#Walther p1 field strip serial

Something to think about when shooting these old-timers is the wear and tear youвЂ™re putting on an older collectible. Not a whole lot, but enough to get a pretty good idea of what a wartime P38 was like and how it stacked up against a GI Colt 1911A1. Over the course of three days my partner and I shot in excess of 200 rounds through both pistols. I put together a range package of ammo, targets and spare magazines for both the 1911A1 and the P38 and headed for my favorite shooting spot in San Antonio. The grip configuration is comfortable and the pistol is very controllable when shooting rapid-fire strings. Unlike the Beretta, the magazine only holds 8 rounds and is held in place with the heel-type magazine release on the butt, typical of most European pistols. Its open-top chamber makes clearing malfunctions easy and uses the same type of barrel locking block, decocking lever and safety. If you own a Beretta 92/M9 or carried one in the military, a P38 will feel very familiar. In addition, WWII magazines will usually carry different Waffenamt inspection codes, depending on where they were produced (postwar mags will have the Walther banner).

#Walther p1 field strip serial

Unlike the earlier P08 though, P38 magazines arenвЂ™t serial numbered to the gun - theyвЂ™re marked with a subcontractor code only. On German pistols, all major parts like the slide and barrel are serial-numbered to the frame. The P38 breaks down easily into three sub-assemblies (frame, slide, barrel/locking block) and is easily cleaned and inspected. Grips were original brown Bakelite that werenвЂ™t chipped or cracked. The bore was, unlike a lot of older pistols, pristine with no pitting. The Mauser-contract P38 was also built in вЂ™43 (wartime code: byf 43). To make things more interesting, I threw in a 1943-era Colt 1911A1 for comparison and range work. IвЂ™d never shot a WWII-vintage P38 before, so this would be a treat.

I had a вЂњmid-WWIIвЂќ P38 sitting in my safe IвЂ™d been wanting to shoot. The P38/P1 is truly one of the great military sidearms of the Another 600,000-plus P1s were manufactured by Walther in their new Ulm factory and sold to other countries as well as the Bundeswehr (which used the P1 until the mid-вЂ™90вЂ™s). The Walther P1, adopted in 1957, differed from the older P38 primarily by having an aluminum frame and strengthened slide. After WWII, the German Bundeswehr wanted the combat-tested P38 as its NATO service pistol. Over a million were made by Walther, Spreewerk and Mauser before the warвЂ™s end. Produced using inexpensive sheet-steel stampings, the P38 set the standard for future military sidearms. These included a loaded-chamber indicator, a large open-top chamber, a decocking safety lever, external slide release and a double/single-action trigger allowing safe carry with a loaded chamber. It was a locked-breech, double-action 9mm employing several very innovative features which would become common in later postwar 9mm pistols. In 1938 the Wehrmacht adopted a new Walther-designed pistol, designated Pistole 38. It wasnвЂ™t particularly reliable and was vulnerable to stoppages from dirt and foreign matter. Difficult to manufacture, the Luger P08 needed extensive hand fitting and assembly by a highly skilled workforce. GermanyвЂ™s legendary Luger (Pistole Parabellum 1908) was never a great service pistol.