1. Serial Number Lookup Stolen
  2. Serial Numbers Lookup
  3. Hp Serial Number Lookup
  4. Tool Serial Number Lookup
The short lived 480 code was changed to 'ac' in August of 1940 with a serial number range of 7384-9912 it is considered one of the most desirable of P.38 pistols produced during the war because of the long service and limited production.

Serial Number Lookup Stolen

Measure and weigh the P-38. Using a machinist's ruler and a small scale, measure and weigh the P38. According to Wehrmacht-Awards, the P38 is 216 millimeters long, with a barrel length of 125 millimeters. An unloaded P38 should weigh 800g, or 1.76 pounds. Identify the serial numbers. Model Number Description Price in USD; P38: Presentation Grade P38 includes French-Fitted, Velvet Lined, Walnut Presentation Case serially numbered to match the P38, with serial numbered Knights Cross and Owner’s Manual matching the P-38 serial number. Post-war P38 serial number versus date production chart This information is taken only from original, serial number matching pistols. Serial Number Caliber Slide Legend Date Date Location Commercial (E/N)? Microsoft Word - Post-war serial number data.docx Author: Atarian. Spreewerke cyq P-38. I have a Spreewerke P-38 that I'm trying to find a little more information on. The left slide is marked P 38 with the cyq Spreewerke marking. The serial number 7844 on the slide is followed by an m. The left side of the receiver has the serial number 7844 also followed by an m Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Why?!?!?

Updated 17 August 2011

These pictures show the results of what happens when alcohol, stupidity, extreme boredom, or some combination of the aforementioned is taken out on a P.38. Unfortunately, this page will be ever-expanding. Remember, if you get the urge to do something like this, just walk away!

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge.

Want an ac42 and a 480? Here it is.
ac44 nickel.
More ac44 nickel (you get the real grips with this one).
byf44 WTF!
Different mfr's - same serial numbers.
A 'p38k' made from a cyq.
Sawed off on two sides (cyq).
WW2 p.38 updated for the 21st century.
If you store your p.38 in a wet holster for 1000 years it will look like this..
(very) fake police pistol.
Aye, matey. There be gold here.
Short and shiney.
ac42 ready for a stealth assignment.
Plated mismatch.
cyq loooooong barrel.
M16 flash supressor. At least this one has a front sight.
Highly polished and plated (early Walther).
Ho-hum. Another Gestapo gun (cyq).
No front sight, hammer chopped, half a trigger guard.. What the ?!?!
Chopped and channeled byf42.
I'm sure the ATF appreciates the removal of the serial number..
That's not corrosion, it's a topographical map of the eastern front.
Yet another conversion.
Uh, Humm..
Mauser banner on a Spreewerk.
Uber-rare ac no date, 'improved' by Bubba with a trigger stop.
Crusty byf43.
Another bastardization of a rare pistol.
This pistol has a secret map of the moon on it. Probably the property of Werner von Braun.
P.38 versus hacksaw.
'Customized' grips..
Deactivated byf43 with an interesting and completely un-original serial number.
Engraved byf44.
Parkerized and restamped 'byf43' with cyq frame.
Now we're getting really creative. This is the only Czech pistol known. Too bad it's not real.
Polished and engraved with a Walther banner. Note to self: Graduate engraving school, THEN de-value pistol.
Re-stamped ac41 (note capital A) - appears to be un-finished ('in the white').
So how do you aim this thing with no front sight?
Barrel engraved 'Gott Mit Uns' or 'God With Us'. Probably not true? (ac43)
Heavily engraved Mod HP with spare barrel in 7.65mm.
Mental note: Lube with oil, not saltwater.
This is alleged to be the former property of Saddam Hussein.
A new take on the snubby - use a rare Vz46!
Mauser snubby. Obviously a Gestapo gun.
This handy mark lets you know the P.38 was made in Germany!
Not much else could be done to destroy this one.
Another custom bubba. (ac44)
Who can even guess what happened here..
Like a mirror it is! (byf44)
Nice job! Ruining an ac44, that is.
The Herman Reed Commemorative. Number produced: one.
Extreme craftmanship went into this Mauser shorty.
Short of running over a P.38 with a lawnmower, this is about the worst you can do. (cyq)
When gold meets a firearm, it can only be bad.
M-16 flash suppressor meets the P.38. A+ for creativity. F for stupidity.
Yet another reason why engraving tools and guns should not be in the same room.
Commemorative butchery part 1.
..and part 2..
..and part 3!
It doesn't get much more painful to look at than this (yes, it's chrome plated).
A nice zero series. Deactivated by our English friends.
'Death's Head' symbol. Some Germans were also pirates.
Sigh..
Uh, a cross between a Mod HP and zero series?
A fake byf44 police. Let us count the errors.
A fake Vz46.
Another variation of the 'Gestapo' P.38.
A well done conversion to .22 caliber. Ugh.
If you're bored, take a Dremel and inscribe your own crappy looking Walther banner.
Is that supposed to be a compensator?
More chrome! At least it wasn't a 480..
This fake 480 sure is pretty. Too bad the slide and frame are of the wrong period.
More engraved, gold-plated garbage.
Martz conversion.
Let's put a Mauser logo on a Walther and see how many people we can fool.
If you think you might lose your gun, you can put your name on it. Address and phone number are probably on the other side.
Well, at least it's a post-war.
The Field Marshall would be proud.
The way these 'gestapo' guns show up, you'd think there were more gestapo agents than Wehrmach soldiers (Walther).
Buff to a soap-bar contour, then chrome plate and add fake stamps. Sweet.
If your name is Freddie Block, this gun is for you.
P.38 converted to .357 SIG? I'm sure there was a reason. Probably not a good one, though.
Martz shorty.
Yawn. Another sawed-off cyq ('t' block).
It *was* a byf42.
Another bogus and poorly done marking.

