At the in-laws yesterday I was given a piece of parachute silk. It was a WWII Normandy U.S. camo chute panel that, when unwound, was wrapped around a P-38 pistol. This pistol was a duffle bag bring back from a Normandy Vet, who is now 89 years young and still farming south of Stillwater. He said that this pistol has not been fired since it was brought back from Europe, and it looks it. Aside from being comepletely dry it is amazingly free of rust with no pitting at all. I would rate the original blue at over 85% maybe even 90% for a german war pistol, and the barrel and locking block are the only non matching parts as far as I can tell. The grips are immaculate original bakelite with no chips or scratches. He literally brought this home and never fired it, stuck it in the closet still in the silk. The problem is, I found after dissasembly, it needs a new hammer and sear, as they both have a gouge out of the engagement surfaces and the hammmer will not hold in single action mode. Looks like it was force cocked or fired with a peice of sand or rock in the engagement plane. My plan is to replace the hammer and sear and have him shoot it for the first time on video. Since I know next to nothing about this type of Nazi pistol, my questions are twofold:
1. Where is a good source for the fire control group?
2. Are there any resident experts on the forum who have good experience with working on WWII era P-38's who can help with advice or maybe more if needed?
It is now a personal mission for me to get this thing running. I promise I will post pics of the pistol and the chute panel when I put it back together, and I plan on having him fire it on video as well.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
1. Where is a good source for the fire control group?
2. Are there any resident experts on the forum who have good experience with working on WWII era P-38's who can help with advice or maybe more if needed?
It is now a personal mission for me to get this thing running. I promise I will post pics of the pistol and the chute panel when I put it back together, and I plan on having him fire it on video as well.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
