Any Walther P38 Fans?

I won an auction today for my first Walter P 38.

It is new in box gun manufactured, coincidentally, while I was in West Germany in the Army - 1968.

Don't know a thing about these weapons good, bad or otherwise. I'd like to know what you think of them other that they are an oddity for the most part in the USA. I suspect that I got a good price and would not have much of a problem getting my money out of it.

Don't know if you'd call me a "fan" or not but I picked one up last year. Always considered them one of the ugliest weapons around==just slightly more handsome than a rock!

However, I was surprised to find out it was pleasant to shoot and pretty accurate.

Always wanted the "Man from U.N.C.L.E." Model......... LOL

Or a P-5 but magazines too hard to find/expensive!

Never owned one, but I envy you yours.

People I know who've owned them mostly liked them, but a fair number felt the triggers were awful.

I have a WWII manufacture P-38, My dad mail ordered it in the early 60's when you could still do that. I wanted him to get a P-08 but he liked the P-38 ( I think the P-08 cost a little more).
A little rough on the outside, but will fire any 9mm ammo, even loaded some cast lead 115 grain SWC hollow points, sized .357 and it fed fired and ejected those with no problems and surprisingly accurate.
I have loaded some 105 gr. Lee cast SWC bullets, they manually fed from the clip and into the chamber and ejected, so next is a range trip. I fully expect them to feed fire and eject like everything else I've shot through it.
I like mine and you should enjoy the newer better finished one you have too. Yours has the cool short barrel...Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Gary

Have a Smith built PPK / S, a new P-5 in the box and a 007 MI6 marked P99.
I currently have a P1 - 38 which I'm looking to build an U.N.C.L.E. Special on.
Just the bird cage flash hider version with the initialed grips. Always liked that gun as a kid.
That is a nice P38 you picked up!

I'm a P4 man myself. You always get interesting looks at the range as your brass ejects to the left.

This one my wife wanted.
It just stays in the safe, never fired.

I've owned many and still own multiple P38s both of wartime vintage and the later alloy frame examples. It's hard to beat the early WW II examples for collectability and they have gone up sharply in value over the past several years.
If you want a shooter IMO you're better off buying an alloy framed example like the one pictured above. IMO: They are more reliable then the WW II examples and this may of course be due to tired springs in the older ones.
The alloy framed ones were readily available up until a few years ago but the supply has largely dried up. The owner of Omega Weapons in Tucson,AZ ,who imported thousands of these, has told me the German Government isn't selling any more on the surplus market so these will probably start rising in price as well.
Jim

I love that "Cold War" P-38 you have sir. They are iconic guns and still in use in some places.
I have run into a few over the years. Sold a lot of vet bring backs before I knew the differences. Lord only knows what I let go of thinking only that it was a P-38.
I do have a couple though.
A AC 44 with a mint Hans Romer 1943 hard shell holster, an AC 45 and an early AC 42 with matching numbered magazine.

They are nice if you have big hands. The trigger pull is loooooong.

I was up to the range/gun shop tonight and noticed in the used gun case a P38 for $995.00

Compared to what I spent that price is sky high. I am a happy shopper/shooter tonight.

That vintage model was problematic re. frames cracking. They solved it by putting in a hex lug right above the front of the trigger guard. Just be sure to use mild loads.

I have a P38, a P08 and a Star Model B. I use a different load and bullet style for each to be sure they run troublefree. In contrast, my 39-2 runs with any of the loads...

Nice one.
The Post War guns were plentiful and relatively inexpensive for a while,but the supply is gone or nearly so.
Prices are going up on the run of the mill variety. There are some collectibles already ID'd in the Post War production that get special $$ if the seller knows what they have.

I have a P1 Model, nothing special. The plain non-reinforced frame,standard slide model. Shoots very nicely and is one of the few semi-autos I still shoot as the slide is very easy to operate.

I just shoot Rem-UMC type FMJ or my standard load cast bullet handloads through it. Feeds & ejects w/o problems. I don't ask it to do anymore than that.

Check the recoil spring guides on the post-war pistols as they are made of plastic/nylon type material.
The small guides are at the front of each of the dual recoil springs on the frame. They stay in place when the gun is field stripped and in fact are what holds each recoil sping in place on the frame while the slide is off.

The small enlarged head/engagement area of the guide can wear allowing it to jump unexpectedly out of it's captive machined cut in the frame when the slide is taken off of the pistol in TD.
You could still buy many unused original parts for the P1/P38 Post-War guns including the guides very recently. I don't know if that's changed.

