*German, WW2, August 1944, P38 Semi Automatic Pistol, Made by Spreewerk (cyq-cvq), with Waffenamts 88, Old Spec Deactivated*
125mm Barrel, 9mm Cal.
Serial number 9880t marked on barrel, receiver and below barrel.
Pistol marked: “P38 cvq 44, 9880t” waffenamt “88”. On the obverse two waffenamt “88” and Eagle Proof.”
Slide marked: waffenamt “88” “cyq” on LHS and “Be” (Barrel Lot number) on RHS
Magazine marked: “P.38”
The Pistole 38, a German semi-automatic pistol designed to replace the costly Luger P08, was developed in 1938, with full-scale production starting in 1940 and continuing until 1945. It offered comparable performance to the Luger P08 but with a significantly shorter production time. During World War II, Walther produced approximately 584,500 P38s, while Mauser and Spreewerk manufactured around 323,000 and 283,000 respectively. To conceal the identities of manufacturers, each used a letter code: “ac” for Walther, “byf” for Mauser, and “cyq” for Spreewerk, followed by the date of production (e.g., ac44 for Walther’s 1944 production). Spreewerk did not mark production dates. Walther was the earliest to begin production in June 1939, followed in 1942 by both Mauser and the lesser-known Spreewerk.
From June 1942 until April 1945 the slave laborers at the Spreewerk Werk Grottau factory in Grottau, Czechoslovakia produced approximately 283,000 P.38s. Spreewerk examples were the only complete wartime P.38s produced outside of Germany. Spreewerk examples were marked “cyq”. Some Spreewerk P.38s, like this, appear to be marked “cvq”, however that is likely due to a damaged die stamp, where the leg of the “y” was missing. The inspection stamp 88 ( E/88 ) was used by the Spreewerk factory.
The serial number 9880t dates this to August 1944. 10,000 pistols were made in each letter block. 9200s-10000s, and 1t-9950t were made in August 1944.
The P38 pioneered the use of a locked breech action combined with a double-action/single-action (DA/SA) trigger mechanism. This groundbreaking design allowed the pistol’s hammer to remain at rest when a round was chambered, with subsequent trigger pulls enabling double-action firing, followed by single-action for subsequent shots. The widespread adoption of this DA/SA trigger setup has been seen in numerous other pistol models since its introduction.
*Condition*
This Spreewerk P38 is in excellent condition. Correctly stamped with Waffen code 88 with matching numbers. Deactivated to old spec it cocks and dry fires. Please see photographs as part of the condition report.
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