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Title:	PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC -  GERMAN PISTOL WALTHER PP 7.65MM SN# 389943p
Maker/Manufacturer:	WALTHER, CARL
Date of Manufacture:	C 1944
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 890
Measurements:	OL: 16.5CM 6 1/2" BL: 9.5CM 3 3/4" 25 oz.

Object Description:

GERMAN PISTOL WALTHER PP 7.65MM SN# 389943p
Manufactured by Walther, Zella-Mehlis, Germany - German WWII semi-automatic pistol with 8-round detachable box feed mechanism. Blow-back operated, double-action. 6-groove rifling, right hand twist. Late war model (late wood grips and no loaded chamber indicator, not inspected by Waffenamt before shipping.) 6-groove rifling, right hand twist. Muzzle velocity 1000 fps. Weapon weighs approximately 25 oz. Cartridge: .32. ACP. Magazine missing.

Markings:
Frame: 389943p.
Slide: 390756p/AC AC = Walther Werke.
Grips: Walther banner.

Notes: "POLIZEI-PISTOLE - A brandname associated with the streamlined double-action personal-defense pistol patented by in Germany during 1929 by Fritz Walther and introduced commercially in 1930. Highly successful, it spawned a vast range of copies - as well as the Kriminalpolizei-Pistole (PPK) and PP Super.
The earliest guns had safety catches with a ninety-degree rotation, but later this was changed to sixty degrees. Initial 7.65mm Auto and 9mm Short chamberings were supplemented in the early 1930s by .22 and 6.35mm, but neither of these was popular.
Production continued throughout the Second World War - although quality declined appreciably in 1943-45 - and began again in 1954. However, the earliest post-war guns were made in France by Manurhin until the Walter factory in Ulm began to produce guns for its own." - Walter

"The Carl Walther Waffenfabrik (weapons factory) was established in 1886, but did not begin to make self-loading pistols until 1908. Its first nine models were numbered, but in 1929 it produced a tenth model designed specifically for police work, and this was designated the Polizei Pistole or 'PP.' It was of a new and, to some extent, revolutionary design, and rapidly achieved popularity after its appearance in 1929. It was very soon adopted as a holster arm by several European police forces, and later also became the standard pistol of the German Luftwaffe. Its main feature was its double-action lock, which was basically of revolver type and which involved the use of an external hammer. A considerable risk was involved in carrying hammerless self-loaders - and even, to a lesser extent, many earlier hammer versions - with a round in the chamber. However, when a round had been loaded in the chamber of a Walther and the safety catch applied, the fall of the trigger could be disconcerting, but was completely safe, for the action of the safety placed a steel guard between the hammer and the firing pin. The pistol was easily stripped by pulling down the trigger guard and pushing very slightly to the left, after which the slide was eased off." - Miller

References:
Miller, David. Ed. THE ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF GUNS. Salamander Books Limited. London, England. 2000.
Miller, David. THE ILLUSTRATED DIRECTORY OF 20TH CENTURY GUNS. Salamander Books, Ltd. London, England. 2001.
Walter, John. THE GREENHILL DICTIONARY OF GUNS AND GUN MAKERS. Stackpole. Mechanicsburg, Pa. 2001.