Daniel Murphy

The grip frame and trigger/ sear are each machined from one piece of approx. 1/4 inch steel. Note the matching numbers. It is an extremely simple mechanism.

With the left grip removed. Notice the grip frame is attached to the receiver with just two screws.

Close up. note the 2nd type markings and the serial number 11759.

The other side.

Since I consider this to be a piece of equipment instead of a firearm, I have placed it here. This flare pistol was manufactured in occupied France for German forces. I have longed for one of these for many years since I love ersatz items. I just acquired this piece and since they are fairly scarce, I thought you would like to see it and how it is made. These are immense, with a length of 14.5 inches Dan Murphy

Then perhaps it is an error piece in that it made it out of the factory without without the maker mark and date ( one step) being applied. I look forward to seeing the photos. Dan Murphy

The earliest your Serial # could have been made was for a AC 41. Your mention of the "deep blue black" finish makes me wonder if it is an old reblue. Not WW2 more like 50's-60's. Many times these guns with machining marks were buffed before it was reblued. When they were buffed the markings were often weakened or removed altogether The original finish would either be a rust blue on the very early pieces or a salt blue on the later ones. Neither of these could be called a deep blue black. I think you have a beblued gun. If so it's collector value is severely altered. Dan Murphy

Unless it is a unusually high serial number there is no way to tell. The German military serial numbering system reset itself at the start of every year. So there was most likely a 7797e from every year of production. I assume we are talking about a WW2 P38 and if so there should be a code on the side of the slide such as "AC42" or "BYF44". If your has this it is the makers code Walther for the former and Mauser for the latter. The 42 or 44 is the year the piece was made. If it is a CYQ, for some reason they were not dated. Here is a good link that shows serial number ranges. Dan Murphy Pistole 38

Claudio, Beautiful single mounted example, the condition is superb. If I could find one like this I would jump on it, unfortunately most of them seem to have faded ribbons and oxidized crosses. That looks like it was lovingly packed away and has not seen the light of day in 90 years. Dan Murphy

Nice zweispitze and visor. The visor has that old sea dog, done it all and back again look that I like. On the straps is the T for Torpedo? Can I get a look at the back of the sub badge? Dan Murphy

Sorry, I know a little about U.S. stuff in general (mostly WW1/ WW2), but nothing about the modern stuff. Dan Murphy

Reverse. You can see that on this side it looks reasonably well centered. Anyone else have a oddity like this or some other "not really close enough, but we can make it fit" item? Post 'em if you have them. Dan Murphy

I have had this for some time and since things are slow, I thought I would show it. It is a CD800 marked cross. Apparently the mold or die was not aligned properly when this core was made. As you can see part of the crown and part of the W, was milled away on one side to allow it to fit the frame. The wierd thing is, they knew it was bad, but they modified it to make it fit anyway. I wonder why they didn't just toss it and resmelt the iron. The thick ring looks odd too. Dan Murphy

Darrel, The marking on the back of yours looks a little dodgy. Not like the others, it is uneven and oddly done. Is that how it is supposed to be? Dan Murphy

Claudio, I have never seen that particular style of pin on the back of one of these. The pin also is also mounted in the reverse of what is normally seen. Usually the hinge is to the right when viewed from the back. However, It does appear to be a nice quality piece and I believe it is original. This would have been private purchase from the period of the 20's-30's. But it is not a Meybauer. Dan Murphy

Micha, Thanks for posting these. Anytime we can put a name on a unknown maker of the 1914 EK, it makes my week. We have always known they were high quality pieces. Dan Murphy

Mark, I think you are right. Upon cropping and blowing up the photo it does look like a Order of the Crown. It is slightly angled away so you cannot see the shape as well. I had thought that perhaps it was a Wuert. Military Merit Order but that is in 2nd place on the bar. Odd that he is wearing an unofficial veterans medal and no Honor Cross in 1942. Just too cheap (sorry..uh..frugal) to have a new bar made up. The Pin you were asking about does look Turkish. A crescent with a star at the bottom and superimposed on it is? Well it looks like a Lincoln penny.

Mark, Great photo. All that and no Pour le Merite? They must have figured he had enough jewelry. Was he a Wuerttemburger?, I see he wear his commanders cross of the Friedrich order with swords superior to everything else. That looks like a Knights Cross of the Max Joseph Order at the bottom, a low opinion of Bavarians or because it is only a knights cross?

For those of you who do not peruse the '39 EK forum, at my request, Micha has posted his L59 marked '39 EK1s. One is a pinback and one a screwback that are marked L59. That is not unusual. The unusual part is that they are both also marked with a "square". The same kind of mark that is seen on the unknown maker "square" marked 1914 EKs and Imperial aviation badges. Thanks to him we now have a known maker for these pieces. Alois Rettenmaier of Parlerstrasse 27 in Schwabisch-Gmund. Here are the links to the the thread in the '39 EK forum and also to the one he has for sale that I spotted. Dan Murphy Micha's EKs Micha's EK for sale

Great. Thats all we need is to have to look one more place for the maker mark. Now we need someone to find a frame marked EK2 Nice piece, any info on whether it is Deumer or Deschler?

Scott, Is there a possibility that you can crop the pics of the marks and enlarge them so that we can see them better. I can just make out the WA but the other mark is just not visible. Depending on the maker, I have seen maker marks, silver content marks and assemblers marks in that location. In won't know what it is until I can see it. Dan Murphy

Since Chip did such a good job on the feldmutze, I will tackle the stahlhelm. It is what we collectors call a M 17. Basically the Germans just stopped making the M 16 liner band from leather and used steel starting in early 1917. Sgt. 1st Class Putnam was in a medical unit and it was possibly souvenired from a wounded German soldier. This is what is called a "mailed home" helmet. The Painting on the helmet is where he had it sent to him at his home address. It would have been mailed as is, without a box. This was probably also noted on the card attached inside. The other name is the censoring officer who approved the helmet being sent home Capt. M.H. Linden M(edical) C(orps) U.S.A. (in this case it means U.S. Army).

Claudio, From you close ups, I can tell that the spike and base are original. The plate is also an original officers and has been on the helmet a very long time (judging by the where the plate has been in place on the helmet). So you have an all original helmet that someone (at some point) removed the parts and polished them with an abrasive cleaner. Perhaps several times over the years (the "ring" around the lower portion of the removable spike top is barely visible). From the look of the crown plate, the original stars were threaded with a nut (standard peacetime construction). The original stars were either damaged (bolts wrung off) or lost and these may be period (probably wartime replacements) replacements. The loss of original finish hurts the value of the helmet quite a bit. It is still a valuable and rare piece that would be worthy of restoration. Dan Murphy

I have a tendency to agree. To a point. The engraving does appear to be in a period script and does have the same patina as the area of the cross where it was placed. (That is the most important thing).The patina also appears genuine. Perhaps it was just an old polishing that was not so thorough and did not remove the patina from the MM. Years later, the two will show a different degree of patina. One more thing, usually fake engraving will be to someone famous and tracable. Since this man is neither, there is a better chance it is real. Nice piece. Dan Murphy

There is one other possibility. That the parts are all original , but were removed and cleaned (except for the scales). An abrasive cleaner would have removed the frosting on the plate and the fire gilt on the other parts. Perhaps they did not know how to clean the scales without damaging the leather so they just did not polish the scales. Either way an unfortunate turn of events. An officers helmet parts should never be cleaned other than with a soft cloth. Dan Murphy