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My P.38 AC43 Stacked.

2K views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  matthanne 
#1 ·
Greetings,
My grandpa severed in US Army from June 1941 to September 1945. Stationed first in the Aleutian Islands June 42, then late 1944 sent to the Po Valley Region Italy until the end of the war. It was April 17-19, 1945 when he acquired the P.38 I’m honored to have for the past 12yrs now. He passed In 1998 when I was 16, and didn’t even know he had them until after the fact. I’ve done as much research as possible; no interest in selling, but I’d value my piece between $850-1,100. It’s an AC43 stacked serial #7055a matching all pieces of the pistol, I think is was produced February of 1943? Both magazines are WWII production, but only one has the matching military acceptance “395” proof. I do not however think the holster is original to the pistol. I think it’s originally For a P.08 Luger, but it securely fits the P.38. I’ve fired it probably 50-100 times and completely disassembled it which was a great experience. Based off the info I have of my grandpa’s location and date, I think the gun came from a unit of the 10th Mountain Division of the German Army but not sure about the accuracy of that. Here’s a few pictures of my P.38 -Jason
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#2 ·
Nice! Value is subjective, as a family heirloom it is pretty much beyond value. Did he leave you any bringback papers? The holster does bear the cut of a P08 (tool pouch, is there a takedown tool in it?, cut mag well). These have markings too and have collector interest. They were not always captured together, I've seen it in Desert Storm where cooler artifacts and finds got swapped out until you had a good set, can imagine it happening there too. and heard 'stories' of units going back where 'bringbacks must have a holster'....
 
#4 ·
I’ve seen the paperwork he had filed to bring back the gun but I don’t have the real copies. The holster doesn’t have the tool with it but after putting conditioner on the holster it brought out the P.08 and The military markings on the back right above the belt loops.
 
#5 ·
Nice that it comes from the family. I would recommend being cautious in firing it much further, the P38 is a robust weapon but today's 9mm is formulated a bit higher in pressures. Even the US Army had issues with their M9s because of the pressures and wear. Check the square machining cutouts inside the slide where the locking block fits in battery. The slide is thinnest there and it is a place among several where stress cracks have been found over the years. Some have led to slide failures or worse. If you do shoot it, go lightly, Wichester White Box at 115gr, no +P or anything like that. Well, they came together but there will be people interested in the P08 holster to rig their P08s out. There were many holster makers, not surprising given the many years that the P08 was the standard sidearm.
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