I'm still trying to refine this from information submitted by collectors but this is what I have at this time.                                                  P-38 Grips                                                                    Walther Production 1940, 1941 & 1942 - Brownish Black Bakelite with mold # 1529 on left grip and mold # 1528 on right grip.  The last 3 digits of the gun's serial number will be found stamped on the inside until approximately the early to mid 2nd variation ac41.  The grips will also have the E/359 waffenamt stamped on the inside until about the same time as the numbering of the magazines stopped, in the 1942 c block. 1943 -----------------Same brownish black Bakelite as above until about the d block, then reddish brown Bakelite with the same mold #'s as above.   1944 & 1945 ------- Reddish brown Bakelite with mold #'s.  Later production in this period was mixed with some reddish brown and also brownish black.  It appears that some type of filler was mixed in with the Bakelite.  In '45 there were some Durofol grips used.  These will have a maker code in the upper circle but nothing in the lower circle.                                              Mauser Production   1942 & Early 1943 - Brownish Black Bakelite with mold #'s as with the Walther production. Remainder of 1943 - Reddish brown Bakelite with mold #'s. Early 1944 -------- Reddish brown Bakelite with mold #'s. Late 1944 & 1945 -- Shiny Black Plastic with no markings.                                            Spreewerk Production Approximately the first 20000 guns had grips from Walther.  Therefore they will be dark brown Bakelite with the 1528 & 1529 mold numbers. After that, they were generally a very dark, very hard, shiny Bakelite with a number (1 - 12) in a circle at the bottom of the grip and a logo at the top of the grip. Walther grips can be found occasionally in the first few thousand guns. Reddish brownish bakelite was used some from about mid '43 on but on a random basis.

The following is compliments of P.38 collector and researcher Mark Castel who has spent considerable time examining and documenting grip markings and details.

P38 Grip Info A grip with a number in a circle in the lower part of the grip is for a cyq. A grip with 1529 or 1528 (left and right) in the circle at the bottom is for a Walther or Mauser. A grip with 6 broken lines around the grip screw and a short first line is a Walther/Mauser grip. A grip with 5 broken lines around the grips screws and a long first line is a Spreewerk grip. Walther Production 0 SERIES: CeWe inside the grip (Registered trademark of Carl Walther) Also sometimes found w/ numerals "480" which was a mold mark and not the Walther assigned, short lived, Manufacturer's code. Grips are numbered to the guns and have the e/359 waffenamt stamped inside. 1940 to end of production: Dark brown to nearly black bakelite thru mid 1943. Reddish brown from mid 1943 thru mid 1944. A mixture of both the above thru end of war with mold # 1529 on left grip and mold # 1528 on right grip. The last 3 digits of the gun's serial number will be found stamped on the inside until approximately the early to mid 2nd variation ac41. The grips will also have the E/359 waffenamt stamped on the inside until about the same time as the numbering of the magazines stopped, in the 1942 c block. The low circle P1529/P1528 marking are accompanied by a high circle in which the "MD" marking appears. These separated by a blank mid grip circle. Jim Cates & Martin Krause presented, in their copyrighted 8/99 AutoMag article, some interesting Sauer 38-H plastic grip research. They found the MD, used from 1936 and on, represented the "Staatliches Materialprufungsamt Berlin-Dahhlem" which is the State Material Supervising (& testing) bureau in Berlin's district of Dahlem. Further, through the German monthly magazine "Kunstsoffe - a 1939 issue", they found a listing of all the published German plastic producers, their MD codes, and the material composition numerals. For instance, they report the "38" we see above the MD is for the Allgemeine Electricitats-Gesellschaft(AEG) firm of Henningsdorf(Osthavelland) & the "V7" is for Carl Walther themselves. The T1, S etc. below the MD is for the composition of the bakelit-like plastic compound. The "MD" looks worn from the mold during the late byf'43/ac'43 examples. Faded "MD" with, then, with out P1529/P1528 and vice versa as 1944 examples are started. After this, the Walther grips predominantly show the V7/## side markings till the late ac'45 block guns where most anything can show up. War's end - a mixed bag with whatever was available. Dieter H. Marschall, in his 10/99 AutoMag submittal, expands further by stating the "MD" is actually the three letters "MPD". In the regular MPD publication "Kunststhoff (Vol.30, #3, 1940), for P.38 grips made before 1945, the "Z3" stands for "Bakelit" - a "duroplast" consisting of phenol resin mixed with wood chips or textiles and then pressed. Further "T1" stands for "Trolit" [tradename "Trolit(-an)]", a material based on cellulose-acetate-plastic. Post War Walther-Ulm PP/PPK grip material uses the tradename "Cellidor" which is reported as similar to Trolit. The Walther-Ulm P38/P1 grips use "Novodur" - an ABS- plastic material produced by Bayer/Leverkusen. These details were to have been included in Mr. Marschall's booklet "Walther-Verteidigungspistolen Mod1-P99, 2nd Ed., Journal- Verlag, Schwaabisch Hall, 1999. D. Marschall goes on to say the P1528 can be read as follows: "1" for phenol resin plastic, "5" for 45% resin, & "28" was the color code for red to mahogany. And you only thought the P1528/P1529 was a simple mold (tool) number! In '45 there were some Durofol grips used. These will have a maker code in the upper circle but nothing in the lower circle. Mauser Production Same as Walther until mid-1944 Glossy black plastic from mid-1944 thru end of war. In my opinion Mauser switched to the glossy black plastic in early '44 even before the dual tones. Two low circles and a dimple in the left grip and the mid grip sprue in the right grip as is the norm. Spreewerke Production Dark brown to nearly black bakelite thru mid 1943. Reddish brown or dark brown thru end of war. Approximately, the first 1000 guns had grips from Walther. Therefore they will be brownish black Bakelite with the 1528 & 1529 mold numbers. After that, they were generally a very dark, very hard, shiny Bakelite with a number (1 - 12) in a circle at the bottom of the grip and a manufacturer marking in a circle at the top. The grips were made by Julius Posselt, code gfc (Gablonz an der Neisse, now Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech republic) The code gfc is not found on grips. The code 1W on the grip stands for Julius Posselt. Left grip marked either 1W41 or 1W31 in the circle at the top (A reported 1W37 grip appears to me as a new mold marking for 31 with a slightly bigger "crown" on the 1) In his research Dieter H. Marschall also states that Julius Posselt worked with "Presstoff Type T2" only , which is classified as "Phenolharz mit Holzmehl als Füüllstoff" (aka "Bakelite"). The code numbers "31" and "41" designate the colors of the material: "31" = mahagony to greenish, "41" = grey to black. 1W marking is special code granted by Materialprüüfungsamt Berlin - Dahlem. Other Dahlem code are: V7 Carl Walther, Zella-Mehlis, Thüüringen Z3 Trolitan-Presswerk, Weiskirchen, Trier, Saarland. W1 Heinrich Kopp GmbH,Sonneberg in Thüüringen In the 1940 issue Heft 3 from the Staatliches Materialprüüfungsamt in Berlin the code 1W belongs to the company Julius Posselt. This 1940 issue listed the following materials in their production. Presstoff Type S and Presstoff Type 2. These are the mold position numbers as I have seen them, each mold had 12 grips. Left grip have 1,2,3,7,8,9 Right grip have 4,5,6,10,11,12 Some late war bakelite grips will have no numbers on the underside. Late war grips will often have a LOT of filler in the bakelite matrix. The filler was apparently ground cardboard or shredded paper.