When the Russians captured large quantities of guns, they disassembled them and dunked them into a super thick tar like black “crap” to try and preserve them. So, that’s why they call them “dipped” or “Russian dipped”. Some were dipped in lighter solutions than others. Some were not put together back to matching numbers. I believe once they were dipped, they were put in salt mines for long term storage, hence all the pitting. Russia began selling a lot of these captured P.38’s a while back. They were bought and imported to the U.S. where they entered the gun market. Many of them are also import marked and some weren’t. Some know how to properly get the dip off, but it’s quite a process and not easy. Even once the dip is removed, the gun’s finish is not quite the same after removal.
