P38 vet bringback value?

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Crunch130	P38 vet bringback value?	Lead	[-]
Posts: 847 (04/11/09 06:14 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Guys, I'm pretty good with Mauser rifles, but I need some help with a P38 a neighbor has. Her dad flew A-20 Havocs in Europe and brought this gun, and a K98, home. It's a BYF 43 in excellent condition. S/N was only 2 digits, followed by a letter. Other than the hammer (WaA 359 or somthing?), everything was WaA 115 marked. Brown bakelite grips. 1 mag w/ no S/N. She has the capture papers. Her dad made the holster. These people don't seem to know much about guns. She was told it was an "Officer's model" and that a collector once offered her $5,000 for it. I didn't know there was such a thing, it looked like all the others on Gunbroker if you ask me. Also, prices seemed to be $600 - $1200 for completed auctions on GB. It's great that she has a vet bringback with papers, but I don't think it's as rare or valuable as she thinks. Thoughts? Thanks Crunch
VIS35		#1	[-]
Posts: 3163 (04/11/09 07:51 PM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Are you sure it's E/WaA115? Mauser byf acceptance was E/135 and E/WaA135. Hammer is Walther production as E/359 was their acceptance. Francis VIS aka Blind Hog "Even a Blind Hog sometimes finds an acorn"
Crunch130		#2	[-]
Posts: 848 (04/11/09 08:37 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Musta been 135. Havin' a senior moment, and I'm only 45! Like as a K98 guy that shouldn't have sounded right, but I remembered 359 correctly? Sheesh! Crunch
VIS35		#3	[-]
Posts: 3164 (04/11/09 09:56 PM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Crunch, I hesitate to establish values, but I would think $550 to $700 would not be out of line. Francis VIS aka Blind Hog "Even a Blind Hog sometimes finds an acorn"
wworker		#4	[-]
Posts: 3749 (04/13/09 07:18 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Depending on condition, most mid war P38s are selling between $550 to $650. The bring back paper, if authentic, can add another $100 to $200. As far as being an "Officer's model", as sidearms were mainly issued to Officers and NCOs, that isn't a bad assessment, but that only means that it was standard to issue a sidearm to an Officer or NCO, nothing special. Personally, I'd rather have a Luger, (the nostaglia) but for the ease of cleaning, the P38 was better, easier to take apart and put back together. On this . . . and that a collector once offered her $5,000 for it she should have sold it if someone wanted it that bad.
Crunch130		#5	[-]
Posts: 851 (04/13/09 08:19 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks, guys, for all the help. I hope soon to see the K98 he brought back as well as several other rifles he passed down. It sounds like these people don't know much about what they inherited. Crunch
TERRY B		#6	[-]
Posts: 317 (05/07/09 08:42 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A friend of mine just found what seems to be a P-38 in a old house he is remodeling. It is marked FB.Radom . Vis Mod35 Pat 15557. Brown bakelite grips, It was in a holster marked on the inside flap BNZ 1944 and faded under flap, P-38. Not bad shape. Now is that a .38 cal or 9 mm like a luger?
VIS35		#7	[-]
Posts: 3203 (05/07/09 09:53 PM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	TB, What your friend found is a "Radom" not a P.38. The "Radom" was the P.35(p.) to the Germans, a Polish design and the Polish pre war service pistol. After the Germans invaded and occupied Poland they continued to produce the "Radom" for their use. I believe the faded stamp under the holster flap is actually, "P.35(p.)" This is a "Radom", P.35(p.) This is a P.38 Francis VIS aka Blind Hog "Even a Blind Hog sometimes finds an acorn" Last Edited By: VIS35 05/07/09 09:55 PM. Edited 1 times.
zaxxons		#8	[-]
Posts: 99 (05/08/09 10:02 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	$5000????????? Where is this collector, have I got a deal for him. Really I think 8 to 12 is more like it, but it just may be worth $5000 to the owner.