One of the most iconic German military handguns is the Luger P08, but on the eve of World War II, the German military sought a new sidearm that was easier to manufacture than the P08. For that, ultimately, the military turned to Walther, who had already had an extensive history of innovation within the handgun space. The company's answer was the P38. Watch our "American Rifleman Television: I Have This Old Gun" segment above to see the details of the P38.
"Now, Walther has already been innovating in the handgun space in the interwar period," American Rifleman Executive Editor Evan Brune said. "The Walther PPK is the first double-action/single-action handgun design, but it's a blowback. It's in .32 ACP. Walther then ups the ante with its HP38 design as it's initially known. This is a locked-breech, double-action/single-action, semi-automatic handgun chambered, of course, for the standard German military cartridge of 9 millimeter Luger."
Produced from 1939 until 1945, the Walther P38 featured a 5-inch barrel and an eight-round, single-stack magazine. Overall length measured about 8.5 inches, height was 5.5 inches and width across the controls was 1.4 inches.
"This is a true double-action/single-action pistol, meaning if the hammer’s down, you can get that long sweep heavy pull of the trigger that will pull the hammer back and drop it to fire," NRA Media Editorial Director Mark Keefe said. "Or you could cock the hammer for a much better single-action pull."
Several manufacturers produced P38s during World War II, including Walther, Mauser and Spreewerke, and ultimately, about 1 million P38s were built during the course of the war.
"This has a typical heel magazine release that you see on so many guns of this era, but it also has a couple of other notable controls," Brune said. "One of the notable controls is there is a safety/decocking lever that's located on the left side of the slide, and that's what allows the gun to drop into double-action mode after you've loaded the gun."
Immediately following the war, German arms production ceased, but the French produced a number of P38 pistols colloquially known by collectors as "gray ghosts," due to their Parkerized finishes and sheet-metal grips. However, that wasn't the end of the Walther P38 story.
"Now, by 1957, it's decided that the Germans need to rearm in the face of possible Soviet aggression, and these pistols are resurrected as the standard pistol for the German army," American Rifleman contributor Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas said. "They're now referred to as a P1, and they have aluminum frames."
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