P38 Questions

I own a gunshop and had a customer bring me a P38 and I am having a hard time finding info on the gun. Here are the markings I can see.

Slide:

P. 38
cvq
SN: 2596
s (in front of safety)
looks like eagle over 88
eagle over swastika

Barrel:

under bbl sn matches slide
top stamp looks like lion on hind feet

Frame:

SN: 2596 with what looks like an e after
eagle over 135 above trigger
trigger has eagle over 359

Grips look like wood shavings mixed with brown/red plastic
Magazine base plate sn matches

Barrel looks great, gun shows some wear and lots of machining marks but the black finnish looks great.

Any help would be great, I have another customer that wants it bad, but I might need to keep this one for myself.

Thanks
Jeff

Pictures sure would help. Sounds like maybe a force matched pistol. The cvq/cyq was code for the manufacturer Spreewerke, as well as the eagle/88 acceptance stamp.
The eagle/135 is the acceptance stamp for Mauser, and the eagle/359 is the acceptance stamp for Walther.

Jeff,

Johnny is spot on. Here are some old photos I have of my Spreewerke P-38 that references what Johnny is describing. Not the best photos, but you can see where they are all eagles over 88. Another obvious thing to look at is that the serial number on the frame should match the receiver.

Regards,
Pat

Spreewerke guns always show lots of machine marks; they are the poorest finished of all wartime manufacturers. So, they have the lowest value of the P38s for that reason.

When describing wear, it's best to give a percentage. But, cyq's in 99% or better condition are not that scarce, so one with considerable wear will be hard to sell.

Your P38 sounds like what we call a CZ46. They were made in Czechoslovakia in 1946 and usually have an E and Lion on the left trigger guard..and, a '46' on the right trigger guard.

3000 were made up from parts at that time. Later, many ended up in the DDR for some reason?

The rampant lion on the top of the chamber is another indication. Often, the slide will have an 'S' stamped somewhere near the safety.

The SN on the slide is usually under the 'P.38' stamp.

Orv