I've fired it a couple times and it works fine but the magazine springs are weak and usually only four rounds feed correctly. I remember sneaking into Dad's "bag" in the basement and messing with it when I was a kid.
Steve, What unit was your dad in? My dad attempted to bring home a Werkfert pistol, similar to the one pictured below, and a German camera. Both were rejected and confiscated. He was allowed to bring home many of the usual Nazi souvenirs such as Swastika flags, armbands, Iron Cross medals etc. I later learned that German civilian items, such as the camera were rejected as that was considered looting rather than souvenir hunting. I often wondered why the pistol was rejected, until I learned that the Werkfert was a civilian weapon, although it appears they were also used by military personnel.
Greg, he was with the 607th Tank Destroyer Bn. He also brought back the usual souvenirs you mentioned. I've seen the "permission to ship" signoff slip he has, which notes the P38 with other items. You got me wondering about the Capt. Nixon character in BoB that was shipping the silver serving sets home. Maybe it was possible to send civilian items home if you had friends in the right places?
Steve, My dad tried to bring those items home with him in his barracks bag. I'm not sure about *sending* items home. Items may have been easier to conseal in parcel packages. I often wondered if my dad had film in that camera. I also heard stories from vets aboard ship about to dock in the US. An announcement was delivered over the ship's loudspeaker that GI's would be searched for weapons before entering. A lot of souvenir pistols were thrown overboard, only to discover there were no searches conducted. At that stage, I think the GI's just wanted to get home and didn't want anymore hassles. Greg C.
It's an interesting point. I remember talking to my late Uncle about this ; he was in a German barracks after the war finished and a considerable cache of Luger pistols was discovered. Dire threats were issued as to what would happen if anyone was caught with one, and many promptly disappeared down drains or into a nearby river. My Uncle dismantled his and quietly buried the 'bits'. I've heard it said also that you should be able to walk from Calais to Dover on a carpet of German pistols, so many were thrown overboard after shipboard announcements were made about thorough searches at Dover.... I've always been intrigued by the statement in Robert Bruce's book, 'Live -Firing German Automatic Weapons Of WWII'. In the section about the FG42/1, he says that '...the FG42/1 shown here was picked up at Monte Cassion by US Army Sergeant Allen Klassen, and mailed back to America...'.
Steve, if you want a good and period replacement Magazine-drop me a line and I can tell you who has loads of originals for sale-and you can get the exact correct one for your P-38. The guy who sells these is located here in texas and I plan on buying a couple of extra Mags for my AC-43 Walther.
Greg, my Dad still has a barracks bag. He also had a camera, although I'm not sure if he took it over or found one like your Dad. He got two rolls of film back home from Europe but the camera was stolen when he was in Paris on leave. There were lots of PW pix on the roll at the time and he was sure whoever took it tossed the film. Martin, I couldn't figure out how to do the multiple quotes in one message? You mentioned the quote about mailing back an FG42/1. There were lots of wild stories about things shipped home when I was in Vietnam, drugs, weapons, etc. Probably in the early days of any modern conflict, there was plenty of this going on. Carl, I sent you an email. Thanks.
Hi Steve, ill get to your email soon as I get to another computer tomorrow morning. Im on my home comp and it runs terribly slow. Anyway, I have a good phone number you can call and you can tell them exactly what you have and chances are better than fair, that they have one or more original magazines that will be the proper one for you Walther. I have not bought any from them yet but plan to soon as I recover a bit from my recent move and spending-spree. If they don't have exactly what you need? they will eventually come across one. I know they always seem to have AC marked mags available and for the year I need. Prices will run according to number in stock. $65 is about the average price.
