Gun Review: Walther P38 9mm Semi-Automatic Pistol
Walther P38 9mm Semi-Automatic Pistol Review - Introduction, Left Side
The Walther P38 was the first true double-action pistol in 9mm, and was the only one for a good while. It's a fine piece of engineering, and its staying power has proven that. At press time, the P38 continues to be available in the USA via imported West German police "trade-in" guns.
The P38 was originally a German military pistol, chambered for 9mm Luger (9mm Parabellum; 9x19mm), which at that time had been in German military use for more than three decades.
The P38 saw much wartime use during World War II, and was subsequently produced commercially in West Germany for export and police use.
Many, if not most, commercially-made post-WW2 P38s have alloy frames, and are commonly known by the P1 designation - although many P38s (including the gun featured in this article) are not marked as such. WWII military P38s had steel frames. The subject of this article is a commercial model with an alloy frame.
The photo shows the left side of the P38. This a "police trade-in" gun of recent import (though not of recent manufacture).
Stamped on the left side of the slide: Walther banner logo; "Carl Walther Waffenfabrik Ulm/Do;" "P38 Cal.9mm;" and a poor stamping of three numbers.
Also: A simple dot inside a circle; a stylized four-pointed star above it; "165" inside a three-sided box. Research shows the "box" to be an eagle whose downswept wings form the box's sides.
Left side of frame: Serial number (portions removed from photo); the same circle-dot mark as on the slide; a tiny stamping which appears to say "PTR 91.
FARM 01."
The three numbers poorly-stamped on the slide are also visible on the left side of the barrel when the slide is retracted.
Note the lanyard loop towards the bottom of the left grip. The takedown lever is located on the front left of the frame. Behind it, above the trigger, is the slide lock, used to hold the slide open. Farther back and mounted in the slide is the safety/decocking lever (more on that later).
Walther P38 9mm Semi-Automatic Pistol Review - Right Side, Features
Here we see the right side of the Walther P38 pistol.
Stamped towards the rear of the slide, just forward of the serrations, is the same "165" inside a three-sided "eagle box." This stamping is better than the one on the left, and shows a protrusion atop the "box," which should be an eagle's head in profile (beak pointing left). The beak is missing from this stamping, due to the slide's rough surface.
Forward of that mark, also stamped on the slide, is "11/60," presumably indicating a manufacture date of November, 1960.
Stamped on the right side of the alloy frame above the front of the trigger guard are two identical stampings. Both are clearly the same sort of "eagle box" that the slide markings should be, but the number is 27 rather than 165.
Notable Features
In the aforementioned booklet, Walther said the P38 has "a perfect action design." There's really no such thing as a perfect action, but the P38 is undoubtedly a good gun.
The P38 has a DA/SA action (Double Action/Single Action). One of the main advantages of DA/SA is that, if a round is chambered and the hammer is decocked with the safety off, the gun may be fired by simply pulling the trigger (DA). Each successive cycling of the action will then cock the hammer and load a new round from the magazine, and thus the next shot fired will be single action.
You may also fire the first shot in a true DA/SA pistol (like this one) by cocking the hammer, then pulling the trigger (SA).
Should you chamber a round that doesn't fire on the first try in your P38 (due to a hard primer, perhaps), a simple pull of the trigger is all that's required to try it again.
The booklet also points out that because "the barrel is mounted in an open and unencumbered manner," a bulge in the barrel will not impede its functioning. (The same is not true of that old military workhorse, the Colt 1911.)
Walther P38 9mm Semi-Automatic Pistol Review - Sights and Safety
The photo shows the rear of the Walther P38. The front sight is dovetailed into the barrel, while the rear sight is part of the slide assembly and retains the firing pin lock and the limit stop pin (firing pin retainer).
The rear sight is held in place by the slide cover (the thing on the top of the slide, running from the rear sight forward to the rear of the barrel), and no attempt should be made to drift this sight.
