Walther PP date of birth?

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GatorFarmer

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I've had this gun for a while, traded my Krag sporter to a forum member for it. Seems a neat little pistol, but I'm curious as to when mine was made. It is a Walther PP in .32 ACP stamped with "Ulm/Do." on the side of the slide. The slide has a number 618 on it and there are various and sundry proofmarks. The serial number is 856XX with an Interarms Alexandria stamp on it as the importer. The previous owner was told that it was one of the more recent German PD trade ins, but I'm not sure that is the case since I thought those came in stamped with Century as the importer and came in recently, Interarms being defunct for quite some years now.

Anyone know when this gun was made, I know it was probably made in France and then "finished" in Germany.
 
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does it have an antler proofmark and a year on the bbl. that shows when action is closed? if so, that is year of proof.
 
No, just an eagle stamp with an "N" under it on the barrel, no other marks to be seen, even when field stripped on the barrel.
 
Walther switched to the Eagle over N proof in April 1940. There were 2 different Eagles.
Early:
mark2.jpg


And late:
mark3.jpg


Not sure when the switch was made to the late Eagle, but it was after WWII.
 
Possibly the barrel was swapped-out. Ulm Do imported by Interarms with the correct barrel should have the horizontal antler (ULM Proof) with the two digit year preceding it and the stylized EagleN after.

But then again I could be wrong.;)
 
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Definitely has the "new" Eagle on frame, slide and barrel. Also has a proofmark that looks like some sort of lionman or clawed man in a shield with five stars over it on the left side of the frame below the mag release. Wouldn't even a replacement barrel of similar vintage (post war) presumably to the pistol still bear the antler/date proof?
 
Is the '618' on the slide the last 3 of the serial number?

The slide is usually serial numbered. Not always on the outside like prewar guns. More often see on the inside surfaces marked.

Along with the post war proof,,there should be a ProofHouse mark on it too. Usually the Ulm Proof House 'antler' mark. The two digit date code,,but sometimes a two letter date code used along with the proofhouse stamp.

Letter code is A thru K (leaving out the letter 'J',,as the capital 'J' and the capital 'I' in some German text are the same shape).
These letters signifying numbers 0 thru 9. Match the letters with the numbers to get the year of mfg. Why some use this and others use the numbers outright, I don't know.

5 digit serial number is Manurhin mfg as they all were till mid 80s.
Walther took over their own complete mfg'r of the model in about '86 and bumped their starting serial numbers to the 700,000 range (800,000 for the PPK).

AFAIK, all the Manurhin made pistols,,wether they ended up being Walther marked or French marked were serial numbered in the same series.

I'd guess a late 50's mfg on this one (just a guess!). I recall reading they hit the high 99,000's in early 60's before starting again with an A suffix.
I think that's how it worked,,,,,
Post War Walther is a confusing story for sure. The pistols sure are nice!


added....A rebarrel (in Germany) would require the pistol to be reproofed and stamped (Eagle over J)before returning to the owner or put up for sale.
The emblem on the side near the mag catch might be a Euro PD or Govt Agency property stamp? Many of the former PD pistols were ID'd and not all of them came to the USA in the last few years.
 
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Slaps self, yes indeed the 618 is the last three. Why I didn't figure that out... yikes, I don't know. Curiously there are no markings other than the eagle "N"s and the lion like crest, nor any letters/codes aside from the serial number and the Interarms stamp. I hadn't known that PD/Agency guns came in before that last big bunch a few years ago. It does make sense though, Interarms being a big surplus dealer as well over the years and what not.

Guess I have a Cold War era PD or agency gun then. Interesting.
 
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