Mar 25, 2004 #7. P.38 the date is part of the proof mark and located on the trigger guard just below the ser nr - left side. It will look like this - 67antlers. The military pistols also had the month/date on the right rear of the slide and on the spine (back) of the magazines. Walther began manufacture at their plant in Zella-Mehlis and produced three series of 'Test' pistols, designated by a '0' prefix to the serial number. The third series pistols satisfactorily solved the previous problems for the Heer and mass production began in mid-1940, using Walther's military production identification code '480'.

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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

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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.

Walther P38 Serial Numbers

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.

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.

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