I have temporary custody of this WWII pickup Walther P38. I’ll post better pictures soon:
It has been in continuous ownership since it arrived in the US, as far as I know.
Based on some preliminary research, I believe it is a ‘41, ac build (Walther Factory) with matching numbers. There are other markings but I haven’t examined it carefully. The accompanying steel magazine does not match. The leather holster appears issue, but is marked ‘P08’, which I am guessing might not have been unusual during wartime.
It was reported that the gun shot fine, but hasn’t been fired for many years.
The action is relatively smooth; the wear on the finish may be dirt / corrosion as I’ve not looked closely yet. The safety / decocker seems to work. The extractor is present as is the ejector and I can see the firing pin. The DA press is very stout, definitely way above my LCR. The barrel is pretty clean, the chamber free of obvious dirt or grime. I have not dry fired it.
The owner asked me to get some more information, and perhaps clean it up a bit. I thought I would ask here first if there were any knowledgeable Walther smiths on p-f, or someone could point me to one, ideally in Florida?
Are there any obvious things to check on a gun this old?
The grips appear to be bakelite; are these stable under recoil after this many years?
Does the mag disassemble like a modern mag, I.e. depress the catch, slide baseplate off, remove spring and follower?
Would there be any problems in using a modern CLP (Slip 2000 EWL), or should I just stick with Ballistol?
What ammo would you suggest? (The owner is ok shooting it if it checks out)
It’s quite an interesting piece of history. It almost seems like it operates like how I remember an HK USP operates, with the DA/SA and safety/decocker. I can’t verify the loaded chamber indicator works, but I like the concept. I’ll post more info and pictures, and maybe a few more questions, soon. Meanwhile, appreciate any tips or info anyone has. I should be able to keep it for a few weeks at least before returning it.