Walther P-38
- Thread starter albertacowboy
- Start date
Mechanically, there was zip difference between the early ones and the late ones. Not like Radoms at all.
What you look for in an early gun is fit and finish, matching numnbers, same as any second-hand gun.
There are a few nice ones around. I scored one a few years ago: Mauser-Werke, 1944, nice-looking piece in 99% condition.
Original wartime mags are Waffenamt marked. P-1 mags work just fine and they are a lot cheaper. Original Walther mags with the banner trademark cost half the Earth and a mortgage on your virgin daughter, but they do exist. Did I mention that there are lotsa P-1 mags around... and they work just fine? You have the idea.
Original holster should be the black pigskin flap type, holds 1 spare mag. Original ammo was packed in 16-round boxes. P-38s don't really like a steady diet of Sten ammo but a box or so won't hurt them.
Late-war examples, especially those built by Erma-Werke at Dachau, really ought to be gone over VERY carefully. They were using labour from the KZ and some of the workers might not have had the greater glory of Fuhrer and Vaterland at heart.
Only real weakness in any of these is that silly little stamped-tin top action cover. It is flexible and just pressed into place. If you pry it out, you CAN get bits and pieces rather a remarkable distance away. It should fit closely and tight if you're intending on shooting the critter.
Check for cracks in the locking-block; that's where problems show up, generally, if they are going to show at all.
Have fun!
What you look for in an early gun is fit and finish, matching numnbers, same as any second-hand gun.
There are a few nice ones around. I scored one a few years ago: Mauser-Werke, 1944, nice-looking piece in 99% condition.
Original wartime mags are Waffenamt marked. P-1 mags work just fine and they are a lot cheaper. Original Walther mags with the banner trademark cost half the Earth and a mortgage on your virgin daughter, but they do exist. Did I mention that there are lotsa P-1 mags around... and they work just fine? You have the idea.
Original holster should be the black pigskin flap type, holds 1 spare mag. Original ammo was packed in 16-round boxes. P-38s don't really like a steady diet of Sten ammo but a box or so won't hurt them.
Late-war examples, especially those built by Erma-Werke at Dachau, really ought to be gone over VERY carefully. They were using labour from the KZ and some of the workers might not have had the greater glory of Fuhrer and Vaterland at heart.
Only real weakness in any of these is that silly little stamped-tin top action cover. It is flexible and just pressed into place. If you pry it out, you CAN get bits and pieces rather a remarkable distance away. It should fit closely and tight if you're intending on shooting the critter.
Check for cracks in the locking-block; that's where problems show up, generally, if they are going to show at all.
Have fun!
- Location
- Montreal, Quebec
+1
This frame is the weakest link in this design. Stay away from +P type ammo. I have a P1 and a P38. Inexpensive and fairly accurate for its class.
Enjoy!
I think any wartime P-38 (pistol, not fighter-plane) will be marked by the Reichswaffenamt (Reichs Weapons Office) with their tiny eagles and WaA.
Real guns are made outta iron. A machinist friend says, "I don't trust anything that's made outta DIRT!"
That sort of does-in any aluminum frames, at least for him. P-38s are iron, P-1s are nice but they are aluminum; personally, I find them whippy: too light on the bottom, too heavy on top for the all-o=ver weight distribution. But they are nice guns and they are genuine Bundeswehr/Cold War items. My own preference is Wehrmacht/Big One items. For the Worst World War, of course, I do have my Lugers....
No matter; they're all fun.
Get one now before our Lords and Masters in Ottawa decide otherwise. You can't shoot it (or bury it, some would say) if you don't have it to start with!
And watch the locking-block for cracks, also the slide where it locks.
And be sure to have fun!
Real guns are made outta iron. A machinist friend says, "I don't trust anything that's made outta DIRT!"
That sort of does-in any aluminum frames, at least for him. P-38s are iron, P-1s are nice but they are aluminum; personally, I find them whippy: too light on the bottom, too heavy on top for the all-o=ver weight distribution. But they are nice guns and they are genuine Bundeswehr/Cold War items. My own preference is Wehrmacht/Big One items. For the Worst World War, of course, I do have my Lugers....
No matter; they're all fun.
Get one now before our Lords and Masters in Ottawa decide otherwise. You can't shoot it (or bury it, some would say) if you don't have it to start with!
And watch the locking-block for cracks, also the slide where it locks.
And be sure to have fun!
I had one that I used Canadian military ammo in...my mistake, the locking block broke. After that incident, I got a replacement locking block plus a spare one and only used my own mild reload after....sold the pistol since and am still looking to sell that spare locking block see EE forum for parts and bits if interested....mine used to eject empties in the forehead area instead of sideway!!
Go and get the current issue of The Shotgun News. (Should still be on the rack til the end of the month). There is an in depth Peter Kokalis article about the various P-38s, where made, how many, factory codes, pre-war prototypes, HP, and how much the various kinds go for on the current (U.S.) market. etc etc. The pictures have got me salivating to buy one (or more) myself!
