walther p.38

Question
i have a walther p.38 in good condition, its a WII edition 9mm. im kinda curious what its worth, its nickel plated or somthing like that i think, i do know that its silver!! thanks, sam

Answer
Hi Sam,

The P.38 can be a challenge to try to help with via the net due to the many variations/models/manufactures etc.

So..... assuming a standard grade P.38 in "good" condition would have a retail value of between $300 and $500 .. depending.

My recommendation to you is that you take your pistol to a qualified appraiser to grade/value your individual pistol. Short of this you may want to consider obtaining a copy of the "Standard Catalog of Military Firearms, 3rd Edition."

A bit of help for you here........ The commercial version of the p.38 is identified by commercial proofmarks of a crown over N or an eagle over N. Production began at around serial number 1000 and went through number 26659. This was the first of the commercial pistols and was a very well made gun. The problem is that there were many variations of these models and values can range up to more than $30,000.

There were models produced such as the Model HP, "ac-45" Zero Series "ac" codes with no date, Mauser Military "byf" codes, etc. etc. So, you can quickly see the need for an appraisal by and expert that can inspect the firearm.

I did not intend to complicate the issue for you but I owe it to you to make you aware of the above variations and values. This is especially true if you may be considering selling or buying one of these p.38's.

I hope this response serves to guide you and make you aware of all the possibilities. Good luck and thanks for the question.

Sid Lark