The Walther P.38 pistol is one of those pistols that have gone down in history and are recognizable even by those people who are not interested in firearms. This pistol not only went through the entire Second World War, but was also used for a long time after its end. The Walther P.38 has both an army of fans and those who consider this weapon one of the worst developments of the designers of the Walther company. There was even a joke about 8 warning shots and one accurate throw, characterizing this pistol as not the most accurate weapon. Let's try to get to know this pistol in more detail and try to assess its strengths and weaknesses with an open mind.
A brief history of the creation of the Walther P.38 pistol
Like any weapon that subsequently becomes widespread, the Walther P.38 pistol did not appear out of the blue, it was preceded by a series of pistols of less successful designs. The designers of the Walther company set themselves the task of creating a pistol that is simpler and cheaper than Georg Luger's P.08. From a technical point of view, the task was more than simple, since the P08 pistol is a complex and expensive weapon to manufacture, but there was one catch.
This snag was the characteristics of the Luger pistol, which not all designs could compete with. But even this was not the main problem. The main problem was that the military became very attached to the R.08 and in order to force them to change this pistol for another, it was necessary to do something, at least not worse, or to rely on a successful combination of circumstances.
The first designs of Walther pistols, which were supposed to replace the P08, were very far from ideal. For some reason, the designers decided to move in a direction that was deliberately wrong. The main mistake of the designers was the idea of creating a pistol chambered for 9x19 with automation, built on the use of recoil energy with a free slide.
The result of moving in this direction was a pistol that very much resembled an enlarged and significantly weighted version of the Walther PP pistol. Of course, such a weapon could not satisfy even the most modest requirements and it did not go into mass production. With this pistol, a little confusion began in the designations, since it was named Walther MP (Militarpistole), this designation was also used for subsequent samples, which were based on the automatic breechblock system. The first two versions of the MP pistol did not differ in anything fundamentally, the third version was already different, its distinctive feature was the trigger mechanism with a hidden trigger.
Despite all efforts to bring the design of the last version of the pistol to acceptable indicators in terms of durability and reliability and attempts to reduce the weight of the weapon, this did not bring any fruit. Soon it became clear that an automatic system with a free shutter could not be implemented in a pistol powered by a relatively powerful 9x19 cartridge, at the proper level, with the technical advances that were available at that time. As time has shown, the use of such an automation system is possible in pistols, but it has its own nuances, the most famous example of such a weapon is the VP70 pistol from Heckler und Koch.
It is worth noting that with the designation MR, other experimental models of pistols are also mentioned, the automation of which was already not on the free stroke of the bolt, but there is no reliable data on what kind of weapon it was.
In the process of searching for a workable automation system that would be distinguished by reliability and simplicity, Fritz Bartlemens proposed his own development, which, subsequently, became the basis for the weapon that we now know under the designation Walther P.38.
The main idea of the design was to improve the automatic short-travel system proposed by Browning. The main advantage of his development, the designer singled out the course of the barrel, which now moved strictly in a straight line, without skewing when unlocking the barrel. This was achieved by introducing a kind of latch into the design, which, when moving backward, interacted with the rod and removed the barrel and bolt group from the clutch.
On the basis of this design, the following pistol was developed, which was proposed to the military. This pistol already had the designation AP. The weapon was rejected by the military due to the fact that the trigger in the pistol was hidden, apparently they considered such a decision not safe enough. After changing this "drawback", the weapon was again offered to the military, with a new designation HP. It used the trigger mechanism of the second version of the MP pistol. This pistol was already practically a Walther P.38 and, after changing a few minor details, was adopted in 1940.
It should be noted that until the moment of adoption, this weapon with the name HP could be found on the shelves of weapons stores, and the pistol was offered not only in the version chambered for 9x19 cartridges, but also under ammunition.32 ACP.38 Super Auto and.45ACP. It is mentioned that weapons under this designation were produced until 1944, and even if this is true, it is obvious that the volumes were very small, since all enterprises, especially those engaged in the production of weapons, worked exclusively for military purposes, and not commercial.
