A few months ago, I was watching P38's on Gunbroker and doing the usual research that I do prior to buying a surplus weapon. My collection tends to be intentionally eclectic. An Enfield Number 2 Revolver made by a Scotish auto manufacturer, IBM M1 Carbine, etc. Exile Flower Song Download Mp3 here.

In my research I learned about Spreewerk and the 'CYQ/CVQ broken die controversy'. So when the owner of my local gun shop said he had a P38 he wanted me to look at AND it turned out to be a Spreewerk CVQ. Anatomy For The Artist Jeno Barcsay Pdf To Jpg more.

CYQ very early gun serial number 21. CYQ 2nd variation with e/359 small parts serial number range 50-500 - 208. CYQ 3rd variation with rare e/18 accepted locking block- (Seven known examples 2514, 2596, 2630, 2678, 2894, 2852 and 2853). CYQ 3rd variation with matched numbered holster serial. WWII Similar Walther Mauser Luger. 1, 0, $750.00, 1d 13h +. 735933683 Spreewerke walther cyq P-38 wwll bringback. 1, 0, $350.00, 6d 6h +. 735099977 Walther P.38 'cyq' 1943 WWII MATCHING w/Extras! 1, 0, $759.00, 3d 9h +. Learn more about Featured Auctions. Get listed in this section and be seen by hundreds of.

I quickly snatched it up. Sometime in January of 1945, Speewerk switched from CYQ to CVQ as a manufacturer. There has always been a controversy did they switch codes or did the stamping die break causing the 'Y' to look like a 'V'.

What I think makes my P38 interesting is that although the serial numbers on all the parts match, it has CVQ stamped in the slide and CYQ on the barrel. Although, it fits and functions well.it definitely shows the character typical of Spreewerk's haste to manufacture and unskilled labor. Here are some pictures of my February 1945 Spreewerk manufactured P38. Have you been to. Look at the Spreeworks section.He shows the Late cvq guns.

I would e-mail and see what he says. In 'Pistols of the World' by Ian Hogg and John Weeks, they state that 'In the final months of 1943, another contract was given, this time to Spreewerk GmbH of Berlin, thier code groups being cyq and cvq.' Walther was ac, mauser was byf,Because a coding system was ordered by the German Army Weapons office in 1939 to prevent anyone from knowing where the weapons were made, denying the enemies any useful economic intelligence! At first it was numeric,(Walther's Zella Mehlis factory was 480) then changed in 1940 to alphabetic. In 1945 the Mauser Code was changed to `svw`. Click to expand.I did read it.Looks convincing.But one thing he didnt consider in his report.

What if it was done Intentionally??? Towards the End of the war when Intelligence was starting to give the allies Targets, the weapons plants, Ball bearing Factories, And research facilities were prime Targets. Germans were some of the finest craftsmen in the world and I find it hard to believe they would use a Broken Die after the Y broke.UNLESS they turned it into a V on purpose as a possible Intel countermeasure.

The tail of the Y was the thickest part of the die charachter, and it should have been the strongest. If it did fracture, it was the straightest fractures of a hardened die I have ever seen, unless they ground it that way after it fractured. I have never seen another example of a situation like this of any German stamps or weapon marks that werent Intentional.

It makes a person wonder.and makes for a good discussion! (My Dad was there fighting over Germany and during the pilot briefings, they were shown aerial Pictures and targets they were supposed to shoot up with incendiary ammo, including trains, petroleum tanks, aircraft and bomb factories.The Resistance Network had the stuff pinpointed for the allies. They also were told to shoot every Motorcycle /sidecar they saw because those were the guys carrying the German Intel from the front lines to the Headquarters.). Click to expand.I had been watching them for a while.

I really wanted a 1943 BYF(Mauser); but, they seemed to be going for $700 or $800. I had given up because I thought they were out of my price range. So, I spent the $500 I had burning a hole in my pocket on an American Eagle limited edition Mauser HSc.

When I went to my FFL to arrange receiving the HSc, I told the him the story of my search for a P38. He told me that he had a P38 he wanted to show me. He brought this Spreewerk P38 with a price tag of $550. I tried to disguise the fact that I'd watched these sell for much more. I told him to hold it for me. When I went to pick up the HSc, I told him that I'd give him $500 because the finish was almost too nice to be original(.I had read that the finish on these last P38s was rarely nice and dark). Since I had talked to him, he had spoken to a more savvy surplus guy and that guy told him he'd take it for $550.

He counter offered the original price and he'd throw in the transfer fee for the Mauser. Long story short, I walked out of there with two nice examples of German weapons. In my research, I learned of the die controversy; that was what made it interesting to me. It represents the desperation and confusion of the last three months of the war. I had been watching them for a while.

I really wanted a 1943 BYF(Mauser); but, they seemed to be going for $700 or $800. I had given up because I thought they were out of my price range.

