hi all i am curiouse and may buy a walther p38 from tradex what are peoples experiences with them i assume good quality like most things from Germany but any advise is apreciated as well do they jam alot with modern ammo and is there anything to watch for if reloading for them ? thanks
Neil
I bought the P1 from them several months ago when they had them on sale. It's basically the same as the P38 but with a heftier slide and a hexagonal pin in the frame to strengthen it.
The Tradeex P38/P1s are post war models with alloy frames. The P38 was police issue while the P1 was issued to the Bundeswehr (German Army). Most of these pistols were used, rearsenalled and packed away until sold off as surplus.
Further to all of the positive comments about Tradeex, with which I wholeheartedly agree, I was really happy with my P1. I found out on another site that 124grain loads are the closest to what they were meant to fire, and had no jams or other problems with the box of ammo that I fired through it. Also, despite only firing my handguns a couple times each summer while visiting the range to shoot rifles and shotguns, I was able to get some really nice groups with the P1, clumping all but one of the shots at 25 yards into a 3-4" group with one hitting lower on account of poor follow through. Perhaps it just fits me better than my Inglis High Power, Norc 1911 or Yugoslavian Tokarev, but I'd probably need a lot more practice to get a similar group with those other handguns.
Some other friends have bought the P1 or P38 from Tradeex on my advice, and so far they've all been happy with their purchase. It's a good choice for a starter pistol, and I'm told that once these are gone, that the Germans signed into a small arms treaty that requires them to destroy their surplus guns rather than sell them off to us!
Cheers,
Frank
