This evening, we are offering a mint example of a .22LR Walther PP Sport complete with extra magazine, matching numbered box and papers. This pistol was manufactured in 1963 and it remains as it was on the day. Visit LSB armoury to view this collectible classic. In the meantime, you may wish to read some background history. The Carl Walther factory in Zella Mehlis, Thüringen was destroyed soon after WWII ended. It was first briefly occupied in April 1945 by American troops, who carried off whatever they found there, including the last few MKb42(W) prototype rifles. Then the Soviet troops moved in, as this area of eastern Germany fell within their area of occupation. They did not find much there, so they dismantled the tooling and carried it eastwards before destroying the factory early in 1946. Fritz Walther restarted the business from scratch, moving to Ulm and eventually beginning to manufacture air guns. The LP53 was their first air pistol – it was made famous by James Bond 007, who is seen brandishing the air pistol (!) in the iconic movie poster! The licence to produce Walther pistols was contracted to the Manurhin factory in France. Starting from 1953, the French factory produced classics such as the PP and PPK, both under the Manurhin brand and the Walther brand. The latter were sent to Germany as kits to have the frames hardened before being finished. The quality of these guns is superb. Early Walther-brand PP or PPK pistols with the ‘made in Germany’ legend on the slide were therefore actually manufactured in France. However, one model was exclusively produced at the Manurhin factory, irrespective of whether it was marked Manurhin or Walther: the elegant .22LR PP Sport, which is a sporting version of the PP and came in two barrel lengths, 150mm ('C' suffix serial numbers) and 200mm ('L' suffix serial numbers). Production of PP Sport pistols appears to have started soon after Manurhin received Walther’s licence in 1952. PP Sport serial numbers started from 50000 while the highest number seen is just below 75000. Hence, it is assumed that 25,000 of all models were built until production ended in the late 1960s. The PP Sport pistols are not only beautifully made, they are also very accurate and can outperform modern target pistols. The rear sight is adjustable, the hammer has a spur for easy cocking and the 10-round magazine has a plastic extension to fit into the contour of the grip, which has a thumb rest. Like the PP and PPK pistols, they are wonderfully easy to take apart and clean. All PP Sport pistols have a threaded barrel, which is required to remove the front sight ramp so that the slide may be drawn forward in disassembly.