Well...I guess I'm canceling the M44 order :-)
Was at Gander Mountain today and found this little gem for myself. Nice barrel and I can't wait to shoot her. She was packed in cosmoline and I completely took her apart and cleaned it all off. Came with the holster, original mag from the looks of it and then two newer mags that appear to have been made in the late 50's. :-)
Importer markings are on the inside of the handle so they don't stand out. AC43 so from what I find, this is a walther wartime production of 135k produced. Numbers appear to match, front lower portion of barrel (not pictured) has the same last four digits of the serial stamped across it. Only strange thing is the top slide, it appears perhaps it was a slide from same batch (batch J) but a strike over and restamped. Assuming if this is the case the arsenal would have done it post war, also impressed they pulled one from same batch.
Can't really 100% say but is this a proof stamp on the side of the barrel housing?
dirty bird and proof stamp #359
Interesting, not sure what this zero is for on the ride side just under the slide
AC over the 43, clear 568 proof, upper x and strikeover and restamp above is interesting.
Ended up with a fair deal imo, as I've wanted one of these since first stumbling into collecting a while back, did have one slipup though, I think store clerk recorded their inventory number or something for the serial #. neither he original stamp nor the importers match what they recorded on my register receipt. Did get to use my C&R though :-)