The front sight may be drifted if necessary for windage adjustment, but not too much, and it usually provides acceptable accuracy as is. Elevation adjustment is only feasible by varying the height of the front sight by filing the top or installing a taller one. Again, it's best to live with it as is, unless a previous owner has over-shortened it.
Visible above the decocked hammer is the loaded chamber indicator, which in this case indicates an empty chamber. When a round is chambered, that pin will protrude rearward to let you know the gun's ready to go bang.
Safety
The Walther P38 has a number of safety features, some of which may cause trouble after the gun has seen some use.
The most visible feature is the safety/decocking lever, on the left side of the slide. When in the up (fire) position with the hammer down, the P38 is safe to carry (the firing pin is positively blocked). Simply pull the trigger to fire the round in the chamber.
The firing pin block is only disengaged: in double action mode when the trigger is pulled almost all the way to the firing position, or in single action mode when the hammer is cocked.
This is a good feature, allowing the pistol to be safely carried with the hammer down and the chamber loaded.
The hammer cannot be cocked with the safety in the down (safe) position.
More safety features are discussed on the next page.
In the photo, you can see the Walther P38 pistol, a loaded magazine, and a booklet covering its operation. Apparently, Dad got this book when he briefly owned a P38 many years ago, and held onto the book and accompanying target when he sold the gun.
Dangerous Safety?
When in the down (safe) position, the safety lever rotates a drum within the slide, which blocks the firing pin by means of narrow shoulders on opposite sides of the firing pin.
If the hammer is cocked when the safety is moved downward, the hammer will fall. Unless restrained and carefully lowered, the hammer will then hit the firing pin, which will slam into the small shoulders on the safety drum.
Because of the narrow engagement surfaces, the shoulders may wear and allow the firing pin to travel forward and fire the chambered round. That will then cause the gun to cycle, and because of the automatic hammer-drop, it will continue to do so until the magazine is empty. Such sudden and unexpected machine-gun firing of your pistol is, of course, unsafe as well as unsettling.
For that reason, the hammer should not be allowed to fly forward when decocked. As the old Walther booklet explains, the hammer should be gently lowered after decocking, while keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction.
In his book "Troubleshooting Your Handgun," noted handgun authority J.B. Wood goes so far as to recommend having a gunsmith remove the hammer-drop lever (called the "relief piece" by Walther) from your P38, and using both hands to lower the hammer in order "to be doubly safe." Note: this may not be as true of commercial models as it is of military arms, but I still recommend manually lowering the hammer when decocking.
As with any gun, no matter how many safety features it has, never point it at anything you're not willing to shoot.
In the photo: Walther P38 with the holster, magazines, and cleaning kit that came with it. Also shown are a booklet and factory target from another P38.
The P38 is easy to disassemble, and field-stripping is easily done without tools. Naturally, don't let the hammer fall while the gun is disassembled, and don't dry-fire it.
Disassembly
Refer back to page one of this article for the location of the takedown lever.
- Place the safety in the safe (down) position.
- Retract the slide far enough that its front edge is rearward of the takedown lever. You may lock the slide in its rearward position, but it's not neccessary - I just hold the slide back.
- Rotate the takedown lever about 135 degrees (3/8 of a full rotation) clockwise.
- Allow the barrel & slide to move forward. The hammer will slam forward if you let it. I prefer to let it down nice and easy.
Trigger Pull
The single action trigger on this pistol runs between 4.5 and 5 pounds, with a little creep. Not bad at all. Double action pull is very good and smooth.
Specs
Specifications for the P38 pistol, from a booklet printed in the early 1960s, include: overall length 8 7/16"; barrel length 4 15/16"; height of pistol 5 3/8"; weight 27.5 oz.; magazine capacity 8 rounds.
Conclusion
The Walther P38 is a fairly large DA/SA semi-automatic 9mm pistol, generally dependable and with a few quirks. It looks and feels good, and points well.
Accuracy is pretty good, and if you stick to medium-to-light loads, a P38 should last for many years.
Dependability is good, but not great. It's suitable for informal target shooting, and is marginal for self-defense due to its 9mm cartridge. Its large size makes it a poor choice for concealed carry.