I duno where you got canadian military ammo from... there's two kinds 9mm and 9mm luger
anyways, the stuff we use in the brownings is loaded pretty hot, apparently to make sure it doesn't get any stoppages due to the slide not chambering another round or something. i'd never fire it in my glock, i've heard of people doing that and cracking frames.
anyways, the stuff we use in the brownings is loaded pretty hot, apparently to make sure it doesn't get any stoppages due to the slide not chambering another round or something. i'd never fire it in my glock, i've heard of people doing that and cracking frames.
Also, the P38 series seems to only work well with round-nosed slugs as well. Any other shape will cause stoppages. They were designed back in the dark days of single-stack magazines and round-nosed bullets, so that shouldn't be a surprise.
For reloads, mine seems to like the faster burning powders like Clays shotgun powder.
For reloads, mine seems to like the faster burning powders like Clays shotgun powder.
Not really rare, but they ARE an awfully-nice piece.
DIRECT ancestor of the vaunted and ever-so-superior Beretta 92. Take them both apart and you'll see exactly what Tullio Marengoni actually did: Beretta Brigadier (father of the 92 and also an obsolete single-stack junker that never jams) is simply a redesigned P-'38. He removed the 2 small recoil springs, extended the slide and put the front sight on the slilde, installed a single large recoil spring and that was about it. The rest is pure P-'38, so they aren't all THAT obsolete.
Nice guns, too.
I sure don't think 430 is too high for a nice one; I've seen them a lot higher than that for pure junque (high-class junk).
Have at 'er!
DIRECT ancestor of the vaunted and ever-so-superior Beretta 92. Take them both apart and you'll see exactly what Tullio Marengoni actually did: Beretta Brigadier (father of the 92 and also an obsolete single-stack junker that never jams) is simply a redesigned P-'38. He removed the 2 small recoil springs, extended the slide and put the front sight on the slilde, installed a single large recoil spring and that was about it. The rest is pure P-'38, so they aren't all THAT obsolete.
Nice guns, too.
I sure don't think 430 is too high for a nice one; I've seen them a lot higher than that for pure junque (high-class junk).
Have at 'er!
Got the military ammo when i was member of a Military Base shooting club...the story i got to explain the hot 9mm Cdn Military ammo is that is was made above NATO specs in order to cycle the old SMG that had a not so slick action and it required all the extra power for the blowback action...I have seen a Sig pistol frame peeled on each side of the slide while using this same ammo....
Hate to mention it guys but the only thing difference between Canadian military ball ammunition and commercial 9mm ammunition are the markings on the cartridge case. Canadian military ball is designed to push a 115 grain bullet at 365m/s. For the guys in the military you can verify this in CFTO C-74-305-PAO-TA-000 Page 2-1. There is a different round issued for the P225, but it uses the same bullet, the same propellent load, the same cartridge case but a softer commercial primer.
In the past I have had good results using British military ball in my Walther P-38, with no ill results to the gun.
In the past I have had good results using British military ball in my Walther P-38, with no ill results to the gun.
All deference to friend Garand, who obviously knows what he is talking about.
When I say 'Sten Gun loads', I mean STEN loads. Some of that WW2 stuff was very hot.
Luger also has a very stiff action and needs a good slam to get it to function properly.
9x19 really should have been called the ".38 MAGNUM Extra Short" if you go by pressure levels. It runs around 36k and that is a lot of wallop for many mechanisms to handle. Para ammunition will destroy a Glisenti, yet the rounds are identical on the outside. You get the opposite thing happening with some commercial loads in a Luger; gun will last forever because you spend more time clearing jams and mis-feeds than you do shooting.
P-38 seems to run on just about anything that looks like 9P.
When I say 'Sten Gun loads', I mean STEN loads. Some of that WW2 stuff was very hot.
Luger also has a very stiff action and needs a good slam to get it to function properly.
9x19 really should have been called the ".38 MAGNUM Extra Short" if you go by pressure levels. It runs around 36k and that is a lot of wallop for many mechanisms to handle. Para ammunition will destroy a Glisenti, yet the rounds are identical on the outside. You get the opposite thing happening with some commercial loads in a Luger; gun will last forever because you spend more time clearing jams and mis-feeds than you do shooting.
P-38 seems to run on just about anything that looks like 9P.
You have to match the mags to the gun. I have 3 x P38 ( 1 x is Ac 41) and 1 x P1, had horrible feeding problems until I tried them all out on the different guns and got down to the problem. P38 mags are somehow not the same as P1 and it also depends which year they were made. The barrels heat up pretty fast, so you have to let it cool down after about 75 rounds, otherwise you WILL ultimately have the barn door effect.
Good shooting.
Good shooting.
