Almost no new P.38 pistols were manufactured during the first few years after the war. The P.38 pistols and magazines that were captured from the Germans were introduced into the Norwegian and Czechoslovakian armies and also into the Austrian and East German police forces (VolksPolizei). Magazines found among these pistols were from a mix of any of the war-time-produced variations.
The Czechoslovakian Army applied new serial numbers on the guns and matched the two magazines with the serial number that was stamped on the pistol. Serial numbers on the magazines were electro-penciled on the spine or were stamped onto the toe of the floorplate. Some magazines were used over time with different pistols; these examples have multiple serial numbers. Previously applied machine-stamped serial numbers were X’d out, while a horizontal line was drawn through previous electro-penciled serial numbers. Sometimes no serial numbers were present; usually in that case, two circles were stamped on the toe of the floorplate, encircling the numbers 1 or 2 to indicate the original and the spare magazine.