Welcome to ALPS

Information, photos, references, and trivia on the WW2 Walther P.38 and post-war P38 pistol. If you wish to link to this page, please link only to the main page, not sub-pages or documents. Please do not rip off my PDF files or pictures for your own site. Thanks.

Updated 20 Feb 2014 17:33 -0800

Quick Launch: [Jump to Pistols] [Jump to Information] [Jump to Catalogs]

Most Recent updates:

Two more 'BTH12' pistols have been reported. See 'BTH12' under 'Pistols'

Added 'When was my post-war pistol made?' to 'Information'

Added another late date AC frame pistol to 'Pistols'

Added some late war pistols to 'Pistols'

Post-war volume I
Post-war parts gun, two guns in .30 Luger, and a high-polish gun.
Late date AC framevariation. Warren Buxton calls these the 'oddballs of oddballs.' Who made these - and when?
byf44 FN slide.Post-war volume II
P38 surplus, P1 surplus, P38 commercial, and P4 surplus guns.
Consecutive serial number SVW-45s.Consecutive serial number SVW-46s.Post-warP38 in 7.65mm Parabellum.East German P.38s. Reworked wartime ac40, ac44, and an East German manufactured gun.
Steel frame P38from Earl's Repair Service.
ac45 matching 'c' block.
Post-warP.38 in 5.6mm (.22 LR).A Zero series and 'a' prefix Spreewerkreworked for use in post-war East Germany.
The Czechoslovakian Vz46.byf44 police issue with British markings.Commemorative '100 Jahre' P38marking the 100th year anniversary of Walther.Unknown BTH12 marking on several P.38s.
Norwegian military surplus P38.Mixmaster P.38 with WW2 German, East German, Czech, and British markings.The ultra-rare 'ac no-date' - and how to spot a fake.Some things you can do to a P.38. Please don't!
WARNING: disturbing!
French Mausers 1945 to 1946.Gotterdammerung - some pistols from the last months of the war.Another version of the late date AC frame pistol.
Pistol Information
An excellent article by Peter Kokalis on thewartime P.38 pistolcan be found here, and another article on thepost-war P38here.
My post-war pistol has no date or date code - about when was it manufactured? You can get a rough estimate based upon these observed pistols.
Need to replace a broken WW2 slide part with a post-war part, and don't know if the new part will fit? Read the slide part compatibility guide. Note: this information is intended as a guide only. I am not a gunsmith. If you do not have working knowledge of the P.38 pistol, consult a competent gunsmith before attempting to effect repairs to your P.38.
Over the long term, will oil cause bakelite grips to deteriorate? An attempt to find out startshere.And continuesafter one year.. and finally ends at three plus years.

