An historic milestone: the Walther P.38 pistol

[PALADIN85020]

In 1938, the armsmaking firm of Carl Walther Waffenfabrik, located in the central German town of Zehla-Mehlis, Thuringia successfully won a contract to produce a unique service pistol for the German armed forces. It was to be known as the Pistole 38, or P.38 (pronounced "pay-oct-oond dry-sig" in German.

Based on the mechanics of Walther's line of pocket pistols developed in the late 1920s (the PP, or Polizei Pistole), and the abbreviated PPK (Polizei Pistole Kriminal), the P.38 was a slightly modified version of the previous Walther HP, or Heeres Pistole (Army pistol).

Its concept was revolutionary for a service pistol at the time. It allowed a double action first shot, with subsequent shots in single action mode. Repeat strikes on primers failing to ignite on the first shot were possible. The design incorporated a decocker mechanism combined with the safety lever, and a falling-block locking mechanism. The ejection opening was massive, as the slide had a large open area to serve this function. It was also designed to use coil springs and stampings, which contributed to ease of manufacture. It first supplanted and then replaced the P.08 (Luger) pistol in German service. The P.38 was also made by Mauser and Spreewerke in addition to Walther.

It's no secret that the Beretta Model 92, and its derivative, the U.S. M9 service pistol, were shamelessly based on this design, conceived way back in the 1930s. These newer pistols are basically double-stack P.38s.

I took this picture today to show this very interesting milestone in pistol development - it's a classic. This is a 1943 example, made by Walther.

John

 

[Biker Bill]

John, thanks for the great write-up on a classic pistol. Nice picture also!

 

[Biker Bill]

John

Thanks for the historical background on this classic pistol. Nice picture also!

 

[Badkarma 1]

Very nice John, I have a Mauser manufactured (1942) P.38 and trot it out on those special occasions when I want to shoot a classic.
Despite its "aged" design it as modern as tomorrow! Dale

 

[moosedog]

You definately have a NICE collection of guns Paladin.
Here's a AC 42 (Walther 42) that I picked up this winter. It has the magazine numbered to it.

 

[PALADIN85020]

You definately have a NICE collection of guns Paladin.
Here's a AC 42 (Walther 42) that I picked up this winter. It has the magazine numbered to it.

Very nice find, moosedog! Matching magazines are extremely rare with these guns, as things got mixed around a lot during wartime.

John

 

[DCWilson]

i have always admired the clean design of the P38, but have never fired or even held one. Does the left side extractor mean brass is thrown left rather than up/right? Was that design a response to a perceived problem with tossing empties in some other direction?

I think I'm going to have to own one of these some day.

 

[dsbock]

I picked this one up a few years ago:

It's one of the first P38s made in Germany after arms production resumed in 1958. This one was made in July 1959.

I replaced the post war grips with reproduction grooved grips for reenacting purposes.

David

 

[mkk41]

Paladin , I love these classic pistol threads you start! Let's us other C&R collectors admire and show off something besides our S&W's.

When our local PD switched to Beretta 96 , I joked with the chief and asked why didn't he get something more modern besides that antique. He's a gun-guy (previously carried a nickeled Python), but still questioned my remark. I explained that the Beretta 92/96 was just a double stack P-38 with long slide. I later took my P-38 down to him and we stripped the guns down side by side.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

I bought a Walther P-1 from wideners using my C&R. This one was made in 1986 and looks new.

The P-1 is an alloy frame post war version of the P-38. There were some problems with the alloy frame. Firing NATO 9mm in them caused some frames to crack. A pin was added to the frame to make it stronger. There are 2 versions of the slide. The original slide had serrations that were from the rear of the safety to the read of the slide. A later thicker version had the serrations starting in front of the safety. The pistol that I have is the long serration/pinned version. I find this to be a good shooter and I get good groups with mine.

Wideners still has some of these for $329 with 2 mags.

 

[PALADIN85020]

i have always admired the clean design of the P38, but have never fired or even held one. Does the left side extractor mean brass is thrown left rather than up/right? Was that design a response to a perceived problem with tossing empties in some other direction?

