The Walther P38 was a 9 mm pistol that was developed by Walther 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.  This is a 9mm Parabellum (same as Luger) with a magazine capacity of 8 rounds.   (1175)

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The P38 is a recoil-operated, locked breech design with a vertically tilting blocking bar that connects the 4.9 inch moving barrel and the slide. The P38 has a short, open top slide.  A locking wedge under the barrel holds the slide and barrel together during recoil. When the wedge reaches the limiting point against the frame, it drops down, releasing the slide to return to its forward, locked position for the next round.

The trigger is double-action, with an exposed hammer and trigger bar (the link between the trigger and sear) unusually located outside of the frame at the right side. This was the  first DA military handgun, a design pioneered by Walther with the PP and PPK. The slide catch is on the left side of the frame. The catch for the 8-round magazine is located at the bottom of the grip. There is a post front sight and notch rear sight. The standard safety also acted as a de-cocker, and was located at the left side of the slide. The frame and slide are all-steel while the grip plates are plastic.

Walter Proof Eagle 359 and Nazi Acceptance Stamp

 The finish on the Walthers up to 1942 had the deep blue, almost commercial appearance and are prized by collectors; after 1942 they went into wartime production 

After the war, most of the ex-Mauser machinery ended up in France as war reparations, and many of the post-war P38 pistols were actually built in France, by the Manurhin factory.

The French manufactured P38 pistols from captured parts at the Mauser factory from May or June of 1945 until 1946. These are identifiable by the presence of a five-pointed star stamped on the slide. Total German production is estimated at more than 1,200,000 pistols. Production of the P38 resumed at a new Walther factory in Ulm, West Germany under the name Pistole 1 (P1) in 1958 for West German Police and the Bundeswehr. It remained in Walther production, in several revised iterations, until the early 1990s.

The early Walthers, until late 1941, were made to almost commercial standards of fit and polish. As the pressures of war required increased production the exterior finish declined but the operating components of the P38 remained remarkably well made throughout the war, especially at Mauser.

On April 26, 1940 official test were completed, and the army ordered 410,600 P38s.  Production was very slow at first and although Walther was projected to complete 175,000 pistols by June 1940, only 9,750 were completed and delivered. Finally on April 1, 1941, Walther was able to achieve its' monthly goal of 10,000 pistols.   However, Walther still needed help to meet with the armies' needs.  By the end of the war 1.2 million P38s were produced, of which Walther made only about 580,000.

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