This was done because of the cost and weight savings of steel versus aluminum. The new Walther’s would be designated the P1 instead of the P38 and the frames would be made of Aluminum instead of steel. Germany turned again to the Walther P38 to be the side arm of the new Bundeswehr, but with a little bit of a twist. Luckily the Germans still had some P38 plans and some parts left over from war. The Soviet threat was real and the now Communist puppet state of East Germany was right next door so there was little time to develop new technology. In 1955 then West Germany was allowed to enter into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and it was decided that they would need to find a way to re-equip their military in order to take part in NATO and the defense of their borders. Shown decocking/safety and just above the hammer the loaded chamber indicator
Magazine Capacity: 8 Rounds Photo: Rick Dembroski This by today’s standards is a small capacity magazine but in 1938 the only major military sidearm that carried more rounds was the Browning Hi Power. Another feature that stands out about the Walther P38 is the eight round single stack magazine.
The pistols at this point in their production were made entirely of steel since Germany had yet to face any shortages in materials, production capabilities and had yet to suffer through the losses of manpower they experience after the Allies gained Air Superiority and began bombing Germany around the clock. One thing that Carl Walther’s design team also did was to lighten the slide weight by making the slide as short as possible and allowing the pistol to drop unneeded weight. When you add the double action system, the loaded decoder, the loaded chamber indicator into the equation its easy to see how revolutionary this pistol was. The Walther P38 also featured a loaded chamber indicator, which in 2017 is standard on many different pistols, but in 1938 there were very few guns that offered that. The ability to then click the safety off and fire from what is now considered a “normal” double action firing system was highly touted. The idea that a shooter could load the pistol, chamber a round then use a combination safety/de cocking lever to drop the hammer and render the weapon safe was mind-boggling in that time frame. The Walther P38 was the first commercially successful pistol to use a locked breech double action/single action system. You have to remember that in 1938 firearms technology was rapidly expanding and companies were trying many different designs. It’s important to know the distinction between the two versions. First we will look at the technology and features surrounding the pistol, then we will examine the two different variants of the pistol in the P-38 and in it’s rebirth in 1957 as the model P-1. The story of the Walther P38 is a fascinating tale, and in order to appreciate it we have to take a look at the pistol in two distinctly different ways.
Walther p1 p38 9mm frame plus#
The P38 was filled with ideas and technology that in 1938 were cutting edge and who’s influence we still see today 70 plus years later. The Walther P38 was largely over shadowed by the ascetically pleasing lines and easy handling Luger P08, despite its rather dull appearance the Walther P38 went on to serve the armies of the Wehrmacht, and later the modern German Bundeswehr. The Luger P08 was expensive to build and was labor intensive, that played a large part into the creation of the Carl Walther designed pistol model of 1938, or the Walther P38 pistol as it came to be known.
Arguably the most notable German pistol was the Luger P08 but it was a hold over weapon from the Austria-Hungary Empire of the First World War. When you think of World War II German firearms many guns come to mind, heavy machine guns like the MG-40 or MG42, maybe the classic MP40 or the Luger P08, which was a prized war trophy for allied troops.
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