Pistol question ?

[Roys boy]

I inherited this pistol from my dad. According to what is stamped on it, it is a Hammer U Tiengen PP32 1001-0-Cal 7,65 serial # 13688. I apologize for the poor quality of my attached photos, all I had was my camera phone with a cracked lens

Can anyone,

1. explain why the numbers on this slide were x'd out and re-stamped?

2. tell me as much about this firearm as possible?

Thanks
Gordy

 

[2152hq]

Post WW2 East German production. Walther PP 'clone' made on what is asummed to have been some of the old Walther machinery.

The markings are 'Hammerli-Tiengen' refering to the Swiss Firearms firm.
Lots of back and forth speculation about that marking and wether it's the firm that possibly bought the pistols from E/G as surplus and then sold them to a couple of different US surplus arms dealers (Century and another that I can't recall). Or possibly a phoney marking applied to cover up improper purchase directly from the E German Gov't at the time. I don't know.

The 1001 is the E/German model # of the pistol.
Most have boldly stamped 'Zella Mellis' markings on the pistols of the Walther address type & those markings are also subject to debate by collectors thinking they were placed there by importers for better marketing the pistols.
Most have a acceptance work mark on them indication mfg'r at the Thalmann Gun Mfg Works in neighboring Suhl.

But in the end, they are what they are,,E/German Republic production 32acp Walther PP clones that they issued to police and security units.


The x'd out slide number may indicate a pistol that was rebuilt before being sold off. When rebuilt, a different slide was put on the pistol,,the old ser# X'd out and the correcponding matching ser# (frame) then punched in. Just a guess, but Eastern Bloc arsenal rebuilding projects weren't to picky in the way they did things. As long as it got done
Does the 'new' ser# on the slide match the frame ser# now?

 

[Roys boy]

Thank you for the quick reply and all the great info. Yes, the slide does match the frame. I have to say, I like the way it feels in my hand, although I have not fired the weapon yet, that is happening next week. What is your opinion of these pistols? Not that it matters because I'm keeping it regardless, but is it worth anything ? I know you can't judge from my fuzzy pictures, I just mean in general, or are these pretty common ?

 

[2152hq]

These first started showing up on the surplus market in the early 90's I think it was.
Then as the supply dried up, like everything else they became more 'collectable' in ways.
They got some attention from the true Walther collectors and recognized as a continuation of the Walther PP production or better said,,a copy of it.

The Chinese made a copy of the PPK pistol in the 1960's I think it was and very very few made it to the USA before the GCA68 banned importation of any PPk style/size pistol.
Those are seen as part of a Walther collection even though not made by the German company obviously.

These E German PP copys have begun to be seen as having a place in a Walther collection as well. Their 'history' of having been made on captured Walther equipment doesn't hurt their story either.
Though not nearly as rare as the Chinese made pistols, they're not the hard to sell under $100 gun they were in the '90's.

I don't know how many were imported.

From what I recall they are a strict copy of the Walther PP,,maybe w/o the loaded cartridge indicator. I think some of the late production War-time Walthers were made w/o that feature too.

Fit is at least to War-time standards of the original Walther,,the polishing and bluing usually left something to be desired on them though w/some rounded corners and over buffing.
Markings differed and that set the stage for the guessing game of who did what to them and where & why that I posted about earlier.

They do what they were made to do and usually shoot quite well.
I never compared parts side by side w/a Walther but the assumption is that parts will interchange. Some handfitting would probably be needed.

IIRC the last time I saw one of these for sale (about this time last year) it was priced at $300 or $350. I don't know if it sold for the price(s) or not.
They are not at all commonly seen anymore for sale if my gunshow and shop wanderings are any indication.
That may be due in part to a low number originally imported. The unusual markings makes ID difficult for many and perhaps these just don't go up for sale that reason,,I don't really know.

You can check the net auctions for them and see if they have sold. Try different versions of the mfg'r and the markings to find them as they may be listed under most any of them.