Replacing the recoil springs is another often mentioned must thing to do.
Check them out,,they're not all worn out. Replace as necessary. Standard # is all that's needed.

Post war guns made changes in the slide starting in about 1967,,or ser# 312,000.
The problem was cracking of the slides was showing up. (Similar cracking shows up on War time mfg P38s)
The slide dimensions were beefed up. The term 'fat slide' model is given to those pistols equipted with them.
One way to ID them is that the slide serations go all the way to the front of the safety lever on the fat slide type.

The Post War alloy frames were also fitted with a hex pin inserted through the frame just above the trigger.
Inside where the locking block contacts the frame, the large steel pin would now take and transfer the energy to the alloy frame. Makes sense for longer frame life. Other pistols do that. The HK4 has a steel insert moulded into the alloy frame at the abutment point inside where the slide hits.

This was started around ser# 370,000.
This is past where the 'fat slide' was introduced.
From what I can gather,,new production pistols from that # and on were factory made w/the hex pin. I'm told older pistols were not refitted with the pin, but rather rebuilt and refitted w/an entirely new frame (that included the hex pin) when and if they came into the factory for upgrade.
Some will disagree with that, I don't get into the details of the collector aspect anymore because of headaches that follow,,,so I leave it at that.
Safe to say most any combination of an unpinned or pinned frame, and a standard or 'fat' slide is likely to show up on an earlier post war production.
They all seem to work just fine.

Post war magazines are interchangeable with war-time mags. Post war mags have grooved followers, war-time does not. One way to tell besides the obvious markings or lack of them.
Lots of refinished post-war mags around, or at least there was!

The bbl is a 2 piece assembly on the P1/P38 post war gun. Pre-war guns are one piece. A point that gets argued about , which is better, which is not, why, ect. Personally I've never seen a post-war bbl fail because it was a 2 piece assembly. It just doesn't bother me.

I've retired my War-Time P38's from the range as there have been just too many that have cracked slides in normal use (see above).
It's just too difficult to replace a major part like a slide on one of these and they are getting/are too collectible now. They're not the $50 & $75 gun they used to be.
The Post-War P1/P38 fills in just fine.
Had mine out this afternoon...

I have a postwar alloy P38. Its reliable, but not particularly accurate in my hands, which doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with it. I bought it because it called to me from under the glass and didn't cost very much. Of course, now we know it's "iconic". It's fun to shoot, and the punters really like it.

These are my two...a 9mm and a .22 from the 1970s... I think the 9mm is an Interarms from the 1960s. Both great shooters.







Once upon a time I read a SHOOTING TIMES article about the P-38 .22 and always wanted to try one...took probably 35+ years to find one...

Bob

P08 to P38

The German military replaced their WWI vintage P-08s with the P-38 although P-08s remained in use throughout WWII.

You have a great gun and I do hope you enjoy using it.

Very nice commercial import P-38 package !
Very good info above, I would only add your frame acceptance stamp appears to be a Nov 1963 , Also IIRC they changed to the P-1 frame stamp designation some time shortly after 63, Does it have an Elk Horn 68 trigger guard stamp ?

I purchased a commercial gun around 1988 and they were not very common to find or comparatively cheap when you did ,
Of course that was before the mass import of $350 former German PD guns (a few years back ) , the sudden influx dropped prices considerably although IMO the commercial versions seem to have a nicer finish and are in a different category .

BTW what is the frame stamp on the right side frame ? A 1963 gun should be pre Interarms stamp unless imported after 1968.

I had one of the French built guns I bought in the early 1980s. It was stolen in 1986. Bought another and traded it for a Ruger Blackhawk in 30 Carbine. Sold the Ruger. Wish I had it back.

About 5 years ago I saw a P38 on Gunbroker started at $199. I bid. Nobody else bothered. When it it arrived the box was mashed with the barrel sticking out. Safety lever was sheared off and whole gun was bent locking the slide closed. Best guess is the box got caught in some machinery and gun got crushed under hydraulic pressure. Sent it back and seller sent a replacement.

People tell me it's a P1 and not a P38 but the slide is marked P-38 so that's what I call it. Dated 1963. This model fits my hand well. I like shooting it. Don't need to use any hot loads in it.

They all look the same but here's a photo of mine.

Never been a fan of those- but- a while back I did meet the guy what wrote the P-38 book. He's from Los Alamos, NM.
(And I have stayed in Holiday Express motels)
I do recall there was a heated exchange concerning P-38s found in U boat sub pens in France??