Everyone recognizes him. Bad good Walther P.38
Walther P.38 pistol is one of those pistols that are firmly in history recognizable even by people who are not interested in gunshot weapons. This gun not only went through the Second World War, but was also used for a long time after its completion. Walther P.38 has both an army of fans and those who consider this weapon to be one of the worst designs by Walther designers. There was even a joke, about 8 warning shots and one accurate throw, describing this gun as a weapon is not the most accurate. Let's try to get acquainted with this gun in more detail and try to impartially assess its strengths and weaknesses.
Brief history of creating a pistol Walther P.38
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 company Walther have set themselves the task - to create a gun simpler and cheaper than the R. 08 of Georg Luger. From a technical point of view, the task was more than simple, since the P08 pistol was a difficult and expensive weapon, but there was one catch.
This snag was the characteristics of the Luger pistol, which far from all designs could compete with. But even that was not the main problem. The main problem was that the military were very much attached to R.08 and in order to force them to change this pistol to another it was necessary to do something, at least not worse, or to count on a successful coincidence of circumstances.
The first designs of Walther pistols, which were to replace the Р08, were very far from ideal. For some reason, the designers decided to move in a direction that was obviously wrong. The main mistake of designers was the idea of creating a pistol chambered for 9x19 with automatics, built on the use of recoil energy with the free course of the shutter.
The result of the movement in this direction was the pistol, which 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 gun started a little confusion in the notation, as it was named Walther MP (Militarpistole), this designation was used for subsequent samples, which were based on the automatic system with a free gate. The first two versions of the MP pistol did not differ in principle; the third version was already different; its trigger was a trigger mechanism with a hidden trigger.
Despite all the efforts, to bring the design of the latest version of the pistol to acceptable indicators of durability and reliability and attempts to reduce the weight of the weapon, it did not bring any fruit. It soon became clear that the automation system with a free gate could not be implemented in the gun, powered by the relatively powerful cartridge 9x19, at the proper level, with those 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 weapons is the Hexler und Koch VP70 pistol.
It is worth noting that other experimental models of pistols are mentioned with the designation of the MP, the automation of which was no longer on the free course of the shutter, but that it was specifically for the weapon, there is no reliable data.
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 later 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 automation system with a short stroke, proposed by Browning. But the main advantage of his development was the design of the barrel stroke, which now moved strictly in a straight line, without bias when unlocking the barrel bore. This was achieved by introducing into the design of a kind of latch, which, when moving backward, interacted with the rod and removed the barrel and bolt group from the clutch.
Based on this design, the next gun was developed, which was proposed by the military. This gun already had the designation AR. The weapon was rejected by the military due to the fact that the trigger in the gun was hidden, apparently considered such a decision is not safe enough. After changing this “flaw”, the weapon was again proposed to the military, with the new HP designation. The trigger mechanism of the second version of the MP pistol was used in it. This gun was already practically Walther P.38 and after changing a few minor details was put into service in the 1940 year.
It should be noted that before the adoption of weapons, these weapons with the name HP could be found on the shelves of gun shops, and the gun was offered not only in the version for 9x19 cartridges, but also for .32 ASR .38 Super Auto munitions. It is mentioned that the weapon under this designation was made up to 45 of the year, and even if this is true, it is obvious that the volumes were very small, since all the enterprises, especially those involved 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 gun was adopted by the army of Sweden under the designation М39, but never appeared in the army. Before the start of World War II, Walther P.38 won the competition for the new pistol of the Swedish army, where a little more than 1,500 units of this weapon were sent. However, the beginning of the war made its own adjustments and Sweden had to abandon the gun and adopt the Husqvarna M / 40.
Many Facets P.38
Despite the fact that there are not so many variants of the Walther P.38 pistol, you can find quite a large number of weapons under this designation, which, although it will not differ in its design, will differ in quality and individual parts.
