The Walther P38 (originally written Walther P.38) 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 new pistol was designed at the Walther firearms plant and was called the P.38, an abbreviation for Pistole 38. Fritz Walther and Fritz Barthelmes are the two major names involved in the design and development of this pistol. In the early years, the P.38 was produced only by the firm of Carl Walther in Zella-Mehlis, Germany.

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Information, photos, references, and trivia on the WW2 Walther P.38 and post-war P38 pistol. If you wish to link to this page, please link only to the main page, not sub-pages or documents. Please do not rip off my PDF files or pictures for your own site. Thanks.

Updated 20 Feb 2014 17:33 -0800

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P .38 Pistols For Sale - World War 2 Era | Legacy Collectibles

Most Recent updates:

Two more 'BTH12' pistols have been reported. See 'BTH12' under 'Pistols'

Added 'When was my post-war pistol made?' to 'Information'

Added another late date AC frame pistol to 'Pistols'

Added some late war pistols to 'Pistols'

Post-war volume I Post-war parts gun, two guns in .30 Luger, and a high-polish gun.	Late date AC framevariation. Warren Buxton calls these the 'oddballs of oddballs.' Who made these - and when?	byf44 FN slide.	Post-war volume II Download need for speed hot pursuit for free on android. P38 surplus, P1 surplus, P38 commercial, and P4 surplus guns.
Consecutive serial number SVW-45s.	Consecutive serial number SVW-46s.	Post-warP38 in 7.65mm Parabellum.	East German P.38s. Reworked wartime ac40, ac44, and an East German manufactured gun.
Steel frame P38from Earl's Repair Service.	ac45 matching 'c' block.	Post-warP.38 in 5.6mm (.22 LR).	A Zero series and 'a' prefix Spreewerkreworked for use in post-war East Germany.
The Czechoslovakian Vz46.	byf44 police issue with British markings.	Commemorative '100 Jahre' P38marking the 100th year anniversary of Walther.	Unknown BTH12 marking on several P.38s.
Norwegian military surplus P38.	Mixmaster P.38 with WW2 German, East German, Czech, and British markings.	The ultra-rare 'ac no-date' - and how to spot a fake.	Some things you can do to a P.38. Please don't! WARNING: disturbing!
French Mausers 1945 to 1946.	Gotterdammerung - some pistols from the last months of the war.	Another version of the late date AC frame pistol.

Pistol Information

An excellent article by Peter Kokalis on thewartime P.38 pistolcan be found here, and another article on thepost-war P38here.

My post-war pistol has no date or date code - about when was it manufactured? You can get a rough estimate based upon these observed pistols.

Need to replace a broken WW2 slide part with a post-war part, and don't know if the new part will fit? Read the slide part compatibility guide. Note: this information is intended as a guide only. I am not a gunsmith. If you do not have working knowledge of the P.38 pistol, consult a competent gunsmith before attempting to effect repairs to your P.38.

Over the long term, will oil cause bakelite grips to deteriorate? An attempt to find out startshere.And continuesafter one year.. and finally ends at three plus years.

Atarian's quick reference magazine guide.Helps to identify which magazine is correct for your pistol.

Atarian's post-war reproduction and aftermarket grip guide.Some of the currently availab

Walter P-38 Pistol