- #How to read walther ppk serial number lookup serial numbers
- #How to read walther ppk serial number lookup serial number
In the two catalogs that I have dated 1932 (W.U.M and Akah) the pistol is pictured with plain grips. A study of catalogs of the time show only the left side of the Model 8 in every picture. The change in grip styles took place on the very late second variations and is seen on virtually all third variation pistols. I could be off a year.Īs for the change from the second variation to the third variation I do not have import proof information and so I have used the change over from the plain grip panels to the grips with the WALTHER banner logo. Therefore the transition from the first variation Model 8 to the second variation Model 8 took place between 19. This pistol has Austrian proof mark “4988.29” which dates its import to 1929. Another gun in the data base is 706498 which is an early production second variation. This pistol has Czechoslovakian proof mark “819 25” which dates the import of this gun to the first half of 1925.
#How to read walther ppk serial number lookup serial number
In my database there is serial number 470466 which is a late production first variation. So I am sure that production started in 1920. The 1934 Walther catalog states that the Model 8 has been in production for 14 years. The start date of 1920 has been written in virtually every book or document that I have seen and I believe it to be true. I am pretty comfortable with my production date estimates. The production date ranges were established using the following information: So the catalog must have been referring to the combined numbers of Model 8’s and 9’s produced, or perhaps Walther’s marketing department were just enhancing the truth in their catalog. My current production numbers say that by 1934 there had been only 107,000 Model 8’s produced instead of the “over 200,000” claimed in the catalog. 1933 there had indeed been well over 200,000 Model 9’s sold. A 1934 WALTHER catalog states that “by the end of 1933 … the sales figures for models 8 and 9 having passed the 200,000 mark.” I always assumed that this meant that both the Model 8 and the Model 9 had sold 200,000 units each. 145000 is still a lot of pistols, but it is far less than other estimates that I have seen. The result of these numbers tells me that Model 8 total production may have been much less then what has been previously written.
#How to read walther ppk serial number lookup serial numbers
I can not say that there are none with certainty but the even scattering of serial numbers in the all the other ranges indicates to me that there is a chance that Walther may have stopped Model 8 serial numbers at 480000 and then jumped to 700000. Surprisingly I have never seen a Model 8 with a serial number between 480000. Next I have a variety of “A” suffix serial numbers beginning with 92291 A and ending with 96801 A. Then there is a void until 700 399 (?) followed by an even scattering of serial numbers up to 743603. In this database there is a fairly even scattering of serial numbers from 392295 through 470766. There are currently only about 65 individual examples in my data base which much smaller than I would like, but it is what I have. I have used additional information that was provided by Dieter Marschall. I have fairly recently begun to compile a database of Walther Model 8 pistols with pictures of individual guns that I have owned, observed on various internet sites, or seen in books. These dates and production numbers are based upon the following information: This means that total Model 8 production was about 145,000. Serial number range 715000 to about 745000 (less the Second Variations in the mid 720000 range) and then in 1938 900000A to perhaps 100000A but probably somewhat lower. Third Variation: Beginning in 1933 or 1934 to 1940. Serial number range 700000 to about 715000 and then several thousand in the mid 720000 range. Second Variation: Beginning around 1927 to 1933 or 1934. Serial number range 390000 to about 480000. Production numbers and dates for the Walther Model 8 PistolĪfter an intense study of the information available to me at this time I suggest that the Walther Model 8 pistol production dates be revised as follows:įirst Variation: Beginning in 1920 to around 1926. *Serial number ranges will change as new guns are documented Total Model 8 production was about 145,000
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