Walther LP52 pistol

[ccdjg]

It’s one of those difficult cases where all the possibilities are improbable but still, one must be the truth


What would seal the deal for me would be something on paper, anything really, a leaflet from 1952, a letter to a retailer saying exciting news, our new air pistol will be with you before Christmas, etc

Well, funny you should say that ..

[greenwayjames]

This would have been the very first air pistol for Walther. According to the advert it was due out in December 1952. Launch dates are rarely kept and the confusion could simply be caused by it being released a month late? They wouldnt have scrapped components with markings referencing 1952, that was last years model, but just used them up and renamed it the LP53? With material shortages at the time and the situation so soon after WW2 circumstances would have been different from those in a later world.
Good to see the ad. for the LP52

[Garvin]

I think this graphic may have been drawn up in 1952, maybe at the time Walther was deciding on a new designation. It appeared in the AKAH 1954 catalogue (produced in 1953) advertising the new LP53 but interestingly it just has 'Pistole Walther's Patent' where the number would be.

[RobinC]

Good to see the ad. for the LP52

The ad does not say LP52, it just says a new air pistol.

The designation had clearly not been decided at the time of that document, and no way would they have marked a few, and the year just rolls over and no way would they then change the designation just because the first ones were late. If the designation had been decided as, and the first ones actually marked as LP52, then all would have remained as LP52

I'm afraid its no more than a good myth, and some clever fakers who have made them for what ever their reasoning, may be mischief, or profit.

Some years ago I met an elderly man at the Ulm Schutzengilde who had worked on the LP 53's He was adamant there were no LP52's, but he said what is true, is that there were a very small number of pre production ones with no designation at all, and they are genuine if any come to light.

Have Fun
Robin