So, I spent the $500 I had burning a hole in my pocket on an American Eagle limited edition Mauser HSc. When I went to my FFL to arrange receiving the HSc, I told the him the story of my search for a P38. He told me that he had a P38 he wanted to show me. He brought this Spreewerk P38 with a price tag of $550.

I tried to disguise the fact that I'd watched these sell for much more. I told him to hold it for me. When I went to pick up the HSc, I told him that I'd give him $500 because the finish was almost too nice to be original(.I had read that the finish on these last P38s was rarely nice and dark). Since I had talked to him, he had spoken to a more savvy surplus guy and that guy told him he'd take it for $550. He counter offered the original price and he'd throw in the transfer fee for the Mauser. Long story short, I walked out of there with two nice examples of German weapons.

In my research, I learned of the die controversy; that was what made it interesting to me. It represents the desperation and confusion of the last three months of the war.

Click to expand.Well, fancy you should mention the byf code of German small arms. Coincidentally enough, my RC K98 is a byf 42, and my P38 is a byf 43! I thought that was pretty cool, and I didn't even try for it either. I had a heck of a time with loading issues on that P38. I probably should have got some new recoil springs for it, and a mainspring. I might look in to that and check it out. But the low end of the slide block that strips a round off the mag was protruding way too far.

At first I thought it was an issue with the extractor, but come to find out the slide needed a slight modification. Now it cycles every time perfectly! Another interesting thing when I bought it, the bore looked very odd. It looked as if someone reblued the pistol at some point, and didn't plug the barrel. I'm not sure but it still shoots quite good!

It came with a holster too, which I believe is a reproduction but I think it's an older reproduction. I am quite happy with it.

Mauser changed to SVW on their rifles in late Jan/early Feb 45 - after having produced byf 45 marked rifles. They then made svw 45 marked before finaly going to the svw MB markings - which the frogs continued to use after the war.

However Mauser began the letter code change on P.38s in Dez 44. There are a few known examples of svw 44 marked P.38s. I saw one at a gun show in the summer of 1970, right after I came back from RVN. Unfortunately it wasn't for sale! The idea that Spreewerk cvq marked pistols was from a broken die doesn't hold water for a couple of reasons: 1. German efficency, even late in the war, wouldn't have allowed it. More importantly there was more than one machine stamping slide markings.

They were Not making 10K pistols a month with only one stamping machine for slide markings. NO way did all the stamping machines have broken dies! I just finished reading 'The P.38 Pistol, Spreewerk Production' by Jan Balcar and Ron Clarin.

The authors did a pretty remarkable job of collecting data, interviewing former forced laborers and supervisors, and pouring over available data. The book contains political, social and manufacturing history of Czechoslovakia and the town in which the P.38s were manufactured.

There are numerous antidotes from the workers themselves.interesting stuff. There is an entire section dedicated to 'broken die theories'(.yup, there's more than just the two theories and the code change theory is the least plausible). I won't spoil the ending. It is worth the read! It is a great read for the serious P.38 collector and a must read for those folks that have the 'cyq' or 'cvq' marked P.38s.

I have a post war P38 and always wanted a war era version. Any issues or concerns with the ones AIM is currently selling? Any import history on these? Are these Russian captures?

TIA Original German WWII P38 9mm Pistols manufactured in 1943-1944 in the Spree Werke Factory and marked CYQ. Spree Werke did NOT stamp the production year on the pistols, however, the year can be confirmed through serial number records. These are original WWII steel frame P-38 pistols.

These are extremely clean pistols that we personally selected; expect bores to be dark from corr. Ammo, all three major serialized external parts match! I think that in most instances, the Spree Werk P-38 that is most often encountered in this country, were either capture by a U.S. GI, or the Russians. Captured pistol will typically be in its original (sometimes worn) finish, and have no post-war markings added. The Russian capture will often be refinished, might have some of the tiny German eagles/swastika's defaced, and have modern import markings permanently stamped in the metal as part of U.S. Law concerning milsurp.

For plinking, I would think that they will generally perform equally. If you want to also consider $ appreciation in the coming years, the G.I. Capture pistol will likely command more money, and be more sought after by collectors.

The import-marked pistol can be bought for a cheaper price, if that is of consideration to you. However, they will both have fascinating WW2 history.

Lastly, the Spree Werk pistols generally have the roughest machine and finish work, as compared with the Walther and Mauser. I am sure that I have left a few thing out. Does this help? I just helped a friend buy a P38 (it was received Tues) - Take your time and look EVERYWHERE - I found the one he got at a little local website in Florida - $475 shipped for an all matching BYF 43 w/correct magazine - Everyone else wanted $700 - $800 for original pistols. When I looked on AIM's website - my first thoughts were 'refinished' and probably restamped to be matching - - I don't know this - - It isn't a slam against AIM - - the pictures look too clean / new for a wartime pistol.