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The new pistol had all of the advanced fea-tures of its predecessors. In addition, loweringthe slide-mounted safety lever rotated a blockinto the firing pin, and dropped the hammersafely. A push upward on the safety then readiedthe pistol for instant double-action firing. A firingpin blocking pin was deactivated only when thetrigger was pulled fully to the rear. These novelfeatures are still in use today on many semiauto-matic pistols. Notably, the P.38’s falling-blockaction was directly borrowed and is used on theM9 Beretta pistol currently used by theUnited States’ armed forces.

The P.38 had aheel-mounted magazine release, and a disas-sembly lever on the left front of the grip frame.It could be field stripped by removing the maga-zine, applying the safety, locking the slide to therear, rotating the disassembly lever downward,releasing the slide with the left-side sliderelease, sliding the barrel and slide forward off

the frame, and then separating those parts. Thiscould be done in 10 seconds flat.

The P.38 made extensive use of coil springs andstamped parts, making it both reliable and relativelyinexpensive to produce. A few were imported intothe United States in 1939. Although .45 ACP, .38Super and .30 Luger versions were announced inthe 1939 edition of Stoeger’s Gun Bible catalog,only a few prototypes were apparently produced.These would be priceless if encountered today.Most Americans first encountered the pistol on thebattlefields of World War II in Europe, or after the

war when examining war trophiesbrought back by veterans. Although

Walther was the prime contractor,P.38s were also made by Mauser

and Spreewerke. The Walther code“ac” was stamped on the left side of

the slide, while Mauser used “byf” andSpreewerke used “cyq.” The Mauser

code changed to “SVA” late in thewar. In view of the fact that slavelabor was utilized to producethese pistols later in the war,particularly in 1945, it is not

unusual to find crystallized safetylever blocks. Yes – understandably –

sabotage was a fact. This condition willallow the hammer to actually strike the firingpin even when the safety is engaged. Any

WWII P.38 should be thoroughly checkedby a competent gunsmith before use.

The Walther factory, located in Zella-Mehlis, Thuringia, Germany, fell into

Soviet hands after the war, and pro-duction there ceased in 1945. TheFrench Army was in control of theMauser factory in Oberndorf, andit continued production there forthe French occupation forces.Following establishment of theGerman Federal Republic in the1950s, Walther was reorgan-ized, and produced the P.38 asthe P1, utilizing an alloy frame.

Early P.38s were beautifullyfinished, and featured check-ered wood grips. Later wartimeproduction was more crudely

finished and used brown orblack ribbed synthetic Bakelite

plastic for the grips.The P.38 was way in advance of its

time, and many of its features were copied in theSmith & Wesson Models 39 and 59, the Beretta 92and its twin, the U.S. M9 service pistol. The P.38 isstill fairly plentiful on the collector market, but val-ues continue to rise as good specimens becomemore scarce. It’s truly a classic handgun.

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