Picked up a couple of new (old) ones today

[highpower]

Walked into a gun store that I haven't been into yet and walked out with these two beauties. Well I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think I did okay with these little guys.

First is a 1941 dated Femaru M37. Overall finish is fairly nice, but it does show some holster wear. There are no import marks on it and while there isn't any capture paperwork with it, I am semi sure that it was probably a GI bringback. It didn't come with a magazine but since I only paid $175 for it, I figure that I can take my time looking for an original mag. Repops can be had for $30 so if I really want to shoot it right away, I can get one of those to tide me over.





Second was this 1967 vintage Walther PP in .380. Finish-wise it does have some heavy freckling on the left side of the slide, but except for that and a minor amount of holster wear on the other side, the finish is just about perfect. The feed ramp doesn't even look like it has had a bullet slide over it and internally it looks unfired. This one cost me a bit more at $300, but I have been looking for a inexpensive shooter grade PP or PPK for many years, so I am very happy with this one.

[Grendl]

THIEF! That Walther is easily a $500 item on this side of the border. Well done.

[Emdawg]

Nice! I like my Walthers, but I have been on the hunt for a Femaru for long while. Axis issue is nice.

[highpower]

I have been researching the snot out of these M37's since I got this one and here is what I have come up with so far:

On the plus side, they are somewhat rare and not seen all that often, although they are out there. The checkerboard pattern of bluing wear on the right side matches exactly the wear I have seen on other M37's and is indicative that it spent some of it's life in a Luftwaffe tropical pattern holster. This is more or less to be expected as the contract for these M37's was with the German air force. Cool beans, and it reinforces my guess that this one is most likely a GI bringback. In addition, this is one of fewer than 5000, out of a total production run of about 85,000 with these particular slide markings. This one is known as a third model and was part of the first contract.

On the negative side, correct magazines for the German contract M37's are somewhat rare and decidedly expensive @$150-$200 each. Not a deal breaker, but the real bummer is that the ever efficient Nazis shipped these to the troops with two mags that were numbered to the gun. What that means is that I stand a better chance of winning the lottery than I ever will have a chance of finding one of the original mags that came with this pistol.

Still, it is a really nicely made little gun with some real WWII history and at the price I got it for, I can afford to spend the $ it will cost to acquire the correct magazines as one in similar condition with mismatched mags recently sold for $1600.

[highpower]

Nice! I like my Walthers, but I have been on the hunt for a Femaru for long while. Axis issue is nice.

FYI, there is one for sale on the local Armslist with the original holster and two magazines for $800. It's Hungarian issue though, not Luftwaffe.

[Dan_Eastvale]

Nice score!

When I was working for the Army VII Corps in Stuttgart in 1987 I almost bought that same Walther at the Post Rod and Gun Club. It was $300 NIB.
Wish I had.

[BrunRox]

Very Nice !!!

I'm Jelly !

[Rogerbutthead]

Jeez, paid twice that much for my Femaru in the 90's.

Trigger pull on that pistol is the worse I have ever felt on any pistol.

The Walther was only 300?

Damn, where did you get these pistols?