I think I'm going to have to own one of these some day.

I think it has more to do with the mechanics of the firing mechanism requiring the fold-down ejector having to be on the right side, necessitating a left-side extractor. This does result in the empties heading left rather than right. Probably not the best for right-handed folks, but ejection goes pretty high and not much to the rear.

John

 

[RenoGuy]

In 1938, the armsmaking firm of Carl Walther Waffenfabrik, located in the central German town of Zehla-Mehlis, Thuringia successfully won a contract to produce a unique service pistol for the German armed forces. It was to be known as the Pistole 38, or P.38 (pronounced "pay-oct-oond dry-sig" in German.

Interestingly enough, the May issue of Guns & Ammo magazine has an article about the Walther P38 vs the Tokarev TT33 and the Russian Army's use of the TT33 in the Battle of Berlin versus the Nazis and the P38.

While the guy who wrote the article clearly has a thing for the P38, he admits that the TT33 is pretty nice in it's own right.

My son is buying a TT33 (which I'm pretty anxious to shoot) and I just suggested to him that he should also buy a P38, purely for educational purposes, I assure you.

 

[2152hq]

Very nice John, I have a Mauser manufactured (1942) P.38 and trot it out on those special occasions when I want to shoot a classic.
Despite its "aged" design it as modern as tomorrow! Dale

A Mauser mfg 1942 (BYF 42) is a hard one to find and brings a premium from collectors. I think they were only made for 2 months a the end of 1942,,the very beginning of Mauser production of the P38.

I had one I bought in a gunshop at a good price (not knowing the rarity at the time) and was just going to sell it. It cashed out for 3 times what I expected at the end of the auction. Good thing I chose that sales route.

I have one AC44 left that I don't shoot anymore. Completew/softshell holster & extra mag.
A Walther P1 gets the range time. 1962(?) mgf w/o the pin but never any problems with it. My favorite CF auto pistol now.

Great photo and post John!

 

[Eltioloco]

This P38 rode under the seat of my fathers pickup from 1950 to about 1970 and was loaned to anyone who needed a pistol. It sat in a gun rug or an old WWII german highpower holster. My father gave it to me for Christmas one year. (Don't tell my wife, but it was the best Christmas present ever.)
The condition of the pistol must have been outstanding when he acquired it, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

 

[DCWilson]

...requiring the fold-down ejector having to be on the right side, necessitating a left-side extractor. This does result in the empties heading left rather than right. Probably not the best for right-handed folks, but ejection goes pretty high and not much to the rear.

John

Thank you, John. I appreciate the insight. It occurred to me that southpaws (and occasional left-handers) might prefer a gun like this one.

 

[Colokeb]

Smilarity? Swedish Husky 1946

Here is a 1946 Husqvarna Vapenfabrik from Sweden and supplied to the Dutch police for the cleanup of remaining Nazis.

It is a 9mm.

 

[mkk41]

Here is a 1946 Husqvarna Vapenfabrik from Sweden and supplied to the Dutch police for the cleanup of remaining Nazis.

It is a 9mm.

Yep , we did them too.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/237455-lahti-pistols-brief-history.html

 

[2152hq]

This P38 rode under the seat of my fathers pickup from 1950 to about 1970 and was loaned to anyone who needed a pistol. It sat in a gun rug or an old WWII german highpower holster. My father gave it to me for Christmas one year. (Don't tell my wife, but it was the best Christmas present ever.)
The condition of the pistol must have been outstanding when he acquired it, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

Wow,,another rare one. 2 in the same post.

A '480' code Walther. '480' was the first code applied to the Walther factory for P38 production. Later replaced w/ 'AC' code in late 1940.
'480' pistols are the first German Military contract P38's.

The '480' coded P38's were all made in 1940 IIRC from about April till the AC code took effect in the fall of the year. Only about 7200 were made. Highly valued by collectors in many dollar bills.

The greatest value is having been a gift from your Father.