Weapons inspection cards Luger & P38

[manayunkman]

I picked up a small grouping from a local estate and these cards were in the paperwork.

 

Never seen anything like it.

[manayunkman]

Anyone know anything about these?

 

Or know where these two trophies are today?

[MinutemanEMTer]

I doubt you'll find either. 

 

The P.38 has no manufacturer code in front of the serial number so you don't know who made it. Further, Walther used a year code after the 'AC' (Walther) code to define the year. Walther was manufacturing roughly 10,000 P.38s a month during the '40-'43 period and fell off after late-'43. The format for Walther was ACXX (XX=year) followed by the serial number near the rear of the slide on the left side (as well as the frame and barrel). 

 

Mauser and Spreewerke used byf and cyq respectively, but did not use a datecode. 

 

The letter suffix indicated (very roughly) the month in which it was produced. Late July is approximately when this P.38 was manufactured, but by whom, and what year? Mauser and Spreewerke did not use a datecode.

 

Anyone not familiar with the type would assume it's a Walther P.38 without regard to who actually manufactured it. Therefore, it will be practically impossible to track down this particular firearm. It may have been any one of the three manufacturers.

[manayunkman]

4 hours ago, MinutemanEMTer said:

I doubt you'll find either. 

 

The P.38 has no manufacturer code in front of the serial number so you don't know who made it. Further, Walther used a year code after the 'AC' (Walther) code to define the year. Walther was manufacturing roughly 10,000 P.38s a month during the '40-'43 period and fell off after late-'43. The format for Walther was ACXX (XX=year) followed by the serial number near the rear of the slide on the left side (as well as the frame and barrel). 

 

Mauser and Spreewerke used byf and cyq respectively, but did not use a datecode. 

 

The letter suffix indicated (very roughly) the month in which it was produced. Late July is approximately when this P.38 was manufactured, but by whom, and what year? Mauser and Spreewerke did not use a datecode.

 

Anyone not familiar with the type would assume it's a Walther P.38 without regard to who actually manufactured it. Therefore, it will be practically impossible to track down this particular firearm. It may have been any one of the three manufacturers.

Anything can happen and always does.

 

 Thank you for taking the time to explain what’s going on here.

 

The cards kind of remind me of capture papers.

 

These weapons are very interesting and though I admire them I’ve never  had the passion to get into them or collected them.

[MinutemanEMTer]

My pleasure. I'm glad I could be of help. It is one of the few things I know about collecting militaria. I collected pre-war, war-time, and post-war Walther handguns for 35+ years.

[manayunkman]

I’ve been picking a variety of things since I was 8 and was blindsided by the passion and knew then that the hunt had me.

 

Bottom line is I know nothing about a lot and a lot about nothing.