[onaway]

Hello all,

On the previous version of this list I posted my recent find, a dual tone, AC43 Eagle/F police P-38. I would like to revisit this posting and ask us all to post again. I am trying to learn how many are known, Jan Stills book Axis Pistols accounted for only 5 I think but a few more had been posted. I believe ORV had been keeping track of these too? I no longer have the Still book to refer to but here is the data on my gun.

AC43 Dual Tone P38 Ser # 4383; FN slide; phosphate frame and slide, blue barrel, black plastic grips. Phosphate mag with fluted ramp. 98% condition. I bought this from the vet.

My recollection is that mine is the rarest of combinations for the dual tone, only 100 approximately contracted by the police. Can anyone provide more updated information?

Do any of you have a holster for your gun?

I look forward to hearing from you.

KG

 

[Mark]

The dual tone e/f guns are rare in themselves, the FN slide is the rarest of all! Most of these guns were probably assembled in very late 1944 and early 1945 which is why we see a mixed grouping of slides which include byf44's, svw45's and the FN AC43 and AC44 stacked slide codes. The slides were assembled randomly to the guns so there is no set number block of any variation. Illustrated below is my e/f dual tone gun serial number 4371 which is only 12 numbers away from KG's gun. The FN slides were used by all three manufacturers and are much more common on Spreewerk and Mauser guns. The ultimate rare combination is the FN slide on a Walter pistol with very few known in the h block. Also notice that the cog hammer is missing as Mauser never went to that design change in September of 1944.

The police P38's are one of my favorite variations. I have a few unissued police holsters that were imported with the Ukraine guns a few years ago and will post a photo when I get a chance.

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[onaway]

Here are pics of my gun AC43 #4383



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[Mark]

KG,

What a fantastic find!

Notice there is no "." between the P.38 on the slide. There are stacked code AC 43 slides with a small ac from Walter with the ".", but there were never any stacked code AC44 slides, the lack of a "." is a sure sign you have an FN slide.

Here is a picture of the correct markings for a police holster.

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[onaway]

Mark,

Yeah, I got a good one here for sure.

Thanks for the pics of your holster with police marks. For a novice what marks make this police? Is it the eagle, the style of the P38 or the rbn(?) numbers at the top?

How rare are the correct police marked holsters?

Thanks for the information.

KG

 

[Mark]

KG,

I am not a holster expert but collect P38's. I am sure other members of this forum will have a better answer to your question but the holster has a police eagle on it and I know it is correct.

Here are two other rare variations from my collection. Mauser did not use the same system of serialization of their guns as Walther or Spreewerk. They just went on from the last alphabet run on. The police guns are no exception to the rule. So when Mauser went to the WaA135 acceptance stamp some of the slides in the police production were dated byf 43 or byf 44. The following photo's illustrate the issue.

Late war slide, early acceptance stamp:

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Early war slide, late acceptance stamp:


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Notice the serial number range of the two guns. The late war byf44 slide serial number is lower than the early war byf43 slide serial number. Mauser was using left over parts to make their guns. This went on until the end of production. Most byf 42 guns were actually assembled in 1943. Very, very few were assembled in 1942 and will have the small parts marked e/135.

The same rushed production and utilization of left over parts applies to our very late war police guns, only a few serial numbers apart but completely different slides.

Buxton in volume two explains that the first variation 1944 assembled guns had byf43 slides and e/135 as the acceptance stamp. The second variation also in the q block had mixed acceptance stamps e/135 and e/WaA135 on the slides. I belive during this transition is where the illustrated police pistols were manufactured.

The phosphated e/f police guns were most likely made when the byf44 phosphated guns appeared in late 1944.

Mark

 

[onaway]

quote:Originally posted by Mark

KG,

What a fantastic find!

Notice there is no "." between the P.38 on the slide. There are stacked code AC 43 slides with a small ac from Walter with the ".", but there were never any stacked code AC44 slides, the lack of a "." is a sure sign you have an FN slide.

Here is a picture of the correct markings for a police holster.

Mark, do you have a police holster for sale??? email me if you do.

Thanks
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[onaway]

quote:Originally posted by onaway

Hello all,


AC43 Dual Tone P38 Ser # 4383; FN slide; phosphate frame and slide, blue barrel, black plastic grips. Phosphate mag with fluted ramp Sorry folks this was a blued mag not phosphate, I was looking at a different mag and got them mixed up. The mag is marked P.38v over U and WaA135 and has a fluted follower.. 98% condition. I bought this from the vet.

 

[onaway]

quote:Originally posted by onaway

Hello all,


AC43 Dual Tone P38 Ser # 4383; FN slide; phosphate frame and slide, blue barrel, black plastic grips. Phosphate mag with fluted ramp Sorry folks this was a blued mag not phosphate, I was looking at a different mag and got them mixed up. The mag is marked P.38v over U and WaA135 and has a fluted follower.. 98% condition. I bought this from the vet.