Favorite World War II era Handgun(s)?

[UnionMillsNW]

The 1911 will always be #1. It brought Victory to two theaters of war across land, air, and sea, and still competes with modern firearms.

A close second place comes the Luger. It's iconic and functions well. When I was a child my father had a Stoeger Luger that I thought was a hoot to shoot. I don't have a 22LR pistol but if I ever buy one you bet it will be a Luger.

 

[KKG]

The 1911 will always be #1. It brought Victory to two theaters of war across land, air, and sea, and still competes with modern firearms.
When I was a child my father had a Stoeger Luger that I thought was a hoot to shoot.

The 1911 actually served very well in WW-1 and Vietnam. As well as other somewhat minor conflicts. Many went to Cuba to help the Bearded and others were taken back there to help defeat said Bearded One. So, it has served us well for many of our years. Even today many so called Special Ops types have opted for it because it works so much better than the Beretta.

As for the Stoeger Luger .22 Rimfire. It's a wonderful example of "Either it works or it doesn't" unfortunately there are more that don't than they do. That's why they are not imported any longer. I'm just saying...

 

[Clarkston_cz]

I was jsut thinking about what gun that my relatives would have carried back in the
30s, 40, and 50s, or what I would have went for.

P-08 Luger.

P35 Hoche Liestung Pistole 40

Walther PP .32

Walther CY P-38

Kongsberg .45 ACP

Of these, I've only been able to actually handle the P-35 and P-38 in person.

I can imagine the real life owner had quiet a career in army intelligence.

I also think that in that era of weak loaded round nosed ammo.

A Colt or S&W 1917 or a Triple Lock .44 Special would have been highly
prized by some.

I've also been able to handle a Colt New Service in
.357 Magnum, and also an old S&W .357 with the solid type hammer.

Back then the Colt Single Actions were in production during some of the years,
and Bill Ruger's genius was not in bloom yet.

 

[Kruel J]

1911. Only because I have my great uncle's from the war.

 

[Tim McClure]

Taken off of a dead Nazi in WW2 by a friends dad, is this M1935 with holster and extra mag.

 

[Phred]

My Dad was in the Army Air Force from 1940 through 1945. He landed at Utah beach two weeks after the initial landing. He was a Master Sgt-Pilot, and was issued a Thompson sub-gun ( which he loved ), and a 1911 with which he was an instructor. The biggest problem he had with the 1911 was, as today, capacity. After moving through France, he came upon a P-35 which was used by its prior owner, a German who didn't need it any more. He loved it. It had good capacity and never heard anyone complain about stopping power. He also "found" a Luger P-08, which he quickly gave away. as he told me it was a "lousy unreliable mouse trap". Later in life, he bought a new 1969 Hi-Power which I have to this day. So my short answer to my favorite WWII hand gun has to be the P-35/Hi-Power.
Phred

 

[Siglvr]

American GI's captured the Walther factory at Zella Mehlis in April 1945. A great many of the PPs and PPKs brought back home originated from that event. It has been reported that many of the mismatched serial number firearms were from GI's assembling handguns from parts at the factory. There are even some examples that are unfinished "in the white".

Mismatched and unfinished Walthers from that year are still considered "correct" by collectors. It has been estimated that there were 14,000+ unfinished PPs and PPKs in the factory at the time of capture, but the records showing this were later destroyed by the Soviets.

After the end of the war, Zella-Mehlis and the factory fell into the Soviet controlled sector. The factory was completely disassembled by the Soviets and sent to somewhere in Russia.

E

Coolest thing I've read in years, thanks for sharing. My father said not a single word about the war to his wife (my mom) during the 12-14 years they were married before he passed away. She didn't learn until @1997 when some letters fell into her hands that he'd been in Germany fighting the war. He'd made a comment once about being in England and she assumed from his lack of ever saying a single other thing that he must have spent the war in England. LOL. Not a single word did he utter about the years he was there. My grandfather gave me a word about his experiences in the trenches of WW1 when I asked him "what was that like being a marine over there". ........"Horrible". That was all he had about that.

If the last GI put together one made was S/N 397000, my fathers must have been close to that group. His slide S/N was 393900. A 7.65 cal (.32) PPK.

 

[David Wilson]

American GI's captured the Walther factory at Zella Mehlis in April 1945. A great many of the PPs and PPKs brought back home originated from that event. It has been reported that many of the mismatched serial number firearms were from GI's assembling handguns from parts at the factory. There are even some examples that are unfinished "in the white".

Mismatched and unfinished Walthers from that year are still considered "correct" by collectors. It has been estimated that there were 14,000+ unfinished PPs and PPKs in the factory at the time of capture, but the records showing this were later destroyed by the Soviets.

After the end of the war, Zella-Mehlis and the factory fell into the Soviet controlled sector. The factory was completely disassembled by the Soviets and sent to somewhere in Russia.

E

My dad was part of the unit that captured Zella Mehlis. He recalled GI's ransacking the company show room and walking out with some very fancy PP's, PPK's, and P38's, including one soldier who showed off his gold-plated and engraved Hermann Goering signature-edition PP. Dad himself picked up one or two pieces, not as nice as those in the show room, but he ended up giving them away to other GI's before he boarded the transport back to the States...