Since the army constantly needed weapons, the production of Walther P.38 pistols was not only deployed at the company's production facilities, the Mauser plants were connected to the production, where they were removed from the production of R.08, and R.38 was preferred. In addition, a significant number of pistols were produced at Spreewerke plants from 1942 of the year. Differences in manufacturers and the ever-increasing demands in terms of production inevitably affected the quality of the weapon, which, perhaps, was the cause of some hostility to this gun for many. It is quite expected that when a person takes a new pistol in his hands and from the very beginning he begins to notice shortcomings in the processing, and later also failures in the operation of individual nodes, he forms a strong opinion about the weapon and it will be clearly not positive. The most frequent occurrence characterizing the drop in quality during large-scale production was the operation of the safety device. When the fuse was turned on, the drummer was blocked, and it all worked when each gun was given enough attention at the factory. Military samples of the middle of the Second World War could not boast of high quality, which can be seen even in the quality of processing the outer surfaces of weapons. As a result of a drop in the quality of production, the drummer, after a brief use of the weapon, has already ceased to be firmly blocked when the fuse is turned on. As a result of this, the trigger, hitting it, led to a shot. By the way, did someone say something about TT?
The deployment of large-scale production for the ever-growing needs of the military led even to the fact that only within the walls of Walther P.38 from the very beginning of production, some nodes 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 shaft, which had been changed from square to round, was changed.
If we talk about the quality of the weapon, depending on where it was produced, it will be absolutely incorrect. Germans, after all, are always Germans, even when they are forced to rush. The difference in quality is most likely observed depending on the time when this or that gun was produced. For this reason, it is often possible to find the opinion that pistols made at Spreewerke’s factories were of lower quality, but they started producing pistols only in the 1942 year, and the production speed was significantly higher than that of Walther and Mauser.
For comparison, here are a few numbers. Since 1939, Walther has released about 475 thousands of Walther P.38 pistols. Mauser turned to production at the end of 1941, and produced 300 thousands. Production at Spreewerke’s factories was launched only in 1942, and until the end of the war, the company launched 275 with thousands of Walther P.38 pistols.
It is possible to distinguish weapons of different manufacturers by stamps, good, in this case, everything is simple and clear to the limit. The first 13 of thousands of Walther pistols can be recognized by the presence of a well-known logo - an image of a tape with the name of a company written on it. These 13000 pistols are also called "zero" series, since the serial numbers of the weapons started from scratch. In the middle of the 1940 of the year, 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 housing-slide 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 fixed to Walter, which changed the number of 480s on the casing-gate.
Mauser pistols are easily recognizable by three letters byf, but there is a small amount of weapons with a different designation - svw. This designation was introduced in the 1945 year. Spreewerke pistols were marked with svq.
As mentioned earlier, Walther P.38 pistol versions are not many. If you take only the war period, you can select the full version of Walther P.38 and with a shortened barrel. There may be some confusion, a shortened version of the Walther P.38 pistol was also produced in the post-war period, but visually pistols with the designation P.38К are easily distinguishable from the military and postwar - from a weapon that was produced for the needs of the Gestapo; in the full-size version of the weapon on the barrel. Post-war options had the location of the front sight on the cover-bolt.
After the war, the Walther P.38 pistol continued its service, albeit under the name Р1. The only difference between this weapon and its predecessor was the frame made of aluminum alloy. Interestingly, the pistols, which were produced for export, still had the designation P. 38. Subsequently, the P4 pistol appeared, which shortened the barrel and improved the safety mechanism; on its basis, the R.38K pistol was made once again.
Despite the fact that the latest version of the Walther P.38 pistol was removed from service in 1981, the production of weapons for export continued until the end of the twentieth century.
But that’s not the end of the pistol. Since these weapons have left their mark on history, many enthusiasts continue to work with them. Of course, we are not talking about producing Walther P.38 on our own, but the result of this work is still of interest. So, most often, pistols of the military period are taken and, by eliminating the shortcomings of mass production, they are brought to an ideal working capacity and an attractive appearance for a spoiled consumer.
An example of such work can serve as Walther P.38 pistols after revision by John Murtz. One of the variants of his pistols dubbed Baby P38, by analogy with the "pocket" pistols of the early twentieth century. In the version of the weapon presented in the photo, the barrel was shortened, to the Gestapo variant, the coating of the outer surfaces was changed, the handle was shortened and the pad was replaced, the shortcomings of the mass production weapons on the internal parts were eliminated.
