They were all 1940s manufactured.
The ones I handled and shot were in decent shape (about a dozen at a few different units), no failures to feed or stoppages. It really depended on how used each particular one was.
It isn’t about the age of the pistol, the modern designs are basically all just variations on the hi-power, it’s about the condition. The Hi-Power also has the advantage of fitting quite well in the hand of most shooters, something these double stacked pistols generally don’t do.
A lot of shooters shoot with a "limp wrist" No dis intended.
I see this at the range quite often, especially with young, inexperienced shooters or older shooters, at the last stages of their shooting careers.
I agree, heavily worn P35s will malfunction. I saw a couple of hundred of them at the Chilliwack base, back in the 80s, when on a DCRA RCO course, which had been sent back to their armorers for evaluation and replacement. They were all ridden hard but well maintained, from what I could see.
I managed to see them because one of the course instructors saw my P35, which was close to immaculate condition, and asked if he could look at it. This wasn't at the range but in a classroom. He had gone with us to the range that morning and watched me shooting in a very "unspectacular" manner. P35s have horrid triggers, until they're "tuned"
We went to the armorer's shop and the REME asked me to leave it with him and come back in the morning to pick it up.
He did his magic, for which I bought him several rounds at the seargeant's bar, and that pistol became a dream to use, in comparison to its original condition.
He removed the little shiny pin on the trigger, stoned all of the contact surfaces and reduced the engagement surfaces between the sear and hammer. He didn't reduce the hammer spring tension, because I was shooting DCRA issue ball.
We talked a bit about "limp wrist" shooting and he stated it was a real problem they encountered a lot.
The p35 requires a "locked" wrist and a firm grip to cycle properly. If the shooter had a weak wrist or loose grip, the slide can't fully cycle, because the recoil causes the entire pistol to move rearward and upward while cycling, and the slide can't move back far enough to properly eject the spent case and pick up the next round out of the magazine.
He told me it didn't happen often but the odd individual would try to "fix" the issues by making "adjustments" to the mag lips, which mostly made it worse.
