Greetings and a few newbie questions.

05-29-2001, 03:20 PM

A good friend of mine presented me with a P.08 as a wedding present and so now I'm trying to get my feet wet and find out what I can about the peice and its related accessories.

The pistol itself is an S/42 1938 stamped production, which I've read is a 1938 military production Mauser. All the parts match in serial numbers but the finish is very worn - though I'm not sure exactly how to judge the 'amount' of wear - since 60% seems to be a line of demarkation. I'll be cleaning up the wooden grips soon enough.

First, the mags do not match in numbers. Is this the norm for military production models and is there any way to track down the matching magazines?

Second, what is the proper holster for this pistol? The holster that was with it, I'm thinking might be a P.38 holster. It has a strap on the bottom that goes up over a pin on the top flap. The magazine storage is on the front-outside edge and not the front face, and the bottom opens up with a back flap folding back and away. I've picked up '3rd Reich Lugers' - the big red book - and could not find any images of this holster. It is stamped 43 behind the strap and I've seen some P.38 holsters that look similar - so I'm thinking its not the right one. I'd like to get the correct holster for the purpose for which it was issued.

Three - likewise on the loading tool and other accessories - what should I be looking for to complete the 'issued' set? How hard is it to find a 1938 and/or S/42 loading tool? The cleaning rod - I assume they were not marked -or where they? Is there a good marketplace to find such things or does one just stumble around and wait?

Four- on the big red book '3rd Reich Lugers' - I noticed that one of the pages in it is BLANK - there is nothing on it. Its somewhere in the back or middle - I forget the exact page number it should be - but the page numbering system indicates its supposed to be there - a page number is also skipped. Before I complain to Amazon.com and request an exchange, I'd like to verify if this is the norm or if its a fluke, considering its not a normally published book with ISBN, printing info, etc inside the front.

I guess thats it for now. I'll try to learn what I can.

05-29-2001, 03:20 PM	#1
Thomas Smailus Guest Posts: n/a	Greetings and a few newbie questions. A good friend of mine presented me with a P.08 as a wedding present and so now I'm trying to get my feet wet and find out what I can about the peice and its related accessories. The pistol itself is an S/42 1938 stamped production, which I've read is a 1938 military production Mauser. All the parts match in serial numbers but the finish is very worn - though I'm not sure exactly how to judge the 'amount' of wear - since 60% seems to be a line of demarkation. I'll be cleaning up the wooden grips soon enough. First, the mags do not match in numbers. Is this the norm for military production models and is there any way to track down the matching magazines? Second, what is the proper holster for this pistol? The holster that was with it, I'm thinking might be a P.38 holster. It has a strap on the bottom that goes up over a pin on the top flap. The magazine storage is on the front-outside edge and not the front face, and the bottom opens up with a back flap folding back and away. I've picked up '3rd Reich Lugers' - the big red book - and could not find any images of this holster. It is stamped 43 behind the strap and I've seen some P.38 holsters that look similar - so I'm thinking its not the right one. I'd like to get the correct holster for the purpose for which it was issued. Three - likewise on the loading tool and other accessories - what should I be looking for to complete the 'issued' set? How hard is it to find a 1938 and/or S/42 loading tool? The cleaning rod - I assume they were not marked -or where they? Is there a good marketplace to find such things or does one just stumble around and wait? Four- on the big red book '3rd Reich Lugers' - I noticed that one of the pages in it is BLANK - there is nothing on it. Its somewhere in the back or middle - I forget the exact page number it should be - but the page numbering system indicates its supposed to be there - a page number is also skipped. Before I complain to Amazon.com and request an exchange, I'd like to verify if this is the norm or if its a fluke, considering its not a normally published book with ISBN, printing info, etc inside the front. I guess thats it for now. I'll try to learn what I can.