Mauser 42 Code 1940

[guns3545]

Originally Posted by ma deuce

A local gun store has one. Finish is 95+, no signs of re-finish I can see. Excellent bore. All numbers matching that I could see with disassembly. However, the gun had brown plastic grips. That can't be correct for this gun, can it? Also, the serial number was three digits. Haven't seen that before. What do you think?

Paul,

Well, without pictures it is really difficult to comment specifically on your gun and its grip panels but I can provide some data. Only an inspection of the front and back of the grip panels will be definitive.

1. The 1940 42 P.08 with Brown plastic grips is a legitimate variation.

2. Most Brown grip panels have been reported in the y, d, and g through k blocks but this does not necessarily mean that the ns block could not contain brown grips.

3. It is a fact that when Krieghoff completed their first contract with the Luftwaffee in 1938/9 they shipped excess inventory of parts including the brown grip panels they were using over to Mauser.

4. It is also a fact that the Luftwaffee took about 34,000 P.08s out of the 137,000 or so produced by Mauser including about a third of the ns block according to Heereswaffenamt distribution reports. So there is a one in three chance that your gun was shipped to the Luftwaffee. The fact that it is a 95 percent gun would support this as most Army guns were beat up in combat. But, unlike the Navy, the Luftwaffee guns do not bear any distinctive markings so it is impossible to distinguish a Luftwaffee gun from Army which took about 100,000 guns in 1940.

But, Paul, the above is best case and there is always the alternative, however likely or unlikely that the grips are replacments or worst case outright fakes.

Hope this helps.

John