P88 leather Box?

[searcher451]

Which is most certainly why the question was asked.

[BROBS]

but really....

why so much?

[searcher451]

We've seen several, if not many, examples of the P88 during the past couple of years shoot to that height in auction sales: NIB, with all the goodies, and $1,800 or more has been a figure that folks have been happy to pay, apparently, for whatever reason. When you consider that this example has a "special box" that seems to be coated with the same pine tar that George Brett used to use on his baseball bats, well, easy call.

[lechiffre]

It is an older P88. ....................... Or mine may be older?

i will guess the one in the auction is older. notice the early round top slide, and tall sights.



and the low s/n.

[KMKP7KING]

I don't know which is which. My top is milled out with a groove and the front sight is fixed not dove tailed. I didn't notice the round top till you pointed it out. I guess there are several variations since I have seen some with the full length under frame which is eaqual with the tip of the slide.

[MGMike]

The design of the standard-size P88 was never really finished. During its relatively short production life, it remained "a work in progress", with unannounced changes being introduced apparently on a whim. The sights went through many iterations, finally resulting in a fixed front sight that essentially announced that night sights were no longer an option --which immediately terminated any possibility of law enforcement sales (even if the patrician price didn't --which it did, as few departments could afford it). The trigger bar was another frequently revisited component--there were at least three variations, the final one extended to cover all the mouse-holes on the RH side of the frame.

The gun was plagued with breakage problems, the complicated lockwork having a very high frequency-of-repair record, not to mention a spate of frame cracking adjacent to the magazine catch at around s/n 2500. A merciful end was reached by easing out the P88 (it was never formally discontinued) and emphasizing instead the P88 Compact, a far more conventional and less feature-laden gun than its full-size ancestor. The P88C also was cheaper to make, which in turn allowed it to be sold at a price that mere lunatics --not stark raving maniacs-- would pay.

In the end, only about 11,000 P88s were made; about a month's production of Glocks.

M

[scubatiger]

Mike - I read in a post from May 2009 that you estimated the total production of P88s, including Compacts, to be between 15-20K units. And as you just stated, you believe that full size P88s numbered about 11K. Does your current information still then indicate that the total production for the Compact was only 4-9K units, or do you have any updated #s on these? Thanks.

[MGMike]

Mine are just guesstimates, based on Marschall giving the high s/n of P88 serial production as 10,894, c.1992. That's assuming there was a gun for every number. Add the earlier 881-series XM-9 guns and the prototypes and you get around 11,000, more or less.

The P99 Compact came along too late to reach big numbers, and people were not pushing and shoving each other out of the way to buy them. It was soon replaced by the much cheaper P99. I have no specific information as to quantity produced.

M

[searcher451]

Originally Posted by MGMike

The P99 Compact came along too late to reach big numbers, and people were not pushing and shoving each other out of the way to buy them. M

I'm guessing that you meant to write P88 Compact here, MGMike, Correct?

Good information again -- many thanks for sharing your expertise.

[MGMike]

Yes. Sorry for any confusion.

M