Walther P38 22 cal.

[CZU]

Well, not quite. It's an American Arms model P98, Erma design and built in the USA. I remember the ones that they made that resembled the Walther PPK but not these. I'm not to much of a fan of mystery metal but I thought I would make an exception in this case. I'll try it out this weekend, hopefully it'll be a shooter.

 

[rockquarry]

I remember when these were advertised some years ago. They were inexpensive as I recall. I was curious about these guns back then but never read a review and never saw anything but photos. I'd be interested in knowing how well your gun works and the accuracy.

The original .22 version of the P38 is likely quite scarce and expensive. I've never actually seen one of those either.

 

[Ameshawki]

I vaguely remember those. As I recall its slightly smaller than a real P38. Their PPK clones did not have a stellar reputation. Didn't last too long in the market place.

 

[anoblefox]

I once owned a real Walther P38 in 22 that I bought from a local gun shop
(near Geoge Air Force Base in Calif.) at the time. I was told that an Air Force pilot brought a 9mm and the 22 in and he needed money and that is how both were acquired. The pistol was terribly inaccurate, so I sold it at a good price to a Walther collector for 4 times what I paid to obtain it.

 

[.38SuperMan]

I had one of the scaled down 22cal erma’s back in the 90’s. It functioned fine and was fairly accurate. I don’t remember the price but they weren’t expensive.

I also had a scaled down Luger and 1911, both shot 32acp. As I recall they worked and shot just fine.

 

[2152hq]

I had one of the Walther P38 w/ the 22LR conversion kits.

IIRC the .22 slide worked by using only one of the frames 2 recoils springs.
One side of the slide inside was simply machined out so it didn't engage the other recoil spring/guide.
That made for a very light recoil spring tension and the .22LR was able to run the slide by straight blow-back action.

Why I sold it I do not remember. But someone must have dangled a bright shiny object of desire in front of me.
I do wish that hadn't happened though. The P38/P1 is one of my favorite semiautos and I shoot them very well.
I don't recall any issues with the .22 conv unit other than it seemed to need HV ammo to work reliably.

The OP's pistol I recall when they came on the market. The design/look of the P38 made them very popular.
Zamac was used for the frame and some other parts IIRC.

One thing I'd advise is to use Std Vel Ammo in these.
IF it functions OK with Std Vel ammo,,stick with that.

I'd stay away from use of HV Ammo as there is the chance of the slide cracking at the front where it surrounds the bbl.
That HV ammo use causes the slide cracking is my own (and some others) opinion from seeing these come in for repairs.
The pistol does have a small track record of the slide cracking at the front . Not much else really goes wrong with them. People take them apart and can't reassemble or loose parts. Occassionally a cast part will break as with any of them. But a pretty reliable plinker.

I will say that the American Arms Co owners manual for these does state that HV .22lr ammo is what the P96 is made for.

But I'd hate to see a cracked slide just the same.

IIRC it has a Magazine Safety in it. That bothered a lot of owners. But leave it alone. It's not worth trying to remove and still have the gun working reliably.

Other than that, they seemed to be reliable shooter/plinkers.
Numrich used to carry pretty much all the parts for the gun.
Magazines being the exception. Aftermarket are out there with various results as usual.