- Russ Chastain
The Walther P38 was the first true double-action pistol in 9mm, and was the only one for a good while. It's a fine piece of engineering, and its staying power has proven that. At press time, the P38 continues to be available in the USA via imported West German police "trade-in" guns.
The P38 was originally a German military pistol, chambered for 9mm Luger (9mm Parabellum; 9x19mm), which at that time had been in German military use for more than three decades.
The P38 saw much wartime use during World War II, and was subsequently produced commercially in West Germany for export and police use.
Many, if not most, commercially-made post-WW2 P38s have alloy frames, and are commonly known by the P1 designation - although many P38s (including the gun featured in this article) are not marked as such. WWII military P38s had steel frames. The subject of this article is a commercial model with an alloy frame.
The photo shows the left side of the P38. This a "police trade-in" gun of recent import (though not of recent manufacture).
Stamped on the left side of the slide: Walther banner logo; "Carl Walther Waffenfabrik Ulm/Do;" "P38 Cal.9mm;" and a poor stamping of three numbers.
Also: A simple dot inside a circle; a stylized four-pointed star above it; "165" inside a three-sided box. Research shows the "box" to be an eagle whose downswept wings form the box's sides.
Left side of frame: Serial number (portions removed from photo); the same circle-dot mark as on the slide; a tiny stamping which appears to say "PTR 91.
FARM 01."
The three numbers poorly-stamped on the slide are also visible on the left side of the barrel when the slide is retracted.
Note the lanyard loop towards the bottom of the left grip. The takedown lever is located on the front left of the frame. Behind it, above the trigger, is the slide lock, used to hold the slide open. Farther back and mounted in the slide is the safety/decocking lever (more on that later).
Walther P38 9mm Semi-Automatic Pistol Review - Right Side, Features
Here we see the right side of the Walther P38 pistol.
Stamped towards the rear of the slide, just forward of the serrations, is the same "165" inside a three-sided "eagle box." This stamping is better than the one on the left, and shows a protrusion atop the "box," which should be an eagle's head in profile (beak pointing left). The beak is missing from this stamping, due to the slide's rough surface.
Forward of that mark, also stamped on the slide, is "11/60," presumably indicating a manufacture date of November, 1960.
Stamped on the right side of the alloy frame above the front of the trigger guard are two identical stampings. Both are clearly the same sort of "eagle box" that the slide markings should be, but the number is 27 rather than 165.
Notable Features
In the aforementioned booklet, Walther said the P38 has "a perfect action design." There's really no such thing as a perfect action, but the P38 is undoubtedly a good gun.
The P38 has a DA/SA action (Double Action/Single Action). One of the main advantages of DA/SA is that, if a round is chambered and the hammer is decocked with the safety off, the gun may be fired by simply pulling the trigger (DA). Each successive cycling of the action will then cock the hammer and load a new round from the magazine, and thus the next shot fired will be single action.
You may also fire the first shot in a true DA/SA pistol (like this one) by cocking the hammer, then pulling the trigger (SA).
Should you chamber a round that doesn't fire on the first try in your P38 (due to a hard primer, perhaps), a simple pull of the trigger is all that's required to try it again.
The booklet also points out that because "the barrel is mounted in an open and unencumbered manner," a bulge in the barrel will not impede its functioning. (The same is not true of that old military workhorse, the Colt 1911.)
Walther P38 9mm Semi-Automatic Pistol Review - Sights and Safety
The photo shows the rear of the Walther P38. The front sight is dovetailed into the barrel, while the rear sight is part of the slide assembly and retains the firing pin lock and the limit stop pin (firing pin retainer).
The rear sight is held in place by the slide cover (the thing on the top of the slide, running from the rear sight forward to the rear of the barrel), and no attempt should be made to drift this sight.
The front sight may be drifted if necessary for windage adjustment, but not too much, and it usually provides acceptable accuracy as is. Elevation adjustment is only feasible by varying the height of the front sight by filing the top or installing a taller one. Again, it's best to live with it as is, unless a previous owner has over-shortened it.
