Manurhin Walther PP Sport

Question
I am a UK shooter and have recently come into possession of a Manurhin
made Walther PP Sport. It is in beautiful condition and shoots really well. I
am curious about the origin & history of this gun but am finding it difficult
to find any. neither Walther nor Manurhin can help. I'd particularly like to
know it's age.

You recently answered a question from someone about a Walther PP which
actually helped me in terms of an age bracket for my gun. Mine has all the
Manurhin makers markings plus "Lic. Excl. Walther" on the left side of the
slide and it's model name stamped as "MOD. PP Sport. Cal.22LR". The serial
number on the right side trigger assembly forward of the grip is 52784 C.

I would deeply appreciate any help with the origin of this gun and even if
anyone knows where I could get a manual for it.

Thanks

Martyn

Answer
Martyn,

Congrats on being a UK shooter.  You guys are a rare breed with the restrictive laws in the UK.  I guess you have to be really committed to the shooting sports...

Sounds like you have a nice gun.  As you may know, Walther was prohibited from producing guns after the Second World War.  They were not able to manufacture until 1955.  To keep the very popular Walther brand going, they licensed production to a manufacturer in France called Manurhin.  Manurhin continued to produce Walther designed pistols until 1985.

I'd guess the gun you have has a 6.1 " barrel, a non-spur hammer, an adjustable rear sight and unmarked plastic grips with a thumb rest on the left side of the grip.  The "C" after the serial number indicates a short barrel target pistol (the C stands for 'court' or 'short' in French).

Based on the serial number range I can only guess at the age since there are no good records, but I would estimate that you have a pistol that was produced in late 1952 or early 1953.  (PS, that is a pretty targeted guess...probably within 6 months either way)

The PP Sport is essentially nothing more than a PP pistol with a target barrel.  The PP design was primarily designed as a full size police pistol.  It was first produced starting in 1929.

As far as the manual, here is a link that appears to show PP Sport Manuals for sale.

http://www.emilitarymanuals.com/expdiahndgn.html

Hope this helps and provides you a bit more info...

Best regards,

Doug