Joe, your 1938 S/42 is most assuredly a P-08. The term "P-08" means "Pistol, Model of 1908" as designated by the Imperial German Army when it adopted the design in 1908. The difference between a Luger produced in 1908 and your 1938 Mauser would be slight... the hold-open may or may not have been added to the 1908 production pistol (an arsenal modification) and your pistol will have the rear frame Mauser "bump". The finish will be different as the earlier pistol will have been rust blued with strawed small parts while your pistol will have been hot blued, including the small parts. Functionally they are the same and most parts should interchange although a mis-matched pistol may not work properly if major parts are swapped. Hope this helps.
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