Visible above the decocked hammer is the loaded chamber indicator, which in this case indicates an empty chamber. When a round is chambered, that pin will protrude rearward to let you know the gun's ready to go bang.
Safety
The Walther P38 has a number of safety features, some of which may cause trouble after the gun has seen some use.
The most visible feature is the safety/decocking lever, on the left side of the slide. When in the up (fire) position with the hammer down, the P38 is safe to carry (the firing pin is positively blocked). Simply pull the trigger to fire the round in the chamber.
The firing pin block is only disengaged: in double action mode when the trigger is pulled almost all the way to the firing position, or in single action mode when the hammer is cocked.
This is a good feature, allowing the pistol to be safely carried with the hammer down and the chamber loaded.
The hammer cannot be cocked with the safety in the down (safe) position.
More safety features are discussed on the next page.
In the photo, you can see the Walther P38 pistol, a loaded magazine, and a booklet covering its operation. Apparently, Dad got this book when he briefly owned a P38 many years ago, and held onto the book and accompanying target when he sold the gun.
Dangerous Safety?
When in the down (safe) position, the safety lever rotates a drum within the slide, which blocks the firing pin by means of narrow shoulders on opposite sides of the firing pin.
If the hammer is cocked when the safety is moved downward, the hammer will fall. Unless restrained and carefully lowered, the hammer will then hit the firing pin, which will slam into the small shoulders on the safety drum.
Because of the narrow engagement surfaces, the shoulders may wear and allow the firing pin to travel forward and fire the chambered round. That will then cause the gun to cycle, and because of the automatic hammer-drop, it will continue to do so until the magazine is empty. Such sudden and unexpected machine-gun firing of your pistol is, of course, unsafe as well as unsettling.
For that reason, the hammer should not be allowed to fly forward when decocked. As the old Walther booklet explains, the hammer should be gently lowered after decocking, while keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction.
In his book "Troubleshooting Your Handgun," noted handgun authority J.B. Wood goes so far as to recommend having a gunsmith remove the hammer-drop lever (called the "relief piece" by Walther) from your P38, and using both hands to lower the hammer in order "to be doubly safe." Note: this may not be as true of commercial models as it is of military arms, but I still recommend manually lowering the hammer when decocking.
As with any gun, no matter how many safety features it has, never point it at anything you're not willing to shoot.
In the photo: Walther P38 with the holster, magazines, and cleaning kit that came with it. Also shown are a booklet and factory target from another P38.
The P38 is easy to disassemble, and field-stripping is easily done without tools. Naturally, don't let the hammer fall while the gun is disassembled, and don't dry-fire it.
Disassembly
Refer back to page one of this article for the location of the takedown lever.
- Place the safety in the safe (down) position.
- Retract the slide far enough that its front edge is rearward of the takedown lever. You may lock the slide in its rearward position, but it's not neccessary - I just hold the slide back.
- Rotate the takedown lever about 135 degrees (3/8 of a full rotation) clockwise.
- Allow the barrel & slide to move forward. The hammer will slam forward if you let it. I prefer to let it down nice and easy.
Trigger Pull
The single action trigger on this pistol runs between 4.5 and 5 pounds, with a little creep. Not bad at all. Double action pull is very good and smooth.
Specs
Specifications for the P38 pistol, from a booklet printed in the early 1960s, include: overall length 8 7/16"; barrel length 4 15/16"; height of pistol 5 3/8"; weight 27.5 oz.; magazine capacity 8 rounds.
Conclusion
The Walther P38 is a fairly large DA/SA semi-automatic 9mm pistol, generally dependable and with a few quirks. It looks and feels good, and points well.
Accuracy is pretty good, and if you stick to medium-to-light loads, a P38 should last for many years.
Dependability is good, but not great. It's suitable for informal target shooting, and is marginal for self-defense due to its 9mm cartridge. Its large size makes it a poor choice for concealed carry.
- Russ Chastain
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