Mint condition original WW2 P38- Value?

T

TTUBOB87

New member
My family has acquired from my grandather this immaculate WW2 P38 pistol straight off a German, complete with an extra clip and leather holster. We have absolutely no intention on selling it, I was simply wondering how much this gun may be worth?

Thanks

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Haha "snowball" is lucky it wasn't loaded. I figured it'd be an antique collectors item or something. I highly doubt this gun has been fired more than 50 times, only whatever it was shot in WW2.

Thank You
 
A good picture of the left side, showing all the markings, would help. Values vary with the year of manufacture and the maker, as well as with the condition.

Almost any good condition WWII P.38 is worth more than $300; some are worth a lot more.

Jim
 
Which model is it? 7.65mm Luger or 9mm Parabelum.

Do you also have Standard model, Steel model, P38K, P38, war issue, civilian addition. Are there any distinguishing marks?

Some of the pre-war models are going for as much as $12000.

That being said if you have a pre-war please look at the code on the gun to find the manufacture as follows.

Code stamp "ac" mfg from 1939 to 1945 by Walther
Code stamp "byf" mfg from 1942 to 1945 by Mauser
Code stamp "cyq mfg from 1943 to 1945 by Spreewerker (not valuable)

If you have the model with the "ac" code then many more question need to be answered as the value is from $900.00 at worst (shootable) to $8000.00 for a Banner model.

Additionally the pre-war "ac" model may not be dated and have a serial # ranging from #7356 to #9671 and in that case is starts at $1300 to $5500 except with special trigger guards and then it exceeds $12000.00

Its hard to tell with your picture but look for the Walther stamp and the code stamp and start from there.
 
My dad keeps it in our home safe so while he was getting something he let me hold the gun. Story has it my grandfather picked it up in WW2 so it's authentic. I wish I had a picture of the extra clip and holster as well as the other side of the gun. Thanks a lot, I'd love as much info as I could get. I would love to shoot this gun.
 
My mom said her dad had told her it's a Walther and he got it between 42-45. Hopefully I'll get more pics soon of everything and list the mark on the gun. It really is mint condition and I greatly appreciate the information.
 
Based on your information I got him to open the safe and looked at it. I took this picture, there is the "ac" stamp as well as the serial #9515. apparently this gun is valuable like I originally thought. Thank you so much.

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I was also told we believe it's a 9mm
 
KEEE RIPES i shoulda bought a barrel of them


everyone of them ive seen (alberta canada)

i have seen sold for 300 bucks ball park

im gonna have to make a trip

sorry for the miss information
 
Also, I have no idea which specific model it is (standard, steel, etc..)

yea I know, that would be amazing if this gun was worth like $10k even though we wouldn't try to sell it.
 
Based on what I am seeing the value is More than $5500.00. With the "ac" stamp you have pre- war Walther model. If that is the original grips and the stamp at the end (next to hammer) is a g then it's an original from 1937. Remember the # models were from before 1939 "ac".

Look up the history from walther and do not let the gun go to anyone. You have a good one and it is worth possibly around $8000.00 to a collector.

Thanks for sharing! Nice weapon! By the way it's a 9mm
 
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Wow thank you very much! Yes, it says g right after the serial number. I had no idea the value would be that high. I really appreciate your help, I'm not letting it go believe me. It's great to know that more than just sentimental value is applied to this gun.
 
I'm looking to get a CZ 75 Compact soon and it will be so tempting to take this to shoot when I have 9mm ammunition. I won't shoot it of course though!
 
everyone of them ive seen (alberta canada)

i have seen sold for 300 bucks ball park

im gonna have to make a trip
Click to expand...

There are a lot of P38's that are more recent imports and even more post-war P1's. Chances are that if you are seeing them for $300, they are import marked, so-so condition, and may be post-war.
 
Walther P38, 1942

I have a Walther P38 bringback, no import marks, all original proofs, ac, great conditions with minor holster wear on the sharp edges. Also, a factory P38 holster (not original with the pistol). I paid $700 and thought it was a good deal.
 
Sorry, Winterhawk 56 and guys, but that is a run-of-mine 1943 (mid-war) Walther, not a pre-war and in nice shape it is worth probably $700-900 retail, not $5000 or $12000. I have no idea where that value information came from, but it is clearly erroneous.

NO P.38's were made in 7.65; a P.38 by definition was a German service pistol, not a pre-war Walther commercial, and service pistols were made only in 9mm Parabellum, not made in 7.65 Parabellum. The first P.38's had no code marking; they had the Walther banner. For a few months, they used the "480" code; the "ac" code was first used in 1940, not in 1937. (The "38" in P(istol).38 is the year of adoption, so there were no P.38's prior to that year. There were Walther HP and MP pistols, but the gun pictured is not one of them.)

Typical good condition P.38 holsters run around $65 with a few topping $100, and original "v" magazines as issued with that pistol run around $65-80. By that time, magazines were not being numbered to the pistol.

What TTUBOB87 has is a nice pistol, and a wonderful souvenir. I see no reason for anyone to deceive him about its value.

Jim
 
To which I will add that the actual serial number for your Walther is 9515g.

These guns were made in 10,000 gun production "blocks".
Serial numbers started at 0001 and went to 9999, then started over at 0001a to 9999a then to 0001b and so on.
So your P-38 was gun number 9515 in the "g" block.
Since serial numbers repeated over and over, the "g" is actually part of the serial number.
So, your Walther (ac) is correctly identified as a 1943 "g" block P-38.

As above, its a totally standard 1943 Walther P-38, with the only unusual things being its nice condition, the original holster, and the family history.

Value is as above, around $700 to $900.
 
My daughter bought her P.38 AC45 for about $475 this summer but it is not in as good as shape as the gun shown, the pistols in better shape were selling for $700+. The P.38 site has some good information along with some safety warnings about slide cracks and other things to lookout for.

http://www.p38forum.com/
 
Jim,

Not trying to mislead or misinform anyone and look up the information and no I did not see the 43 until it was brought to my attention.
 
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