P.38 Rework-OT

[Ted]

Contacted John Raum and found a P.38 shooter grade that is mismatched barrel/frame and poor finish condition. Going to rust blue this one so I can have one to carry for myself and leave my collectable ones and not wear the bluing off the one cyq that I was using. Dok and I had been talking about doing one for him, but I thought I would try one for myself first. I don't think there is any evidence that the P.38s were finished in anything but salt bluing or phosphate finished. But Marvin tells me the rust blue that we did on his G Date Luger matches the DUSTY blue color of

some of the P.38s. There is enough P.38 interest amoung our Luger collectors that I thought I would mention it. Got a good price on this gun and will take before and after pictures. BTW, John Raum is the man, assuming Tom Heller doesnt have them, for P.38 parts. I have bought several P.38s & PPKs as well as parts for P.38s from him and he is always fair and the items have been as described and usually even better. Ted

[Dok]

Great news! Can't wait to see it.

Dok

[Marvin]

Ted,


I think you have amde a good decision on the Rust Bluing. The Rust Blue you did on my "G" date does match the early "dusty" blue on my early Mauser P.38s. This will be a great carry pistol and will look fantastic. Be sure to keep us informed when it arrives and we can see some pictures. Don't worry Ted, there is enough of us Luger guys that LOVE P.38s, right G.T.


Marvin

Right on Marvin. My P38 collection both WWII and Postwar is about 4 times larger than the Luger one. My First WWII Gun was a cyq P38.


Bob

My first WWII gun was a 98k. Followed by my first Luger, a really nice G date. That Luger attracted a lot of P38s. So many that I had to rid myself of those demon German pistols. I sure do wish I hadn't done that because it's costing a lot more to replace them.


P.38's blued by Ted? Sounds like a good plan to me.


P.38s are way under-rated and not-collector-grade pistols can be had for low prices. A beater P.38 given the Ted treatment would make a fine shooter.


I went to a webstore that sells Walthers the other day.

Do you know that the going price for MODERN Walther P.38s way exceeds that of nearly all wartime P.38s?

That is a strange thing to me as the wartime P-38s are the better pistols.


Mike

[Marvin]

Mike,


I have also noticed in my area that the cost of a post war P.38 is climbing in value to almost reach the wartime price. I don't understand this either because a wartime P.38 is undervalued today. I feel that soon the price will begin to climb on these and they will increase in value to the point of a common Luger.


Back about 25-30 years ago, the P.38 could be bought for $50-75 for an average pistol and a real nice one may be in the $100 range. Today, the same pistol sells for approx. $500 and the nice ones in the $600-650 range.


I love both the Luger and P.38 and try to balance my purchases between the two pistols. The "cyq" is a real intrest to me and this is one that I will try to concentrate on. I have found that the price of these has now crept up close to the price of the common Mauser and Walther 1943 and 1944 pistols. The "cyq" may not be the best finished, but I sure like them.


Marvin

Marvin remember the piece that Mark Redina put in Auto Mag several momths back about the modern P38's gaining in collector value. I sold a really nice P38 II for $745 and the guy thought I sold it too cheap. They were of limited manufacture and known as a fat slide and imported by Interarms. Rumor has it that there is some new books coming out on Post War items.

[Marvin]

Bob,


Yes, I do remember the article and it was good. I did not ever think the post war P.38s would gain value as fast as they have. They do seem to be closing the gap on the wartime models. maybe it is time for me to pick up a few???


marvin