A Collection: World War II Pistols

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tolesy

New member
Though I do not own a WWII era firearm, I am slowly becoming addicted to them, pistols in particular. Not only do I enjoy reading and learning about the guns themsleves but the stories that come along with them.

I would love to see pictures of the WWII guns TFL members have and read about the stories that accompany them. So post up some pictures, tell us how you aqured the gun, and let us know if there are any significant stories that go along with it!
 
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I dont have the pistol but I have collected stories for years here is a favorite. I got it directly from the horses mouth. While discussing handguns at a resteraunt I was extolling the virtues of the 1911 45. When an aquatience siad it was junk. As an older man I cut him some slack and said I knew he didnt care for guns much, and that I could assure him it was a great weapon. After a little back and forth he became red in the face, jumped up on a chair, ripped his shirt open to expose an old scar from his belly to his shoulder. Seems while on Siapan a Jap came at him with a fixed bayonet, upon drawing his 1911 it either jammed or failed to stop the Jap and he took the bayonet. So while most of us have theory Sam had real life experence. Sam moved away soon after and never found out if the gun or cartridge failed him. He is still alive living in Florida and I think I will tyr to contact him to clarify the failing.
 
Interesting, I'm sure there is a lot more to the story. Please report back.

I bought a Dreyse 1907 cal. 7.65 pistol from a gentleman who was cleaning out his father's belongings. He told me his father took it from a German officer captured in WWII. That could be. He also told me his father flew an observation plane in the war. Now, how is a pilot of a small aircraft in a position to capture a prisoner, I don't know? It's a decent example of a fairly unusual pistol at least.
 
Straight from the factory, in 1945 (in my dads pocket) to me. He was a Master Sergeant in Ordnance and was one of many that took over the Walther factory.


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Sgt 127- looks like holly engraved on that Mauser- very nice Christmas present!.

Certainly is a lot more tasteful than Saddam Hussein's gold plated AK 47!
 
My father told me that he flew C-47 transports carrying fuel and ammo in support of George Patton's rush across France in the closing months of WWII. He came home with Walther P-38 that he had swapped a bottle of gin with an infantryman for. The magazine of the P-38 had 3 of the normal 8 cartridges in it. I guess the German lost the struggle while he still had ammo to shoot .... what do people say about bringing a pistol to a gun fight ?



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Someone asked how a pilot of an unarmed plane could capture a prisoner. I don't know the answer to that, but there are other ways to get the souvenir. My dad's story is that as Patton captured German airfields, he and his squardon flew in supplies .. mostly fuel and ammo for the tanks. Captured German troops were used to unload the planes, while the plane crews searched for souvenirs. Dad ran across an infantryman who asked if dad had any booze. My dad, being an officer and a gentleman, said he did, and it was in the cockpit ... what was he offering for it ? A deal was created and the rest is history.
 
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I once declared to a friend my intention of collecting every handgun used in WWII. He told me I would definitely need a bigger house.

Of course, I meant one of each type.

Jim
 
Here's few from my father's collection...

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Top: is a Artillery Luger with 32 round snail magazine. Not pictured is the buttstock and holster that goes with it. It has a longer barrel than the other Luger below.

Lower Left: Luger

Middle: 1911 that my relative took with him when he got out of Korea. Since many of these 1911s were refurbished and peiced together it's hard to tell what part goes with what, and how old they are. So I guess it's possible parts of it are WWII Era.

Lower Right: Japanese Nambu

Hope this satisfies your needs :D
 
Okay, if I did everything correctly at least two pictures will appear here. Another shot of the opposite side of the pistol was previously uploaded to another thread in the past; "ugliest guns" or something similar. I was lucky to get an original holster with this pistol, but it isn't much to look at.
 

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Second story direct from my uncle and a man I never knew to utter a single word of exageration and fact be told had to be in just the right mood to say anything at all about his experences. While in a lull in the fighting on Batann, food was unheard of, he had won 2 1911's in card games. He was hunting monkeys and had wounded one with the 45 and was on his hands and knees tracking it when he came across the largest pair of shoes he had ever seen and they were attached to a very large Japanese soldier pointing his rifle at him while standing on his dead monkey. He motioned for him to stand up and take the pistols off and step backwards. after stepping back the Jap put his rifle down, picked up both pistols, examined them, put the best one in his belt, picked his rifle up, and the monkey, the Japs were just as hunger as our boys were, and walked off leaving my uncle with one loaded pistol. My uncle grapped the pistol, pointed it at the back of the Jap but didnt fire, he said he didnt think it would kill such a large man. Again it was years later before he would tell anyone anything that happened to him in Bataan, on the death march, the trip to Japan in the Hell ships, or his forced labor in a steel mill.
 
This stuff is fantastic guys! I am going to steal some stories and pictures for my US History students.

The idea for this thread came about from one of my students whom I was having a discussion with about a 1911.
 
Jon-

Didn't military contract M1911A1 production stop after 1945? I'd say except for small parts, the pistol must be '45 or earlier



Here's my Spreewerk P.38. 1944 production; a well-made example for late war

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In the last days of the European war, as the 3rd Reich collapsed, the Kreigsmarine found itself on land, defending Doenitz and his attempts to end the war. Erich Topp, Freggatenkapitan and U-boat ace, was ashore receiving his last orders, to take the U-2513 to Norway. In his haste to leave, Topp left behind most of his personal effects, a small bundle anyway because U-boats were cramped and tiny. The bundle was hidden by fleet staff but was found when the Russians took Berlin. Like many captured German small arms, Topp's P.38 was turned in and stored for post-war Red Army use and training until Soviet production could again keep up with the needs of the Red Army. In the late 1990s, the crate the pistol was in and many other crates like it were offered up for sale as entire lots of warehouse inventory were sold to Western entrepreneurs. being the meticulous records-keepers they were, the Waffenamt dutifully took down the serial number of Topp's pistol when it was issued to him in October of 1944. Southern Ohio Guns was one of the purchasers of the various Lots of warehoused ex-Soviet material; I purchased Topp's pistol from them...

:D...of course that is complete Bull. Buy the pistol, not the story. Who knows who was issued my P.38 in WWII. All I know is it was made in Czechoslovakia in 1944, captured by the Russians, refinished in a tough, un-lovely dip blue, and through some means imported to the US a few years ago, and I bought it. All numbers matching, 'jvd' marked mag, fair bore, actually a good shooter

The map is a reproduction of a WWII Kreigsmarine map of a similar type that would be on a U-Boat. Of course, the paper isn't water-soluable
 
These next photos have a reproduction of a WWII M1911A1 in them but the rest of the junk is all stuff that would have been issued in WWII

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I have 2 P38s from WWII. The first one has a kind of funny story attached to it. It was last year, near my bday and I was trying to come up with enough money (from my own stash, at that time me and my wife agreed that I needed to make $$$ on the side to buy guns) to buy this all original P38 AC43. So she started saying one day before my bday that she was getting me this extravigant gift. I got a bad feeling because I barely hinted at anything. So she says, here I will tell you: I'm getting you a digital camcorder! :rolleyes: So I say, what am I going to do with that, you will use it more than me (she is really into electronics, me, not so much). So I said "if you want to get me something special, get me this P38." So she did. I now refer to it as the birthday gun.
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Then a few months ago, I found this really nice CYQ from 1943 from a fellow TFL forum member:
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I've shot both of these extensively and they work well. They are both all matching guns. I personally think the P38 was one of the best and most influential side arm designs of all time. The Beretta 92 has many features originated by the P38. A true classic in firearm design.
 
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