DWalt
Member
Some years ago I bought a P1 magazine. It wouldn't fit correctly in my WWII P-38 so I sold it on eBay for what I paid for it.
Walther P38 and P1 on sale on aimsurplus
- Thread starter pasote
- Start date
Bring home gun from WWII, part of my fathers collection that I have the honor of being the care taker of. Manufactured in March of 1944, Spreewerke plant.
Don’t know if ever saw any action.
Very smooth shooter though.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The original 1930s P-38s had firing pin safeties that made them drop safe and I presume should prevent firing if something went wrong in the hammer drop mechanism. Using Colt 1911 vocabulary all vintages of P-38s and P-1s have "series 80 firing pin safeties."
However, every time we use a hammer drop or chamber a round moving the slide or bolt quickly in simi-autos, lever actions and pumps we should have them pointed so that we can live with the damage in the rare event one goes bang.
So far I'm the only one to post that I owned a .22LR Walther P-38. I bought it new in 1977. Interarms imported them. It was a blow back. Its frame was not machined to work with a locking block. I think Walther did not make a lot of them.
Last edited:
The older P1 pistols without the reenforcement were designed for a service life of roughly 5,000 rounds, if my memory serves me right. During the Baader Meinhoff terrorist scare, the police -especially the BGS - started shooting much, much more than the regular 15 rounds per year for the annual qualifications and the P1 started failing.
In the West German military, usually three to five pistols were brought to the range for a company of soldiers and it was tried to finish whole cases of usually 1,000 rounds to avoid paperwork and the hassle of opened cases. Usually at least two cases were shot through three to five pistols, often three cases, so guns could see a thousand rounds in a day. The 9mm ammo for the P1 was the same that was used in the Uzi, by the way.
I had a 22 conversion unit for a P38 a ways back,,why I sold it I can't remember. This type had the insert bbl.
But anyway, a simple blowback principle with the lightened slide using only one of the two recoil springs on the frame,,the rt side IIRC.
Worked well.
I've seen a couple of the magazines for the .22's that have the small ejector tab broken off of them. It's formed as part of the feed lip when mfg'd.
The magazines are hard to find and that small but crucial point can go un-noticed if you're not careful looking it over or not that familiar with them.
If you have or get a P1 w/o the hex bolt, you can still find that as a separate part from a few sources and install it yourself...!
Measure carefully, drill and press fit/swage it into place with your HarborFreight arbor press.
I'll leave mine alone.
But anyway, a simple blowback principle with the lightened slide using only one of the two recoil springs on the frame,,the rt side IIRC.
Worked well.
I've seen a couple of the magazines for the .22's that have the small ejector tab broken off of them. It's formed as part of the feed lip when mfg'd.
The magazines are hard to find and that small but crucial point can go un-noticed if you're not careful looking it over or not that familiar with them.
If you have or get a P1 w/o the hex bolt, you can still find that as a separate part from a few sources and install it yourself...!
Measure carefully, drill and press fit/swage it into place with your HarborFreight arbor press.
I'll leave mine alone.
HOUSTON RICK
Member
Similar threads
