History of the Walther P38

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Published on January 14, 2023 8:00:10 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_OG75bqXIs

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The Walther P38 is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that was developed by Carl Walther GmbH as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was intended to replace the costly Luger P08, the production of which was scheduled to end in 1942.
The first designs was submitted to the German Army and featured a locked breech and a hidden hammer, but the Army requested that it should be redesigned with an external hammer.
The P38 concept was accepted by the German military in 1938 but production of prototype pistols did not begin until late 1939. Walther began manufacture at their plant in Zella-Mehlis and produced three series of "Test" pistols, designated by a "0" prefix to the serial number. The third series pistols satisfactorily solved the previous problems for the German Army and mass production began in mid-1940, using Walther's military production identification code "480".
Several experimental versions were later created in .45 ACP, and .38 Super, but these were never mass-produced. In addition to the 9×19mm Parabellum version, some 7.65×21mm Parabellum and some .22 Long Rifle versions were also manufactured and sold.
The Walther P.38 was in production from 1939 to 1945. Initial development of the pistol took place 1937-1939, culminating in the first model, designated Model HP or Heerespistole, which had several variants as engineering changes were made. Early production included a Swedish contract. The designation P.38 indicates Wehrmacht adoption in 1938, although the exact date is unknown. The transition from HP to the mechanically-identical P.38-marked pistols took place 1939-1940. Sweden bought the P38 in 1939.
During WWII, the P.38 was produced by three separate manufacturers: Walther, Mauser, and Spreewerk. To conceal manufacturer identities, each wartime manufacturer used a letter code: ac (Walther); byf (Mauser), and cyq (Spreewerk), followed by the date (e.g.: ac44: Walther 1944 production). Spreewerk did not mark production dates. Pistols were produced in blocks of 10,000 consecutively numbered pistols, with each block having a consecutive letter suffix, to conceal production volume. 1,277,680 P.38s were produced during WWII: 617,585 by Walther in Zella-Mehlis; 372,875 by Mauser in Oberndorf; 287,220 by Spreewerk Grottau. Late in the war, the Spreewerk cyq die broke. Subsequent pistols appear to be marked "cvq" due to the broken die. About 31,400 pistols are so marked. Spreewerk production ended April 1945.
After the war from 1945-1946, several thousands of pistols were assembled for the French armed forces. Only after 1957 was the P38 again produced for the German military. Slowly over time, West Germany desired to rebuild its military so that it could shoulder some of the burden for its own defense. Walther retooled for new P38 production since no military firearms production had occurred in West Germany since the end of the war, knowing that the military would again seek Walther firearms. When the Bundeswehr announced it wanted the P38 for its official service pistol, Walther readily resumed P38 production within just two years, using wartime pistols as models and new engineering drawings and machine tools. The first of the new P38s were delivered to the West German military in June 1957, some 17 years and two months after the pistol had initially seen action in World War II, and from 1957 to 1963 the P38 was again the standard sidearm.

P38 Info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_P38
https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/germany-semi-automatic-pistols/walther-p38-eng/
https://simpsonltd.com/hand-guns/p-38/walther/

Other Videos on the P38:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU2KaSqeqoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR_Mnliebmg
https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/germany-semi-automatic-pistols/walther-p38-eng/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzdsfKmF508
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZE9MdNp_XE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0zTOAS7vR4

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