By the way, there is one little-known fact about this weapon. This pistol was adopted by the Swedish army under the designation M39, but never appeared in the army. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, the Walther P.38 became the winner of the competition for a new pistol for the Swedish army, where just over one and a half thousand units of these weapons were sent. However, the beginning of the war made its own adjustments and Sweden had to abandon the pistol and adopt the Husqvarna M / 40.
The many-sided P.38
Despite the fact that there are not so many variants of the Walther P.38 pistol, you can find a fairly large number of weapons under this designation, which, although it will not differ in design, will differ in quality and individual details.
Since the army constantly needed weapons, the production of Walther P.38 pistols was deployed not only at the company's production facilities, the Mauser factories were connected to production, where the P.08 was discontinued, giving preference to the P.38. In addition, pistols have been produced in significant numbers at the Spreewerke factories since 1942. The differences between manufacturers and the constantly increasing requirements for production volumes inevitably affected the quality of the weapon, which, perhaps, was the reason for some dislike of this pistol among many. It is quite expected that when a person takes a new pistol in hand and from the very beginning begins to notice flaws in processing, and subsequently also failures in the work of individual units, he will form a strong opinion about the weapon and it will be clearly not positive. The most frequent phenomenon that characterizes the drop in quality during large-scale production was the operation of a safety device. When the fuse was turned on, the drummer was blocked, and all this worked when enough attention was paid to each pistol at the factory. The military samples of the middle of World War II could not boast of high quality, which can be seen even in the quality of the processing of the outer surfaces of the weapon. As a result of the decline in the quality of production, the drummer, after a short operation of the weapon, already ceased to be rigidly blocked when the fuse was turned on. As a result, the hammer hitting it resulted in a shot. By the way, did someone say something about TT?
The deployment of large-scale production for the ever-increasing needs of the military even led to the fact that only within the walls of Walther P.38 from the very beginning of production, some units were changed. For example, the first one and a half thousand Walther P.38 pistols had an ejector hidden in the casing, and after the release of almost five thousand pistols, the drummer's shank was changed, which was changed from a square to a round section.
If we talk about the quality of weapons, depending on where they were produced, then this will be absolutely incorrect. After all, Germans are always Germans, even when they are forced to rush. The difference in quality is more likely to be observed depending on the time when a particular pistol was produced. For this reason, one can very often come across the opinion that pistols made at the Spreewerke factories were of lower quality, but after all, they began to produce pistols on them only in 1942, and the production speed was much higher than that of Walther and Mauser.
For comparison, here are a few numbers. Since 1939, the Walther company has produced about 475 thousand units of Walther P.38 pistols. Mauser entered production at the end of 1941 and produced 300,000. Production at the factories of the Spreewerke company was launched only in 1942, and by the end of the war the company had produced 275 thousand Walther P.38 pistols.
It is possible to distinguish weapons from different manufacturers by brands, fortunately, in this case, everything is simple and clear to the limit. The first 13 thousand pistols of the Walther company can be recognized by the presence of the famous logo - an image of a tape with the name of the company written on it. These 13,000 pistols are also called "zero" series, since the serial numbers of the weapons began with zero. In the middle of 1940, the coding of the names of factories producing military products was introduced, the Walther plant received the digital designation 480, which was applied to the shutter casing instead of the company logo. By the end of 1940, the designation changed again, now letters were used instead of numbers, the letters AC were assigned to the Walter company, which changed the number 480 on the shutter casing.
Mauser pistols are easily recognizable by the three letters byf, but there are a small number of weapons with a different designation - svw. This designation was introduced in 1945. Spreewerke pistols were marked svq.
As mentioned earlier, there are not so many options for the Walther P.38 pistols. If we take only the war period, then we can distinguish a full-fledged version of the Walther P.38 with a shortened barrel. A little confusion may arise here, a shortened version of the Walther P.38 pistol was also produced in the post-war period, but visually, pistols with the designation P.38K can be easily distinguished from the military and post-war ones - for weapons that were produced for the needs of the Gestapo, the front sight was located in the same place where on the full-size version of the weapon, on the barrel. Post-war variants had the location of the front sight on the casing-bolt.
