Walther P38 With Name Engraved

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Smithwess

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Edmonton, Alberta
Recently bought this Walther P38 at a gun show and it appears that "Capt Mayer" is engraved on both grips and "Mayer" is engraved on 2/4 magazines that came with the pistol. The pistol is all matching AC (Walther) P38 made in 1943. The third variant for the year with 20000 produced like it. Take a good close look at the engravings and let me know your thoughts on if it says Capt Mayer, what you think it says otherwise, if it does say Capt Mayer if there is any way i might be able to track down information on the man. Also out of pure curiosity, what you might say the pistols value is, I do not intend to sell it though. On the side of the slide is a number electropenciled, I've been told this was someones SSN which was a recommended practice by the RCMP at some point in the past before my time to identify the owner of a stolen firearm.

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Thanks for looking, let me know anything you know, ask anything, etc.
 
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It looks like a SIN. I think it was something done before registries.

The naming is neat though. Have not seen it done this way before and quite nicely. Even the mag.

What I like most is the out of order proofing/acceptance.
Normally e/359- Fireproof Eagle- e/359

I have never seen these out of order. Pretty cool.
 
CanadianAR said:
It looks like a SIN. I think it was something done before registries.

The naming is neat though. Have not seen it done this way before and quite nicely. Even the mag.

What I like most is the out of order proofing/acceptance.
Normally e/359- Fireproof Eagle- e/359

I have never seen these out of order. Pretty cool.
Click to expand...

Interesting about the out of order proofing/acceptance markings. Thank you.
 
CanadianAR said:
It looks like a SIN. I think it was something done before registries.

The naming is neat though. Have not seen it done this way before and quite nicely. Even the mag.

What I like most is the out of order proofing/acceptance.
Normally e/359- Fireproof Eagle- e/359

I have never seen these out of order. Pretty cool.
Click to expand...

The restricted registry has been in Canada since before that pistol was made .
 
Smithwess said:
... On the side of the slide is a number electropenciled, I've been told this was someones SSN which was a recommended practice by the RCMP at some point in the past before my time to identify the owner of a stolen firearm.

...
0d9afc14b0e5fc8ce5533344fa8895d3.png
8e819e7ec82c91804f091661d15f7e0e.png


Thanks for looking, let me know anything you know, ask anything, etc.
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Not a US Social, but a Canadian SIN. Yes, there are embedded check values in a SIN, and it is a valid SIN according to https://www.payroll.ca/Resources/Tools/SIN-Verification-Tool/Tool. As well a 700 prefix is a BC or Yukon issued block. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Insurance_Number#Validation

The level of stupidity displayed by some people is frightening. For a long time police forces advised property owners to mark their valuables. It was likely to only way to identify stolen goods. For consumer goods it makes sense, but not for durable goods. Because, that is what a serial number is for.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
Not a US Social, but a Canadian SIN. Yes, there are embedded check values in a SIN, and it is a valid SIN according to https://www.payroll.ca/Resources/Tools/SIN-Verification-Tool/Tool. As well a 700 prefix is a BC or Yukon issued block. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Insurance_Number#Validation

The level of stupidity displayed by some people is frightening. For a long time police forces advised property owners to mark their valuables. It was likely to only way to identify stolen goods. For consumer goods it makes sense, but not for durable goods. Because, that is what a serial number is for.
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Yup
I remember in the late 70's you could go to your local police station & they would lend you an engraver to take home & mark all your stuff .
I have a nice Mod 12 Winchester that I paid peanuts for because some idiot inscribe his SIN on the side of the receiver
 
Interesting pistol. I'm a former Museum Conservation manager - that serial number strikes me as a collection accession number more than a Gov't registration. The 'handwriting' shows traces of Sutterlin script (that's a good sign, most fakes are either full on Sutterlin or otherwise done in a modern North American style handwriting), but what bugs me is the use of 'Captain'.....I'd much more expect to see 'Hauptmann', 'Hpt', 'Kapitan' or at least 'Kapi'.

As for looking up the original owner, I can only relate to my own personal experiences with the Bundisarchiv researching my family's military history in Germany. It was difficult, I'm a direct blood descendant and I had a heck of a lot of documentation to begin my searches. Going just off of a name and rank on a P38 realistically isn't very much to go off.