Many of these results of work are negative, because the weapon loses its historical value, but there is not a single person who would not recognize that the end result is definitely more presentable than what was taken as a basis.
By the way, from the hands of the Master "suffered" and R.08, which can now be found in the form of a carbine with a long barrel and a fixed butt. But back to the pistol Walther P.38, in its original version.
Walther P.38 pistol design
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. Interestingly, a system of protection against an accidental shot was implemented. External switch fuse blocked when turning on the drummer, respectively, the trigger during the descent could not move it. In addition, the design was introduced another detail that protects the weapon from a premature shot, before locking the barrel. A spring-loaded part was stretched through the entire breech of the weapon, which when it closed the casing-breech rested against the bottom of the sleeve and pressed into the casing of the breech. The movement of this part back led to the unlocking of the drummer, in addition, it was also used as a pointer to the presence of a cartridge in the chamber.
Despite the apparent simplicity of the design of the gun, the weapon turned out to be clearly overloaded with small elements that performed a single function. Yes, the gun turned out to be simpler and cheaper to manufacture than R.08, but by modern standards the production of such a pistol would be unreasonably difficult, without obvious advantages in the form of higher performance compared with competitors or low prices.
To be objective, this gun finally lost its relevance as a military weapon back in the 50s of the last century, since by that time there appeared a lot of cheaper options, both in production and on the counter.
How bad is Walther P.38?
You do not need to search for a long time to find people unflatteringly respond to these weapons. There are really a lot of negative reviews and mostly they concern weapons of wartime release and Р1. 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 details in such conditions will not be of the best quality.
If we talk about the P1 pistol, then it is obvious that some of the weapons were made by replacing the frame of the pistols produced during World War II, and it is unlikely that someone paid attention to the quality of individual components, which led to undesirable consequences.
The very design of the gun, as shown by the work of enthusiasts who brought the military models to perfection, is quite workable, it just does not maintain a low level of production. It is completely incorrect to draw conclusions based on traumatic, signal and, especially, pneumatic pistols.
A good Walther P.38 pistol or a bad one is hard 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 at a fast pace into a simpler design, and the quality of production undermined its credibility, Walther P.38 left its mark on history, but did not become equal to other more successful pistol models.
Sources:
zonwar.ru
fastmarksman.ru
modernfirearms.net
phoenixinvestmentarms.com
Brief history of creating a pistol Walther P.38
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 company Walther have set themselves the task - to create a gun simpler and cheaper than the R. 08 of Georg Luger. From a technical point of view, the task was more than simple, since the P08 pistol was a difficult and expensive weapon, but there was one catch.
This snag was the characteristics of the Luger pistol, which far from all designs could compete with. But even that was not the main problem. The main problem was that the military were very much attached to R.08 and in order to force them to change this pistol to another it was necessary to do something, at least not worse, or to count on a successful coincidence of circumstances.
The first designs of Walther pistols, which were to replace the Р08, were very far from ideal. For some reason, the designers decided to move in a direction that was obviously wrong. The main mistake of designers was the idea of creating a pistol chambered for 9x19 with automatics, built on the use of recoil energy with the free course of the shutter.
The result of the movement in this direction was the pistol, which 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 gun started a little confusion in the notation, as it was named Walther MP (Militarpistole), this designation was used for subsequent samples, which were based on the automatic system with a free gate. The first two versions of the MP pistol did not differ in principle; the third version was already different; its trigger was a trigger mechanism with a hidden trigger.
Despite all the efforts, to bring the design of the latest version of the pistol to acceptable indicators of durability and reliability and attempts to reduce the weight of the weapon, it did not bring any fruit. It soon became clear that the automation system with a free gate could not be implemented in the gun, powered by the relatively powerful cartridge 9x19, at the proper level, with those 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 weapons is the Hexler und Koch VP70 pistol.
It is worth noting that other experimental models of pistols are mentioned with the designation of the MP, the automation of which was no longer on the free course of the shutter, but that it was specifically for the weapon, there is no reliable data.
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 later 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 automation system with a short stroke, proposed by Browning. But the main advantage of his development was the design of the barrel stroke, which now moved strictly in a straight line, without bias when unlocking the barrel bore. This was achieved by introducing into the design of a kind of latch, which, when moving backward, interacted with the rod and removed the barrel and bolt group from the clutch.
