Nickel plated Model 9

[ptooner]

Hi guys, I have a model 9 in nickel that has been waiting for me to fix up for about 15 years. It's a 534xxx serial number and appears to my non expert eyes to be original finish. Anyone know how to tell for certain? Also, it is complete except for non original grips, any idea of a value? At this point I'm planning on trading or selling it for something else such as a Colt SAA or a Colt 1911. I tried to take some photos but it really didn't work very well. It looks much better than this but here's a link to some amateur photos. walther model 9 - a set on Flickr

Gerry

[emount]

Gerry,

Based upon the pictures it appears to me that the Nickel finish might be original. It is hard to tell for sure without "hands on" inspection, but the slide legend and serial number appears pretty crisp. It was common in the 1940's and '50's to re-nickel war trophies. (I find that it is really hard to take good pictures of Nickel finished Model 9's.)
Based upon the serial number this Model 9 was manufactured around 1924 or 1925. It is either a late Type I with the early type recoil spring or perhaps an early Type II. A picture of the inside of the pistol showing the recoil spring and/or the underside of the slide will determine the variation.
The magazine bottom shows the WALTHER logo which is consistent with this production period. The grip screws are not original. The threads on the grip retention escutcheons have probably been re-threaded to accept the larger screws. High quality replacement grips are available from NC Ordnance or Vintage Gun Grips. A new pair of grips would dress it up a great deal.
Walther offered Nickel finish Model 9's throughout their production making up perhaps 9 or 10% of sales. Thank you for sharing your great little Model 9.

Regards, Earl

[ptooner]

Thanks, Earl. I have the grips from NC Ordinance but they were out of the grip screws or whatever you call that rosette thing. Perhaps I'll try them again. Any idea of the value?

Also, I replaced the hairpin spring on the right side (Disconnector?) and I'm not certain how it is supposed to go back on. It goes either above or below a sort of knob near the rear of the grip and I'm not sure which. Do you know or have a photo of a model 9 right side with the grips removed?

Thanks
Gerry

[searcher451]

Originally Posted by ptooner

Thanks, Earl. I have the grips from NC Ordinance but they were out of the grip screws or whatever you call that rosette thing. Perhaps I'll try them again. Any idea of the value?
Thanks
Gerry

NC Ordinance makes a big deal about NOT selling screws; ask them about it and you'll get a snotty note in return.

As to value:

'What should I pay for it?' and 'How much is this worth' questions? Start here

That's a sweet little pistol; you are most fortunate to have it.

[ptooner]

Now that you mention it, I do recall they were not pleasant on that subject. I don't know why. Vintage gun grips says on their site that they don't have any hardware for these grips. I had looked at the link you mention but it doesn't seem to be of much help. I did several searches on the internet and have seen prices for blue guns ranging from $390 to $850. I haven't seen any prices on nickel guns. I think I'll probably get a local dealer to list it on auction arms or one of the other auction sites for me unless someone from this forum is interested. I'm slowly thinning down my collection.

Gerry

[searcher451]

And you might well find an interested party on this forum. You'd want to place a WTS advert in the Trading Post section, with some photos. Be sure to read the Rules of Engagement first; one thing you'd have to do is provide a price.

Good luck.

[searcher451]

ptooner: With regard to value, you might want to take a look here for comparison to your own pistol:

Collector's Firearms

This all presupposes, of course, that the listing price of the one here is, in fact, worth the asking price. I can only tell you that's it's been listed here for a long time. But I thought I'd pass it along because you don't often see these on the market.

[ptooner]

Wow, thanks! Mine looks a LOT better than that. I had hoped someone could suggest what might be a reasonable price since I don't know and can't find much in the way of comparables. I will put up the for sale soon, though. Probably offer a trade deal as well.

Gerry

[searcher451]

The problem with looking at pieces that are listed for sale is that who knows, beyond the guy who steps up to buy it, whether the asking price is a fair one? The pistol in question at Collector's Firearms has been on that site, at that price, for a long time now ... more than a year, I believe. Lots of folks have looked, but no one has nibbled to date. Does that mean that the pistol isn't worth its asking price? Does it mean perhaps that it's worth a great deal less? Maybe it's worth more than that and just hasn't found the right buyer as of yet? It's one of the reasons why we always recommend checking out closed auctions, where someone has actually ponied up the cash for a specific firearm. In this case, of course, you won't find many comparable sales. The best you can do is price it to the value that you'd like to get and hope that someone comes along who thinks that your price is in the ball park. And yeah, sometimes a trade is a great way to go. Good luck, in any event, with whatever you decide to do. And I'd just add that keeping it is a good option.

[emount]

Ptooner,

The picture you have of the Right side of your pistol shows the transfer bar correctly installed, but the spring looks a little weak.

Here are a couple of sites that will show you the insides of a Model 9. One is an article that I wrote describing all the variations of Model 9 Walther:

Walther Model 9

The other site is the Vest Pocket Collectors site which has lots of wonderful pictures of tiny pistols:

The Vestpocket Pistol Collector / Der Taschenpistolen-Sammler

As for grip screws I think that you would do best to take the gun to a local gunsmith and have him establish the screw diameter and thread pitch. If the escutcheons have been re-threaded they might be metric or English. I have a similar Model 9 and I had to have my gunsmith dig through his misc grip screw bin, and then shorten the screws for a proper fit.
The value of your Model 9 is perhaps $300.00 +/-. Over the past couple of months I have sold and purchased similar nickel (or re-nickel) Model 9's in that price range. Premium condition and/or engraved Model 9's can easily bring many times that amount but the market these days is not terribly strong for the average condition pistols.

I hope that this information helps.

Earl