Another New Family Member - Walther P38

[crlovel]

Originally Posted by nijwnfi

Wood grips are beautiful, but not original. Originals were Bakelite. With a 1968 date, that is a P1, the frame is alloy. Those look like Marschal grips, they're really nice.

It has P38 on the frame? Why do you say P1?

[brian]

Originally Posted by crlovel

It has P38 on the frame? Why do you say P1?

there are two pistols that were produced by walther. the post war p38, and the p1 made for teh west german military.
both guns are almost teh same(some firing pin differences later on), the only visible difference was the markings.

it's very easy to confuse a post war p38 and a p1 with each other.

[gold cup abuser]

Originally Posted by crlovel

leland, that was my first one too!!!! Megatron!!!!

congrats on your new family member

now for the real transformer:



The man from UNCLE was the one toy gun that I had and kept til I was in my teens. It came in a box with a trenchcoat, breifcase, spy gadgets and of course the P38

ahhh sweet lost youth

[Seneca Arms Co. Inc.]

If I am not mistaken, and I could be as I am dizzy with copious amounts of bourbon right now, I believe the post war P38s and P1s primary difference was in the re-enforcing pin in the frame. It was found that the Alloy frame P38s suffered some stress related failures in the fame behind the locking block? Then again I could be very drunk right now too.

[crlovel]

Close. The P38's came first. The P1's were post-war. The P38's were steel-framed, and the P1's were alloy. The alloy P1's had weakening issues, not the P38's.

(If I recall correctly.)

By the way, I took this pistol to the range yesterday. What an awesome shooter, and quite accurate, too. It groups very nicely.

[vic2367]

nice pick up ,,

[crlovel]

Ok, I've been doing more reading on my P38. I'm lost. Do I have a P1 or a P38? It SAYS P38 on the frame, but according to info I found, they stopped making them immediately after WW2 and started with the P1 in 1957. Mine is dated 1968 on the frame and marked P38, though.

So, what the hell do I have? A P38, or a P1?

[Seneca Arms Co. Inc.]

Chris,

Now that I am sober, yes it was post war P38s that had a frame weakness issue and that is why they made the modification to P1s. Pre war and war time P38s were in fact steel frames, but post war P38s(not all production) but all the Budeswehr were alloy frames and those are the guns imported into the US in large amounts. The alloy frame P38s were cracking inside where the locking block stops the recoil of the barrel. The P1s had a hexagonal hardened pin installed to act as a barrier against this. The hardend pin is the single largest change in P38 and P1 production and it is a defining feature.

The war time P38s never had the frame weakness as they were steel(for the exception of a very small test production of pre war Alloy HP models).

Steel frame P38 production ceased with the end of the war. Sometime in 1954 +/- West Germany was brought into NATO and created the Bundeswehr(army). It was about 1957 they re introduced the P38 however it differed from the war time production with a primary change being ALLOY frame. It was found that those frames were failing with extensive use. It was sometime in the mid to late 1960s that the change to the p1 happened and the pistol remained in service for a very long time.

I was drunk last night so I had a tough time getting my thoughts on the computer, but the facts were correct.

By the looks of your picture you have a post war P38 and it does not have the re-enforcing pin of the P1 series pistols. I would not shoot hot ammo thu it. It is a very nice looking example though.

[crlovel]

The only thing I've fed it is Winchester 9mm target loads. Do I need to do anything to keep it safe? Should I NOT shoot it, or will the frame only crack from hotter loads and the stuff I'm feeding it is safe?

[brian]

it's all good.
factory loads will be just fine.