The eagle/C is normally associated with the police.
However, seen on the same gun as the Heer e/135s, I'm not totally sure that everything is righteous.

I'd post this pistol over on the P38forum.com site, lot's of extremely knowledgeable P38 collectors on there can give you a better assessment.

 

The eagle/C is normally associated with the police.
However, seen on the same gun as the Heer e/135s, I'm not totally sure.

I'd post this pistol over on the P38forum.com site, lot's of extremely knowledgeable P38 collectors on there can give you a better assessment.

Agree. Looks like original finish correct P-38 from what I see.

Please let us know what you learn about what the double use stamps show.

 

following

 

It's a fake stamp added to boost value. Police contracts were separate from military numbering. They wouldn't have a P letter block. Beyond that, the eagle C stamp is no where near correct. Way off. Also, police guns final proof was a commercial eagle proof not a waffenamt.

 

it does look different from the rest

 

I have a byf 44 P.38 serial number 39xx w with different numbered fonts in the frame, slide and barrel numbers. All numbers match on the piece, inside and outside numbers. I've had this piece for 40+ years and never paid much attention to the different font in the numbers until now. Could it be that different font number dies were used by different personnel in the byf plant who were responsible for stamping serial numbers on the various parts and such numbering was normal ?

 

The different number font on the P38 is normal. Also, there can be upper-case and lower-case suffix letters on different parts.

I have never seen a Police P-38 with that mark. It looks highly suspect.

 

Thanks for all the help! Good to know that using different font on the P38 is normal rather than fake/force match. Any one knows the reason it's an X rather than the swastika inside the circle in the eagle C mark? What does the X mean?

 

For police property stamps, the circle-X did supersede the circle-swastica. But the circle size was much smaller than the stamp that you have shown. And to my knowledge, the Mauser P38 pistols were marked with Eagle-L and Eagle-F marks, never Eagle-C.

And as explained above, they came from their own dedicated serial number blocks with no suffix on the serial. Also, they would not have the second E/135 or WaA135, as the police guns were not accepted by the army. As well, the firing proof would be an Eagle/N and not the Eagle/Swastika.

Here is a link to a dozen or more Mauser Police pistols.

http://www.p38gun.com/Mauserpolice.htm

But strange things do happen, and strange marks could be legit. It would be best to ask on the P38 forum

 

I posted on P38 forum and the answers are that this is not legit. There's no such thing of Eagle C stamped P.38. Without this fake stamp, it's a very hard to find all E/135 stamped byf 44 gun. Whoever applied the fake stamp in expect to boost selling price but instead, ruined the gun which could have brought in a pretty nice premium just be itself. What a shame!
http://p38forum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=296231

 

It is unfortunate that this stuff happens. But it does.

Look on the bright side. You can shoot it!

 

Yes, unfortunately, it ruins an otherwise collectible gun. It's an ongoing auction and it's already at $490 with still 8 days to go. Who knows how high it will end up with. I wouldn't pay that much for a shooter grade since I've already had a post war cousin P1 that I don't mind shoot sometimes.

 

Henry ---- I looked at your post of the p38 forum shown above then checked my byf 44 P. 38 . Mine has the stamp WaA 135 stamp twice on the right side of the slide with the eagle over swastika between the two stamps. Those are the only stamps on the right side of the slide. I'm assuming this is the most common stamp pattern on a byf 44 P.38. The piece is all original blued finish with matching numbers through out, shiny black plastic grip panels and I'd estimate 98% condition. I've only fired it with a few rounds of commercial ammo to make sure it functions. That was 35 or 40 years ago. Since then it has slept in its eqr '44 dated soft shell holster and admired 4 or 5 times a year. I like this piece. If you might care to see photos I could provide.

 

Thanks Big Coulee. Sure I would like to photos on your byf 44 with markings. It's always good to have different samples to study markings and admire the collections that others get. If you have time, please post your photos here, very much appreciated.

 

byf 44 and ac 44 P.38 Pistols with dkk Soft Shell Holster

Attached below are some photos of my byf 44 and ac 44 P.38's along with a dkk 44 coded soft shell P.38 holster. Both P.38's are 100% original with 95% to 98% original finish. The bore in each is mirror bright. They have only been fired 2 or 3 times many years ago with commercial ammo to verify they function well. As long as I have them they'll never be fired again. I suppose they could be classed as "safe queens". Comments are welcome.

 

Thanks for posting Big Coulee. Nice looking pair.

 

After reading this thread I had to take a second look at my byf44 P38 and darned if the number font is different between the frame and slide:

 

HenryLeverBoy / Highpower3006 ---- Thanks for looking and your comments. I'd venture to say the font would be different on most of serial numbers of nearly all byf 44 P.38's. This late in the war the biggest concern at the Mauser plant was getting functioning pieces out the door and to the troops. Highpower that is a good looking P.38 you have. Have you fired it much. My shooter P.38 is a refinished byf 43. It's a good shooter piece and at 15 to 20 yds. hits to point of aim with my fairly mild 9mm hand loads.

 

HenryLeverBoy / Highpower that is a good looking P.38 you have. Have you fired it much. My shooter P.38 is a refinished byf 43. It's a good shooter piece and at 15 to 20 yds. hits to point of aim with my fairly mild 9mm hand loads.

I don't shoot my high condition P38's, but I do shoot my rather abused byf44 made sometime around March 1945. It is also a matching number gun, but apparently a previous owner left it in a holster in a humid environment until the holster rotted away.

 

I too have a second shooter P.38 it is stamped on the left side of the slide "svw 45" but sadly it has been chrome plated so has no collector value. It has a mirror like bore and shoots very well, to point of aim at 15 to 20 yds. with commercial ammo. All numbers match on the piece and would be a valuable P.38 were it not for the plating. Would anyone here know of a means to remove the plating while not effecting the gun metal underneath. If required I'd send it to someone who might be able to do this professionally. Thanks

 

Always good to see the P.38s. I have 3 Walther-made, all-matching, 42-44, the last of which was produced around the time the Battle of the Bulge was raging. One can see some of the short cuts that crept in over time to keep production going. Pre-42/Post-44 there is a price premium, and being German, fakery.