Based on this design, the next gun was developed, which was proposed by the military. This gun already had the designation AR. The weapon was rejected by the military due to the fact that the trigger in the gun was hidden, apparently considered such a decision is not safe enough. After changing this “flaw”, the weapon was again proposed to the military, with the new HP designation. The trigger mechanism of the second version of the MP pistol was used in it. This gun was already practically Walther P.38 and after changing a few minor details was put into service in the 1940 year.
It should be noted that before the adoption of weapons, these weapons with the name HP could be found on the shelves of gun shops, and the gun was offered not only in the version for 9x19 cartridges, but also for .32 ASR .38 Super Auto munitions. It is mentioned that the weapon under this designation was made up to 45 of the year, and even if this is true, it is obvious that the volumes were very small, since all the enterprises, especially those involved 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 gun was adopted by the army of Sweden under the designation М39, but never appeared in the army. Before the start of World War II, Walther P.38 won the competition for the new pistol of the Swedish army, where a little more than 1,500 units of this weapon were sent. However, the beginning of the war made its own adjustments and Sweden had to abandon the gun and adopt the Husqvarna M / 40.
Many Facets P.38
Despite the fact that there are not so many variants of the Walther P.38 pistol, you can find quite a large number of weapons under this designation, which, although it will not differ in its design, will differ in quality and individual parts.
Since the army constantly needed weapons, the production of Walther P.38 pistols was not only deployed at the company's production facilities, the Mauser plants were connected to the production, where they were removed from the production of R.08, and R.38 was preferred. In addition, a significant number of pistols were produced at Spreewerke plants from 1942 of the year. Differences in manufacturers and the ever-increasing demands in terms of production inevitably affected the quality of the weapon, which, perhaps, was the cause of some hostility to this gun for many. It is quite expected that when a person takes a new pistol in his hands and from the very beginning he begins to notice shortcomings in the processing, and later also failures in the operation of individual nodes, he forms a strong opinion about the weapon and it will be clearly not positive. The most frequent occurrence characterizing the drop in quality during large-scale production was the operation of the safety device. When the fuse was turned on, the drummer was blocked, and it all worked when each gun was given enough attention at the factory. Military samples of the middle of the Second World War could not boast of high quality, which can be seen even in the quality of processing the outer surfaces of weapons. As a result of a drop in the quality of production, the drummer, after a brief use of the weapon, has already ceased to be firmly blocked when the fuse is turned on. As a result of this, the trigger, hitting it, led to a shot. By the way, did someone say something about TT?
The deployment of large-scale production for the ever-growing needs of the military led even to the fact that only within the walls of Walther P.38 from the very beginning of production, some nodes 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 shaft, which had been changed from square to round, was changed.
If we talk about the quality of the weapon, depending on where it was produced, it will be absolutely incorrect. Germans, after all, are always Germans, even when they are forced to rush. The difference in quality is most likely observed depending on the time when this or that gun was produced. For this reason, it is often possible to find the opinion that pistols made at Spreewerke’s factories were of lower quality, but they started producing pistols only in the 1942 year, and the production speed was significantly higher than that of Walther and Mauser.
For comparison, here are a few numbers. Since 1939, Walther has released about 475 thousands of Walther P.38 pistols. Mauser turned to production at the end of 1941, and produced 300 thousands. Production at Spreewerke’s factories was launched only in 1942, and until the end of the war, the company launched 275 with thousands of Walther P.38 pistols.
It is possible to distinguish weapons of different manufacturers by stamps, good, in this case, everything is simple and clear to the limit. The first 13 of thousands of Walther pistols can be recognized by the presence of a well-known logo - an image of a tape with the name of a company written on it. These 13000 pistols are also called "zero" series, since the serial numbers of the weapons started from scratch. In the middle of the 1940 of the year, 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 housing-slide 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 fixed to Walter, which changed the number of 480s on the casing-gate.
Mauser pistols are easily recognizable by three letters byf, but there is a small amount of weapons with a different designation - svw. This designation was introduced in the 1945 year. Spreewerke pistols were marked with svq.