Serial Numbers Lookup

Atarian's quick reference magazine guide.Helps to identify which magazine is correct for your pistol.
Atarian's post-war reproduction and aftermarket grip guide.Some of the currently available non-World War II grips for the P.38.
Can a 'dipped' pistol be 'un-dipped?' The answer is yes, and quite successfully. Take a look atzero series cyq serial number 030.
Drawings and Manuals
P38 Owner's Manual (multilingual - 4.8 MB). P38 Owner's Manual v2 (multilingual - 6.2 MB). P38 Operating Instructions (multilingual - 1.2 MB, source: Walther Germany). P38 Owner's Manual (1 MB, source: Interarms(?)). P38 Owner's Manual (edited for clarity - Thanks to Quentin for providing this).
German military drawings of the 9mm Patrone: page 1, page 2, page 3, and page 4.
P.38 manual from 1940 (German) - Thanks to Johan and Ron Clarin for providing this.
P.38 illustrated parts breakdown (German - 95KB, source: Walther Germany).
Explanation of the markings on a post-war P38/P1 (source: Federal Foreign Office – Division 241, Germany).
Time Wasters
Test your P.38 knowledge with the P.38 quiz!
one
two
three
four (new!)
Auction Antics - Fantastic stories and overpriced pistols:
Most expensive P.38 ever listed (this was a typo..)
Second most expensive P.38 (..that this genius later referenced!)
Best story/crappiest p.38 ever?
Articles and Advertisements
Information on the P.38from the 2008 Walther catalog.
The Defense Intelligence Agency's Small Caliber Ammunition Identification Guide. German ammunition section (213kb) or the entire document (10.1Mb).
Small arms section of the Handbook on German Military Forces.
Pricing ofStoeger's Mod HPs and Lugers(1948).
Number
Stoeger's guide to World War II pistols circa 1948 (page 1, page 2).
Miscellaneous
A baker's dozen of Walther post-war slide legend variations(this is far from all-inclusive).
Here's what a P.38 frame looks like before the machining process begins.

Hp Serial Number Lookup

Information Exchange Pursuant to the OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons 2003, 2008, 2010. Note in 2002 the United States was by far the largest importer of German 'Revolvers and Self-Loading Pistols' with 1,040,985 imported (of 1,082,797 - the balance of 41,812 or about 4% going to 20 other countries), while the Germans destroyed only 5,666 'surplus' pistols. In 2009 the US imported none and 17,520 surplus pistols were destroyed (none were exported to any country). See Annexes 2 and 3.

Patent Information

Tool Serial Number Lookup

Fritz Walther's 'automatic pistol,' patent number 2135992 dated November 8, 1938 (English).
Lookup
Fritz Walther's 'automatic firearm,' patent number 2145328 dated January 31, 1939 (English).
Walther pistol patents 1926 to 1942 (German).
Patent Date

Page Number

433937Sept. 192612345
664926Sept. 1938123
677094June 193912345
678067July 1939123
706038May 1941123
715176Dec. 194112345
721702June 194212345
722332July 194212345
726501Oct. 194212345

Interarms was a long-time importer of products from Walther and many other manufacturers. Browse some of their catalogs here.

1989 Interarms catalog.Walther pistols and target rifles, Rossi, Astra, bolt action rifles and barreled receivers, and more. 5' by 7' catalog.1976 Interarms catalog. Walther & Mauser pistols, revolvers, bolt-action rifles, ammunition, optics and accessories. 8.5' by 11' catalog.

The 1979 Interarms catalog features one of the last Mauser offerings, the HSc American Eagle, and the Parabellum. Complete line of Walther pistols plus revolvers, long guns from Walther and others, revolvers, and more. 8.5' by 11' catalog.

The 1983 Interarms catalog features the Mauser cartridge counter Luger, Walther pistols and target rifles, SIG, Star, and Astra pistols, rifles, dragoons, and SVW45 & SVW46 P.38s. 8.5' by 11' catalog.
1985 Interarms catalog featuring Walther presentation pistols, Walther target rifles and pistols, Astra, Star and SIG-Sauer pistols, the Steyr AUG rifle, etc. 8.5' by 11' catalog.1995 Interarms catalog. Walther PP series, P38, TPH, and P5. Also Star, Rossi, No. 3 Enfields, and Norinco. 8.5' x 11' catalog.
Download the PDF.