or right side giving any information as to make, model, caliber, locations, anything. I've also taken it down and see no factory marking anywhere in the slide. Does have nice looking checkered grips with the Walther flag at the top. I'm more curious about identification than value, but value would be nice also.

Story from Dad was that it was pre-war and has been in known possession of the family since the late 40's or early 50s. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Proof and Police Marks Model PP and PPK pistols are found with a variety of markings. Some of these are merely factory serial numbers and proof marks indicating that the gun has functioned safely when fired with high pressure cartridges. In addition to the serial number and proof marks, Model PP and PPK will often be found with Nazi party abbreviations and insignia.

Browse all new and used P-38 for sale and buy with confidence from Guns. Block Matching serial numbers Factory finish excellent. Walther P1 like the old. This batch of handguns features matching numbers. Historic German Walther P1 pistol, 9mm, semi-automatic, includes 1 Mag and holster - good condition.

Still others will be found with Army acceptance marks in the form of an eagle, Swastika, and Waffenamt numbers. The Waffenamt mark indicates that the gun has been accepted by the government inspector at the plant. The German GI usually referred to this ever present mark as the 'Pleitegeir' which means the 'Bankrupt Vulture.' Crown over N is a German pre-war proof mark used before April 1, 1940. 'N' indicates that the gun has been proofed with 'nitro' or smokeless powder.

Foun on early PP and PPK's. In April of 1940 the Germans replaced the crown over N proof mark wiht the eagle over 'N'. PP and PPK's carried this proof mark after April 1, 1940. Post-war PP and PPK's carry the new eagle over N, indicating that the gun was proofed for nitro or smokeless powder.

Post-war PP and PPK's manufactured at Ulm by Walther for commercial sale carry the antler proof mark of the Ulm proof house. The year of the proof test is also indicated i.e. 68 means 1968. Hse Manual Handling Risk Assessment Filter more. There are other proof houses, but these have different symbols such as a bear for Berlin, a horse for Hanover, an oak leaf for Kiel, and a shield for Munchen.

The police acceptance mark is similar to the Army mark but the swastika was replaced by a cross and sub-letter C, F, L, or K. Eagle over WaA359 is the most common Waffenamt pistol stamp. It is found on all Walther PP's and PPK's accepted by the military. Another version of the 'Pleitegeirer' shows the eagle over 359. The RZM insignia on the left is found engraved on the slides of early PPK's.

It is found on the left hand side of the slide between the Mod PPK and the slide serrations. The NSKKJ (Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps) was the party branch entrusted with transport of party and military supplies. Their pistols were generally Model PP's wht NSKK insignia engraved on the left side of the slide but some PPK's have been noted with the NSKK insignia on the right side of the slide. SA der NSDAP Gruppe Mitte Nazi SA sections of the NSDAP were issued Model PP pistols in the prewar era. These pistols were generally engraved on the front of teh grip strap as shown. The SA was divided into 28 areas so the Gruppe (group) name will vary.

RFV 13311W PDM 1337 RRZ RJ DRP. Hello, Your pistol was manufactured in late 1945, close to war's end. It really should have wood grips to be correct, but that does not hurt the value, as alot of officers would change out grips. As the other members pointed out, Walther started using a code of AC on all their weapons. Mauser was byf & so on.

The late JP Sauer 38h pistols dropped everything, except for the cal marking. I suppose all of them were afraid of Neurenberg? Most of these late war pistols are mismatched, meaning the slide number did not match the frame. There are collectors seeking these late war pistols & your's being in such fine condition should fetch 12-15 hundred. Oh yes I forgot, on the spline of the magazine you should see a small W. That signifies soft metal and will be only found on these late war pistols, PPKs included. Hope this helps ya?

Kind Regards Danny. Ok, I guess all these postings still leave me with questions. Sounds like there's still a discrepancy on when this pistol was made, late war or post war.

Are serial numbers researchable. I've read some places that they aren't, but Danny seems quite specific about manufacture time. Another question is that this is referred to as mismatched, or pieced together pistol. What does that mean? Slide and frame have matching serial number, but the frame does not have the 'ac' under the number. Where would this gun have been manufactured? Germany, France,????

Everyone seems to have their own opinion to pricing. I'll never sell, as this piece is a family hand me down, having been my grandfather's, father's, and now mine.so more curious for insurance purposes. Thanks again for the input. OK, sorry if we have you confused. The parts of this pistol were made during the war, just before Germany surrendered.

These parts were numbered and sitting in parts bins, ready to be assembled and test fired. At the end of the war the US forces took control of the factory. The GIs wanted souvenir pistols, so they slipped the workers a pack of cigarettes or a few candy bars, and the workers assembled them from the parts bins. No attention was paid to trying to grab the matching slide from a slide bin to make a matching pistol. The Germans knew it was wrong, but the GIs neither knew nor cared about matching parts, so they were just slapped together with random parts. And this satisfied the GIs.

None of these were factory inspected or test fired. So that's what you have, a GI souvenir from a defunct non-operating factory. They are of some small interest to knowledgable collectors, but have no military history, as they were never issued.

Their low prices reflect this diminished collectibility. These are often palmed off on novice buyers as military Walthers at inflated prices.

Wonder that is a war trophy period. When the plant was captured,, the GIs found crates of assembled P-38's and the PPs & PPKs. The Army was in such deserpate need of weapons they did not care if they matched or not. They just wanted something to arm their men with and in a hurry. Your opinion is well recognized about the troops having getting some put together, however the pistol in question has both the frame & serial # matching which is odd for a late war unit. Thats why I gave the apprasial of the amount. Before the plant was captured all records of serial numbers were destroyed.