Just my 2 cents,

Thanks for sharing.
 
Brookwood said:
Interesting pistol. I'm a former Museum Conservation manager - that serial number strikes me as a collection accession number more than a Gov't registration. The 'handwriting' shows traces of Sutterlin script (that's a good sign, most fakes are either full on Sutterlin or otherwise done in a modern North American style handwriting), but what bugs me is the use of 'Captain'.....I'd much more expect to see 'Hauptmann', 'Hpt', or at least 'Kapitan'.

As for looking up the original owner, I can only relate to my own personal experiences with the Bundisarchiv researching my family's military history in Germany. It was difficult, I'm a blood relative and I had a heck of a lot of documentation to begin my searches. Going just off of a name and rank on a P38 realistically isn't very much to go off.

Just my 2 cents,

Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you, I'm almost certain that even though Mayer is a German name the person who inscribed their name is not German because the use of Captain. I'm thinking it is a Canadian Captain, or possibly British/American.
 
Brookwood said:
Interesting pistol. I'm a former Museum Conservation manager - that serial number strikes me as a collection accession number more than a Gov't registration. The 'handwriting' shows traces of Sutterlin script (that's a good sign, most fakes are either full on Sutterlin or otherwise done in a modern North American style handwriting), but what bugs me is the use of 'Captain'.....I'd much more expect to see 'Hauptmann', 'Hpt', or at least 'Kapitan'.

As for looking up the original owner, I can only relate to my own personal experiences with the Bundisarchiv researching my family's military history in Germany. It was difficult, I'm a blood relative and I had a heck of a lot of documentation to begin my searches. Going just off of a name and rank on a P38 realistically isn't very much to go off.

Just my 2 cents,

Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

I thought the same thing about the "Capt" marking.
 
Maple_leaf_eh - So it is a SIN#? Wow, different times.

Smithwess - I can tell you with absolute certainty that who ever wrote 'Capt Mayer' on it was taught Sutterlin handwriting as a child before learning Latin type letter writing.
 
No German soldier would do that to their rifle. There would have been consequences.

J have a highly desirable pistol and it has an old SIN on it. In a more conspicuous location mind you, I don’t think it ruins the gun, but you need a specific type of collector, and IMHO it will keep the value on the lower end.
 
CanadianAR said:
No German soldier would do that to their rifle. There would have been consequences.

J have a highly desirable pistol and it has an old SIN on it. In a more conspicuous location mind you, I don’t think it ruins the gun, but you need a specific type of collector, and IMHO it will keep the value on the lower end.
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I have heard that the heer was very serious about soldiers not defacing their issued weapons with engravings or trench art. I don't even know what these pistols are worth normally, let alone with the incorrect order on proofing/acceptance, the engraved name, plus the devaluation from the SIN.
 
Smithwess said:
I have heard that the heer was very serious about soldiers not defacing their issued weapons with engravings or trench art. I don't even know what these pistols are worth normally, let alone with the incorrect order on proofing/acceptance, the engraved name, plus the devaluation from the SIN.
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I have a now long deceased uncle who carved his name into the side of his No4 while he was in Italy. He told me it was the most accurate rifle in his platoon and he wanted to be able to identify it quickly when taking a rifle from the rack in a hurry.

I was surprised because they were issued a specific rifle by serial number to my knowledge. He said that didn't matter much to some of the men and rifles did get lost or damaged in the field.

He engraved his first name on the off side of the butt.

He got away with it for several months, until the armorers came to check their rifles and clean/repair as necessary.

His punishment was leave off base cancelled for a week and he got to peel spuds all that week as well.

Somehow I believe any sort of modification out of spec is highly frowned upon by most, if not all militaries around the globe.
 
Brookwood said:
Maple_leaf_eh - So it is a SIN#? Wow, different times.

Smithwess - I can tell you with absolute certainty that who ever wrote 'Capt Mayer' on it was taught Sutterlin handwriting as a child before learning Latin type letter writing.
Click to expand...

My handwriting is done in the exact way it is written on those grips, and I’m only 35, so no previous writing in Sutterlin script for me! ;)
 
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