1944 Mauser P-38
This is the third P.38 I bought in the mad P.38 spree of 2012. End of the world coming, or so I've been told.
Whether that's due to Mayan prophecy, or Obama's re-election waits to be seen.
Regardless, I figured when the end comes, ya better have a bunch of Nazi P.38's. Just 'cause.
This is a very nice BYF (Mauser) P.38 made in late 1944. Corners were being cut at that time to increase production, and quality generally suffered accordingly.
Despite this, the finish on this pistol is still of a very high quality. So much so that I suspect it was refinished at some point. The biggest tell-tale is annecdotally the middle eagle above, which SHOULD be "in the white", as that inspection was done AFTER the bluing. Though I've seen some that look in the white under certain lights and not under others. This one does not look white to me, though the rest of the pistol has just enough high edge wear to maybe be original. Regardless, it's a very nice wartime P.38.
(Pay no attention to the finger prints...I swear they're not mine!)
1944 was far from "last ditch", but it was equally far from the high polished finish of earlier examples.
Sometime during late 1943 (as I recall, I'm no scholar, don't shoot if I'm wrong) P.38 grips began getting the red/brown bakalite grips this pistol exibits.
Note the crack in the upper left. It does not go all the way through, and isn't readily apparent to the eye unless caught in the camera's flash.
Eagle/135 stamp indicating "Mauser" production.
The bore is near perfect. Speaking of bores, I think my boredom with P.38's has at last been cured.