I went to visit my gunsmith last week. He showed me an extremely rare find. He had 2, from what we could tell, unfired Walther P38 pistols. They still had the packing grease on them and he could not locate any import stamps on them. He was cleaning them for a customer because they were alergic to a chemical in the packing grease.
They were identical to the ones shown on the main page.
I didn't make the connection till I was looking around on the main site and saw the gun.
One of the lesser known Indy guns from the movies, Toht used it and Indy.
They're a handful to shoot too. When I was firing qualification for my CCP, the fellow next to me decided to use his P-38 as his qualifier weapon. First magazine he fired, when he dropped the mag to reload, somehow he sliced the heck out of his weak side hand! He had to have someone else reload for him, as it didn't effect his shooting hand, but you want to talk about somebody peeved about his weapon of choice! He fired some fine patterns, as I recall, though, so it performed. Regards. Michaelson
I've fired a P-38 once or twice and it's a fine weapon, one of the most under-appreciated of WW2 weapons IMO.
I own one now, a Nazi stamped example, very nice it is too.
That's quite a horror story there Michaelson
Can I ask what pistol you choose to qualify with??
I've seen these, though never shot one. It's got quite a history behind it. The first double action automatic pistol to ever be issued to troops. I don't care for 9MM's that much, but I'd love to have one of these!
I qualified with my Taurus model 605 .357 5 shot revolver. Drove them crazy, as everyone had to wait for me to unload, then REload for the 6th shot. (grins) Regards. Michaelson
Thanks! Never heard of a 5 shot, eh? Smith and Wesson has made them for years in their model 60 J frame .38 special. It's a favorite backup weapon of a lot of law enforcement agencies to this day. Taurus followed suit, but just made a stronger frame for the magnum . Regards. Michaelson
p.s. I forgot to mention Smith's model 36 as well. It's the blued version of the stainless model 60.
Last edited by Michaelson on Fri Jan 16, 2004 11:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
In addition, the Ruger SP101 is a five-shot .38/.357 revolver, and the S&W 696 is a five-shot .44 special revolver. Charter Arms and Rossi also made five-shooters.
There have been ALOT of Russian-captured P-38's imported from Russia the last few years. I bought mine for about $375 about 3 years ago from FGS. I bet that's what you saw at the gunshop. My gun looks new and has all matching numbers. I never was able to find the import stamp, but I'm told that it's there.
The Russians captured thousands of these guns and put them all through the same rebuilding program that they used on all captured small arms. The guns were dip blued and stored for some future use. Some were given away as foreign aid, but the majority stayed in the warehouses until the Russians sold them as surplus.
The P 38 forum at www.p38forum.com is a good place for info on these guns.
If you buy one, don't pay too much. They are pretty common right now and you shoul still be able to get a nice clean example for under $425.
If you guys like P38s, then also keep an eye out for P1s. They're basically the same gun, but the P1s are easier to come by and have an aluminum alloy frame. They can be had for much cheaper, and look exactly the same.
Sounds good for a carry pistol and limited shooting, but I wonder what it's track record is in a lot of shooting over a long period of time? From what I've seen and read over the years, aluminum frames don't handle a higher pressure 9mm round (or like ammo)slamming the slide back and forth over the long haul. Regards. Michaelson
The Walther P-1 Has a steel reinforcement in the aluminum frame. These pistols are designed to hold up for thousands of rounds and generally cost about one third as much as a ww2 P-38. Not all parts are interchangable between the two pistols........Terry
Terryhimself wrote:The Walther P-1 Has a steel reinforcement in the aluminum frame. These pistols are designed to hold up for thousands of rounds and generally cost about one third as much as a ww2 P-38. Not all parts are interchangable between the two pistols........Terry
Only the later P-1's have the Hex bolt reinforcement. If you order one from a distributer, specify that you want the later model with the reinforcement.
The original P-38s are "hard use" handguns...I don't know how the P-1s will stand up to long-term usage. A few years ago, while working in Angola, I noticed the "special units" of the National Police carried P-38s...never got to fire one of their's, but sure would've liked to! ( And, yes, I'm back in the country for a couple of weeks...spent a couple of weeks in Cameroon, and will be travelling to Colombia in February....then back to Africa at a later date!!!....It's good to be home for a while!)
Michaelson wrote:Sounds good for a carry pistol and limited shooting, but I wonder what it's track record is in a lot of shooting over a long period of time? From what I've seen and read over the years, aluminum frames don't handle a higher pressure 9mm round (or like ammo)slamming the slide back and forth over the long haul. Regards. Michaelson
As someone else stated, there are the earlier ones that didn't put up well with +P or +P+ ammunition (like that ultra-hot sub-gun ammo ). The ones with the reinforcement are supposed to be much better. Shotgun News had an article about them a few months back, and it performed very well. They were selling them for around $300 if I remember correctly.
The Beretta Model 92, and it's clone, the Taurus PT92 are direct descendents of the P38, using the same locking principle and many of the same lines. They can be found quite readily, although they don't have that classic '30s look.
They also cost big time!!!! The last time I looked, I could have picked up a Beretta 92 U.S. made version in the $650 range, and that came with two 15 round magazines. (that sure dates when I was looking, doesn't it?!) They've gone up dramatically since then. Regards. Michaelson
Michaelson wrote:They also cost big time!!!! The last time I looked, I could have picked up a Beretta 92 U.S. made version in the $650 range, and that came with two 15 round magazines. (that sure dates when I was looking, doesn't it?!) They've gone up dramatically since then. Regards. Michaelson
Michealson,
If you are interested, I know someone selling a Berreta 92 w/ 4 preban high caps for about $400. Shoot me a PM if you'd like the info.
Molorom wrote:speaking of p38, Edison Giocattoli makes a great looking
p38 to scale replica cap gun. looks very nice. Edison Giocattoli
kindest regards
molorom
I had that when I was a kid! Those Edison toy guns of the late 70s and early to mid 80s were the greatest ever. Magazine fed, they really ejected spent caps... and affordable too. Glad to see they still make 'em, though of course they are impossible to find in toy stores anymore. Makes me glad I grew up back then.
He fired some fine patterns, as I recall, though, so it performed. Regards. Michaelson