As mentioned earlier, Walther P.38 pistol versions are not many. If you take only the war period, you can select the full version of Walther P.38 and with a shortened barrel. There may be some confusion, a shortened version of the Walther P.38 pistol was also produced in the post-war period, but visually pistols with the designation P.38К are easily distinguishable from the military and postwar - from a weapon that was produced for the needs of the Gestapo; in the full-size version of the weapon on the barrel. Post-war options had the location of the front sight on the cover-bolt.
After the war, the Walther P.38 pistol continued its service, albeit under the name Р1. The only difference between this weapon and its predecessor was the frame made of aluminum alloy. Interestingly, the pistols, which were produced for export, still had the designation P. 38. Subsequently, the P4 pistol appeared, which shortened the barrel and improved the safety mechanism; on its basis, the R.38K pistol was made once again.
Despite the fact that the latest version of the Walther P.38 pistol was removed from service in 1981, the production of weapons for export continued until the end of the twentieth century.
But that’s not the end of the pistol. Since these weapons have left their mark on history, many enthusiasts continue to work with them. Of course, we are not talking about producing Walther P.38 on our own, but the result of this work is still of interest. So, most often, pistols of the military period are taken and, by eliminating the shortcomings of mass production, they are brought to an ideal working capacity and an attractive appearance for a spoiled consumer.
An example of such work can serve as Walther P.38 pistols after revision by John Murtz. One of the variants of his pistols dubbed Baby P38, by analogy with the "pocket" pistols of the early twentieth century. In the version of the weapon presented in the photo, the barrel was shortened, to the Gestapo variant, the coating of the outer surfaces was changed, the handle was shortened and the pad was replaced, the shortcomings of the mass production weapons on the internal parts were eliminated.
Many of these results of work are negative, because the weapon loses its historical value, but there is not a single person who would not recognize that the end result is definitely more presentable than what was taken as a basis.
By the way, from the hands of the Master "suffered" and R.08, which can now be found in the form of a carbine with a long barrel and a fixed butt. But back to the pistol Walther P.38, in its original version.
Walther P.38 pistol design
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. Interestingly, a system of protection against an accidental shot was implemented. External switch fuse blocked when turning on the drummer, respectively, the trigger during the descent could not move it. In addition, the design was introduced another detail that protects the weapon from a premature shot, before locking the barrel. A spring-loaded part was stretched through the entire breech of the weapon, which when it closed the casing-breech rested against the bottom of the sleeve and pressed into the casing of the breech. The movement of this part back led to the unlocking of the drummer, in addition, it was also used as a pointer to the presence of a cartridge in the chamber.
Despite the apparent simplicity of the design of the gun, the weapon turned out to be clearly overloaded with small elements that performed a single function. Yes, the gun turned out to be simpler and cheaper to manufacture than R.08, but by modern standards the production of such a pistol would be unreasonably difficult, without obvious advantages in the form of higher performance compared with competitors or low prices.
To be objective, this gun finally lost its relevance as a military weapon back in the 50s of the last century, since by that time there appeared a lot of cheaper options, both in production and on the counter.
How bad is Walther P.38?
You do not need to search for a long time to find people unflatteringly respond to these weapons. There are really a lot of negative reviews and mostly they concern weapons of wartime release and Р1. 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 details in such conditions will not be of the best quality.
If we talk about the P1 pistol, then it is obvious that some of the weapons were made by replacing the frame of the pistols produced during World War II, and it is unlikely that someone paid attention to the quality of individual components, which led to undesirable consequences.
The very design of the gun, as shown by the work of enthusiasts who brought the military models to perfection, is quite workable, it just does not maintain a low level of production. It is completely incorrect to draw conclusions based on traumatic, signal and, especially, pneumatic pistols.
A good Walther P.38 pistol or a bad one is hard 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 at a fast pace into a simpler design, and the quality of production undermined its credibility, Walther P.38 left its mark on history, but did not become equal to other more successful pistol models.
Sources:
zonwar.ru
fastmarksman.ru
modernfirearms.net
phoenixinvestmentarms.com
- Mark Poddubny
- guns.ru
Information