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Wery nice Sauer 38h - year and production?

3K views 12 replies 3 participants last post by  stand watie 
#1 ·
Hello again!
This is a almost 100% 38h from Sauer with holster.:D
No millitary acceptance, just eagle over N.
Serial no. 328583 WWII production, but what year?

There is a story from the war attached to this gun, i will check it.

Thanks again!
 

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#2 ·
So I’m seeing a trend here with your interest in WW II German guns…that’s certainly a very interesting area for collecting. I find it especially interesting from the standpoint of a European collector, just thinking about what all is out there to be had. Certainly much of the really cool stuff still has to be in Europe; we couldn’t have got it all?

I actually shot one of those Sauer’s a good 25 years ago or more. The one I shot was a .32 ACP so it was predictably very pleasant to shoot. Regardless of what people may think about the .32 ACP, it is a nice cartridge to shoot. I recall the Sauer being accurate and reliable, but certainly not my favorite from that era. Still, it's a Sauer so the quality is there.
 
#3 ·
.32 acp

So I'm seeing a trend here with your interest in WW II German guns…that's certainly a very interesting area for collecting. I find it especially interesting from the standpoint of a European collector, just thinking about what all is out there to be had. Certainly much of the really cool stuff still has to be in Europe; we couldn't have got it all?

I actually shot one of those Sauer's a good 25 years ago or more. The one I shot was a .32 ACP so it was predictably very pleasant to shoot. Regardless of what people may think about the .32 ACP, it is a nice cartridge to shoot. I recall the Sauer being accurate and reliable, but certainly not my favorite from that era. Still, it's a Sauer so the quality is there.
Thanks, yes absolute interest is german wwII guns. I think shooting with 32 is fun. my Mauser HSc is one of the best, beside my ppk.
Havent got this 38h yet, will try it in april...
 
#4 ·
The HSc is a very interesting pistol from a design standpoint, but the finished product is not something I really like. Ergonomics are not very good, trigger just downright sucks, and it's bigger and heavier than it needs to be. But they do shoot straight and work very reliably. Takedown is easy and pretty slick, and it's a very low maintenance pistol. I'll take the PPK, Browning 1910, Beretta Model 70, or one of the Astra's 300, 3000, 4000.
 
#6 ·
Gebirg,

The Astra 300, 400, 600 & other models were used in WWII by the Germans & they are rather common here.
(Some, if not most, are NOT "German marked", as they were "off the shelf commercial buys" - I knew 2 former Luftwaffe pilots, when I was stationed in K-town in 1970, who were issued an Astra 400 & one still owned his pistol/chest holster.)

Fwiw, I sometimes carried an Astra 400 (WWII surplus) in the late 1960s, when I was a Deputy Constable in Clark County, Arkansas. - It was "funny-looking" but shot WELL.
(In those long ago days/DAZE, Arkansas city/county LEOs bought everything that you needed on the job & many of us drove our own cars, trucks, Jeeps, etc. & were "reimbursed for expenses" - I had a red & white NASH METROPOLITAN roadster!!!)

yours, sw
 
#7 ·
Yeah, like Stand Waite said, you can get pretty much any Astra here in the states. The 3000 I have is an updated iteration of the 300. The grip is changed to a much more ergonomic form and the magazine release is re-located up behind the trigger. I always thought the 300’s were cool…They look like someone ran a 400 through a Xerox machine on ½ size. The 400’s, 600’s and 1921’s are all very accurate guns and tend to have good triggers. But since they’re straight blowback guns, the recoil springs on them are horrendous. Also, the grip frame is at a rather squared angle which makes pointing a little un-natural. And the shape of the grip frame doesn’t really help things in my opinion. It gets smaller toward the bottom, which may be ergonomically correct considering the anatomy of our hands, but it does nothing to keep the pistol from squirming around a bit when you’re shooting it…but a good two handed shooting grip can make up for that.

Overall, the Astra’s were very good pistols for military service back during WW II. They were very low maintenance, and very reliable. They are exceedingly simple with very few parts, so I’m sure the armorers for the Germans and the Spanish really appreciated that. I’ve always thought they were so ugly that you just had to like them. I sure love my little 3000; it’s a neat little pistol. With the improved ergonomics of the re-designed grip frame I have to say, it’s probably the most naturally pointing pistol I own.
 
#8 · (Edited)
KevinGibson, Gebirg,

FWIW, I paid (I think I remember) 20 bucks for the Astra 400 & the holster.
(a 400 will shoot most any round that will fit in the magazine, including 9mm parabellum, 9x21mm, .380 ACP & .38ACP, due to the shape of the chamber. = SOME people even shot .38 SUPER in them, though I do NOT recommend that.)

FWIW, the ONLY things that i was issued by the CCSD was a "tin star" (that looked like a TOY that came out of a cereal box. - The county badges were made by inmates at TUCKER PRISON FARM out of some sort of sheetmetal. It was a 7-pointed star in a circle.), a paperback copy of the Arkansas Penal Code, a county credit card & a "sawed-off" double barrel PARKER hammer shotgun.
(They didn't even provide uniforms. - I usually wore my army ROTC "Class B" TWs with "cowboy boots", with star fastened on my Sam Browne belt = I was a "red hot" 18YO. - I was sworn in 4 days after I turned 18 & there wasn't even a LE academy to go to in those long ago days. Things in American LE have changed a LOT in about 50 YEARS!!!!)

yours, sw
 
#10 · (Edited)
KevinGibson,

I have NO idea. - Haven't been back to Clark County since I graduated from college.
(I was invited to our 40th graduation reunion years ago & Mac S____________, who was a cadet in our class, said that not a single one of my profs was still alive. - So I didn't travel over 1500 miles for the reunion.)

Inasmuch as it was a half century ago, I wouldn't be surprized if they were "trashed". - Routine police service is hard on weapons.
(The OK Highway Patrol, years ago, stated that the average "useful life" of a handgun in their service was less than 10 years. - BTW, the Model 65 S&W was designed for the OHP to try to extend that "useful life". - I don't know whether "the experiment" worked or not but the Model 65 IS "tough".)

NOTE: Looking back to that era, from 40+ years of LE, the very idea of "turning loose" an 18YO "wet behind the ears" kid "to enforce the law" WITH NO TRAINING at all "scares me to death".

yours, sw
 
#11 · (Edited)
KevinGibson,

A final note on my "mis-spent youth": The CCSD in those days had a (siezed from a local thug) MP-38 & a "Navy-surplus" TSMG in "the department storage room", which were in great condition.
(Sheriff Wingfield used to let us take the SMG to the range to "play with".)


I'd love to have either in my collection.

yours, sw
 
#13 · (Edited)
KevinGibson.

SORRY. MY fault, rather than yours.

CCSD = Clark County (Arkansas) Sheriff's Department
and
TSMG = "The Chicago Piano", i.e., the THOMPSON SUB-MACHINE GUN.

(My old housemate, LT Elroy T_________ , could "sign his name" with the MP-38, believe it or not & a MP-38 sounds like a loud Singer sewing machine!)

yours, satx
 
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