I was the intended purchaser of this fine pistol. However, circumstances beyond my control dictate that the funds originally intended for this purchase be applied elsewhere - for purposes much less satisfactory. My sincere and public apologies to the OP.
Below is a fair amount of history on the Manurhin/France Walther/Germany topic for those interested - it explains why the OP's Walther marked pistol is better finished than a Manurhin marked version...
Walther's original factory was located in Zella-Mehlis in the state (Land) of Thuringia, in present-day eastern Germany which was occupied by the Soviet Union following World War II, Walther established a new factory in Ulm. However, for several years following the war, the Allied powers forbade any manufacture of weapons in Germany. As a result, in 1952, Walther licensed production of the PP series pistols to Manurhin who manufactured the PP series until 1986. In fact, all postwar European-made PP series pistols manufactured until 1986 were manufactured by Manurhin, even though the pistol slide may bear the markings of the Walther factory in Ulm.
A hardened slide cannot be successfully roll-marked. That is why PP-series pistols that were machined by Manurhin (from special forgings specified by Walther and supplied from Germany, it is worth noting) that were to become "German" Walthers were shipped to Ulm with "soft" slides. Ulm marked the slides and differentially heat treated them by oil hardening plus electrical induction hardening in the area of the safety lever; then the slides were polished and blued (which is why the blue on Walther-marked slides is brighter and does not match the frame blue). Magazines for all .32 cal. PP-series pistols were manufactured at Ulm, (and reverse-supplied to Manurhin). Germans (not French) performed final assembly, quality control inspection, test firing and targeting, and finally proofing. The corresponding tasks on guns marked "Manurhin" were performed 100% by the French; those guns never saw a German fitter or inspector.
That is the difference.
Later on, of course, there was some PP-series production at Ulm that did not involve Manurhin at all.
I do not mean to belittle Manurhin final inspection and quality control -- which was very good indeed. But it is a fact that Ulm-marked pistols were not completed by the same people, and anybody who thinks that final fitting and QC inspection is just a formality need look no further than S&W's recent experiences. Most of S&W's problems with defective guns clearly originate from lapses in quality control.
The PP-series pistols "pre-produced" in France (from German forgings) were delivered to Ulm with the slides unmarked, soft and in the white. The front sight was drilled, and the slides were marked, heat-treated, polished and blued at Ulm. The reassembled pistols were inspected, function tested, test fired and proofed by the Germans. All of this entitled them under German law to be marked as W. German-made. Guns produced entirely by Manurhin were contractually not entitled to bear the Walther Banner trademark.
Later on, in the late '80s, Walther began making them from scratch. They were not as good as the earlier joint-effort guns.