 

[KKG]

My Dad, an Army Officer, was in Both Europe and the Pacific. He came back from Europe on a ship. He had picked up a couple of prizes. A highly engraved Artillery Model Luger and a fully engraved P-38 with a Boot Sock of ammo. They got as far as New York harbor and spend 30 days in Quarantine. He had been told he would only be allowed to bring one into the Country. After debating about which one he simply could not make up his mind. So he walked out to the fantail of the transport ship and dropped both into the water. Of course, when he left the ship it turned out he could have brought a bushel basket back.

 

[Randy A]

Sorry, not a 1911 fan, I ended up with 3bring backs, P38, C96 (.30 Mauser) and Pistole 640b (Waffenampt Hi Power). For reasons unknown I prefer the Hi Power.

 

[teflon6string]

Fun thread. Some really sweet photos and testimonies here. Bravo to all.

While I have nothing against modern striker fired plastic weps with trigger mounted safeties, they just don't sing to me.

I've always liked handsome guns made of metal and wood.
In no particular order...
Luger
Hi Power
Nambu
1911

 

[DunRanull]

1940 Mauser-built 9mm "Luger". Englis-built Hi-Power 9mm. P38 9mm. 1911A1 Remington-Rand. 1911A1 Colt, 1943. It had been in rough usage w/a lot of pitting, the barrel was kaput, someone had refinished it and chromed it. I replaced the barrel with a fitted Gold Cup barrel the smith had lying around. A Chinese-marked C96 made in Germany which I didnt like so I traded it off to a collector. Colt 1917 revolver in .45acp. Smith M&P .38spec. Most of these went thru my fingers like water... my tradin days...

 

[orygun]

I was jsut thinking about what gun that my relatives would have carried back in the
30s, 40, and 50s, or what I would have went for.

Dad was born in 31. Grandpa always had his shotgun, a rifle (the picture I saw it looked like '92 rifle) and a Colt Woodsman. When times got tough in the late 40's, the Colt was sold. It was later replaced with Ruger Standard, which I still have.

I would imagine that I would have kept similar arms, but that's an interesting "question".

 

[David Wilson]

My Dad, an Army Officer, was in Both Europe and the Pacific. He came back from Europe on a ship. He had picked up a couple of prizes. A highly engraved Artillery Model Luger and a fully engraved P-38 with a Boot Sock of ammo. They got as far as New York harbor and spend 30 days in Quarantine. He had been told he would only be allowed to bring one into the Country. After debating about which one he simply could not make up his mind. So he walked out to the fantail of the transport ship and dropped both into the water. Of course, when he left the ship it turned out he could have brought a bushel basket back.

Yep, that was my dad's case as well. He was afraid they'd check his baggage for contraband on the trip over, so he gave away guns left and right, keeping only one pistol, a Luger. They never checked his baggage, and didn't even ask. Anyway, he sold the Luger, eventually...

 

[revjen45]

For those who can't afford a 7.5mm FN the Tokarev is the reach-out conventional sidearm. Of course it isn't as well designed and made, but it doesn't cost $7500 either. I wouldn't feel poorly armed with a Tok loaded with JHPs.
I'm thinking that with a set of grips, a trigger job, sights, and a 2-screw accuracy job a Tok would be as close as you're going to get to a carbine in a holster for the $ involved.

 

[CountryGent]

I had a Yugoslavian M57 Tokarev for a spell. I really liked the cartridge, but the pistol was a pile. The safety didn't work and it would occasionally eject the magazine whilst firing. An original Tok would likely had been more fun.

I've done a bunch of reading on the 7.5㎜ and it looks really impressive. Alas, it is well into the "Gucci" category as of this writing.

 

[Sfc Jack]

And the cz 27.

 

[Sfc Jack]

 

[DunRanull]

American GI's captured the Walther factory at Zella Mehlis in April 1945. A great many of the PPs and PPKs brought back home originated from that event. It has been reported that many of the mismatched serial number firearms were from GI's assembling handguns from parts at the factory. There are even some examples that are unfinished "in the white".

Mismatched and unfinished Walthers from that year are still considered "correct" by collectors. It has been estimated that there were 14,000+ unfinished PPs and PPKs in the factory at the time of capture, but the records showing this were later destroyed by the Soviets.

View attachment 526054
View attachment 526088

After the end of the war, Zella-Mehlis and the factory fell into the Soviet controlled sector. The factory was completely disassembled by the Soviets and sent to somewhere in Russia.

E

....Where they proceeded to design and manufacture the Walther knock-off called the Pistolet-Makarova which was issued for several decades in Soviet and satellite militaries.

 

[DunRanull]

My Dad, an Army Officer, was in Both Europe and the Pacific. He came back from Europe on a ship. He had picked up a couple of prizes. A highly engraved Artillery Model Luger and a fully engraved P-38 with a Boot Sock of ammo. They got as far as New York harbor and spend 30 days in Quarantine. He had been told he would only be allowed to bring one into the Country. After debating about which one he simply could not make up his mind. So he walked out to the fantail of the transport ship and dropped both into the water. Of course, when he left the ship it turned out he could have brought a bushel basket back.

Oh Gawd... That just makes me nauseous..