Key facts
- Type
- Semi-automatic pistol
- Place of origin
- Nazi Germany
- In service
- 1939–1945 (Nazi Germany) , 1949–present (other countries)
- Used by
- See Users
- Wars
- World War II First Indochina War Algerian War Portuguese Colonial War Rhodesian Bush War Vietnam War (limited) The Troubles 1958 Lebanon crisis Lebanese Civil War War in Afghanistan Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017) (P1)
- Manufacturer
- Carl Walther Waffenfabrik , Mauser Werke , Spreewerk , Manurhin
- Unit cost
- 30 ℛ ︁ ℳ ︁ (1943), equivalent to €120 in 2021
- Produced
- Walther P38 1939–1945, Pistole P1 1957–2000
- Number span no built
- c. 1,000,000
- Variants
- HP , P1, P38K, P38 SD, P4
- Mass
- 960 g (34 oz) (empty)
- Length
- 216 mm (8.5 in)
- Barrel length
- 125 mm (4.9 in)
- Width
- 36 mm (1.4 in)
- Height
- 140 mm (5.5 in)
- Cartridge
- 9×19mm Parabellum
- Action
- Short recoil , hinged locking piece assisted breechblock
- Rate of fire
- 116 rpm (semi-automatic)
via Wikipedia infobox
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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 comparatively complex and expensive to produce Luger P08. Moving the production lines to the more easily mass producible P38 once World War II started took longer than expected, leading to the P08 remaining in production until September 1942 and copies remained in service until the end of the war.
Development
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Walther P38” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.