In reality the numbers were based on the PP in 1929 and the PPK in 1931. Most of the prewar numbers on both handguns were in the same proximity with numbers only a few thousand apart. However at the beginning of WW2 there was a bigger demand for the PP and thats when the numbers showed the difference of production for the PPK. Remember the PP held one more round than the PPK also.

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Walther P38 Type Place of origin Service history In service 1938–present Used by See Wars Production history Designed 1938 Manufacturer,, Produced Walther P38 1939-1945 Pistole P1 1957-2000 No. built ~1,000,000 Variants, P1, P38K, P38 SD, P4 Specifications Weight 800 g (1 lb 12 oz) Length 216 mm (8.5 in) length 125 mm (4.9 in), locked breech 365 m/s (1,200 ft/s) Effective firing range Sights set for 50 (55 ) Feed system 8-round detachable single-stack Sights The Walther P38 (originally written Walther P.38) is a that was developed by as the of the at the beginning of. It was intended to replace the costly, the production of which was scheduled to end in 1942.

Contents • • • • • • Development [ ] The first designs submitted to the German Army featured a locked breech and a hidden hammer, but the Heer () requested that it be redesigned with an external hammer. The P38 concept was accepted by the German military in 1938 but production of actual prototype ('Test') pistols did not begin until late 1939. Walther began manufacture at their plant in and produced three series of 'Test' pistols, designated by a '0' prefix to the serial number. The third series pistols satisfactorily solved the previous problems for the Heer and mass production began in mid-1940, using Walther's military production identification code '480'. After a few thousand pistols the Heer changed all codes from numbers to letters and Walther was given the 'ac' code. [ ] Several experimental versions were later created in, and, but these were never mass-produced.

In addition to the 9×19mm Parabellum version, some and some versions were also manufactured and sold. Design details [ ] From an engineering perspective the P38 was a semi-automatic pistol design that introduced technical features that are found in other semi-automatic pistols like the and its sub-variant adopted by the United States military. The P38 was the first locked-breech pistol to use a (the earlier double-action was an unlocked design, but the more powerful round used in the P38 mandated a locked breech design).

The shooter could chamber a round, use the safety- lever to safely lower the hammer without firing the round, and carry the weapon loaded. This lever can stay down, keeping the pistol 'on safe' or be immediately returned to the straight position, keeping the weapon safely 'ready' with a double-action trigger pull for the first shot. Pulling the trigger cocks the hammer before firing the first shot with double-action operation. The firing mechanism extracts and ejects the first spent round, cocks the hammer, and chambers a fresh round for single-action operation with each subsequent shot - all features found in many modern day.

Besides a DA/SA trigger design similar to that of the earlier the P38 featured a visible and tactile in the form of a metal rod that protrudes out of the top rear end of the slide when a round is present in the chamber. P38 made by, coded 'byf 44' with matching and leather holster The moving-barrel design mechanism operates by use of a wedge-shaped falling locking block underneath the breech.

When the pistol is fired both the barrel and slide recoil for a short distance together, where the locking block drives down, disengaging the slide and arresting further rearward movement of the barrel. The slide however continues its rearward movement on the frame, ejecting the spent case and cocking the hammer before reaching the end of travel. Two return springs located on either side of the frame and below the slide, having been compressed by the slide's rearward movement, drive the slide forward, stripping a new round from the magazine, driving it into the breech and, in the process, re-engaging the barrel; ending its return travel with a fresh round chambered, hammer cocked and ready to repeat the process. The falling locking block design provides good accuracy due to the in-line travel of the barrel and slide. Initial production P38 pistols were fitted with walnut grips, but these were later supplanted by grips.

Variants [ ]. The P1 used by the Bundeswehr The Walther P38 was in production from 1938 to 1945. [ ] From 1945 to 1957, no P38s were produced for the German military. Slowly over time, West Germany desired to rebuild its military so that it could shoulder some of the burden for its own defense. Walther retooled for new P38 production since no military firearms production had occurred in West Germany since the end of the war, knowing that the military would again seek Walther firearms. When the announced it wanted the P38 for its official service pistol, Walther readily resumed P38 production within just two years, using wartime pistols as models and new engineering drawings and machine tools. The first of the new P38s were delivered to the West German military in June 1957, some 17 years and two months after the pistol had initially seen action in World War II, and from 1957 to 1963 the P38 was again the standard sidearm.

In late 1963 the postwar military model P1 was adopted for use by the German military, identifiable by the P1 stamping on the slide. The postwar pistols, whether marked as P38 or P1, have an frame rather than the steel frame of the original design. Starting in June 1975, the aluminum frame was reinforced with a hex bolt above the trigger guard.

During the 1990s the German military started replacing the P1 with the and finally phased out the P1 in 2004. Alan Le May The Searchers Pdf Printer on this page. An improved version of the P38, the Walther P4, was developed in the late 1970s and was adopted by the police forces of South Africa, and.

Users [ ] • (trial purposes) • •: P1 variant. • •: Finnish, P1 variant. •: Replaced by the mid-1950s. •: P1 variant. • • • •: P1 variant. Replaced by the in 1985 •:Used by and. In small numbers purchased from •:.

•: Standard sidearm of SA Police. • • - at least up to 2007 were used as service pistol in private security companies References [ ].