After the end of the war, the Walther P.38 pistol continued its service, albeit under the name P1. The only difference between this weapon and its predecessor was the frame made of aluminum alloy. Interestingly, the pistols that were produced for export were still designated P.38. Subsequently, the P4 pistol appeared, to which the barrel was shortened and the safety mechanism was improved, on its basis, once again, the P.38K pistol was made.
Despite the fact that the last variant of the Walther P.38 pistol was withdrawn from service in 1981, the production of weapons for export continued until the end of the twentieth century.
But the story of the pistol did not end there either. Since this weapon has left its mark on history, many enthusiasts continue to work with it. Of course, we are not talking about making the Walther P.38 in-house, but the result of this work is still interesting. So, most often, pistols of the war period are taken and, by eliminating the shortcomings of mass production, they are brought to ideal performance and an attractive, for a spoiled consumer, appearance.
An example of such work is the Walther P.38 pistols after revision by John Martz. One of the variants of his pistols was dubbed the Baby P38 by analogy with the "pocket" pistols of the early twentieth century. In the version of the weapon shown in the photo, the barrel was shortened to the "Gestapo" version, the coating of the outer surfaces was changed, the handle was shortened and the overlay was replaced, the shortcomings of the serial production weapons on the internal parts were eliminated.
Many people regard such work results negatively, since the weapon loses its historical value, but there is not a single person who would not admit that the end result is definitely more presentable than what was taken as the basis.
By the way, R.08 also suffered at the hands of the Master, which can now be found in the form of a carbine with a long barrel and a fixed butt. But back to the original Walther P.38 pistol.
The design of the pistol Walther P.38
As mentioned above, the basis for the design of the Walther P.38 pistol was an automation system with a short barrel stroke and locking the barrel bore, swinging in a vertical plane with a latch. The system of protection against an accidental shot was implemented in an interesting way. The external fuse switch blocked the drummer when turned on, respectively, the trigger could not move it from its place during the descent. In addition, one more detail was introduced into the design, which protects the weapon from a premature shot, until the barrel is locked. A spring-loaded part was stretched through the entire bolt of the weapon, which, when the shutter casing was closed, rested against the bottom of the sleeve and was pressed into the bolt casing. The movement of this part backward led to the unlocking of the drummer, in addition, it was also used as an indicator of the presence of a cartridge in the chamber.
Despite the outward simplicity of the pistol design, the weapon turned out to be clearly overloaded with small elements that performed one single function. Yes, the pistol turned out to be simpler and cheaper to manufacture than the P.08, but by modern standards, the production of such a pistol would be unreasonably difficult, without obvious advantages in the form of higher performance in comparison with competitors or a low price.
To be objective, this pistol finally lost its relevance as a military weapon back in the 50s of the last century, since by that time a lot of cheaper options appeared, both in production and on the counter.
How bad is the Walther P.38?
You do not need to search for a long time to find people who speak unflatteringly about this weapon. There are really a lot of negative reviews, and they mainly relate to wartime weapons and P1. In the first case, everything is explained by a decrease in the quality of production due to the large volumes of weapons produced in a short time. In principle, any weapon with a design consisting of many small parts will not be of the best quality in such conditions.
If we talk about the P1 pistol, then it is obvious that some of the weapons were made by replacing the frame of pistols produced during World War II, and hardly anyone paid attention to the quality of individual units, which led to undesirable consequences.
The very same design of the pistol, as shown by the work of enthusiasts who brought military samples to perfection, is quite efficient, it just does not withstand a low level of production. It is completely incorrect to draw conclusions based on traumatic, signal and, moreover, pneumatic pistols.
A good Walther P.38 pistol or a bad one is difficult to say. For its time, the weapon turned out to be really excellent, although not adapted for production in wartime. Since the pistol did not have a chance to develop rapidly into a simpler design, and the quality of production undermined its credibility, the Walther P.38, although it left a mark on history, did not become on par with other more successful models of pistols.
