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The Walther P38 pistol was developed as a military pistol for the German army (Wehrmacht) during the late 1930s. It first appeared in 1938, and small numbers of the original HP (Heeres Pistole – army pistol) were bought by Sweden before the Wehrmacht adopted it as the Pistole 38 and took over all production guns. During the war, P38 pistols were made by a number of factories, including the Walther itself with steel frames. After the war, most of the ex-Walther 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 post-war P38 pistols were again made with aluminum frames. The Walther P38 is short-recoil operated, locked-breech pistol. The barrel is locked to the slide using a wedge-shaped locking piece, which can tilt up and down below the barrel, while following the inclined surfaces on the frame. When the barrel and slide are in battery, the locking piece is in its upper position, and its lugs securely lock the slide to the barrel. Upon recoil, the locking piece drops down and out of the engagement with the slide, unlocking it and allowing it to recoil and complete the reloading cycle. Because of the short slide, the P38 has two captive return springs, located on either side of the frame and inside the slide. With time it was found that the aluminum frame developed cracks in the most highly stressed area, where the locking piece and barrel were slamming against it on recoil, so the frames of late production pistols were reinforced with the addition of a hexagonal cross-pin, made from steel. 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. The standard safety also acted as a de-cocker, and was located at the left side of the slide. Magazines were single-stack, with the magazine release located at the heel of the grip. The sights were fixed. P38 pistols were also fitted with a loaded chamber indicator in the form of a small pin that projected from the rear of the slide, above the hammer, when a cartridge was loaded in the chamber. This pistol is important to collectors because of technical advance of its double action operation and turn-away safety catch on the firing pin. (Ref. ‘P38 Automatic Pistols’ by G Gangarosa, ‘Pistols and revolvers’ by JE Smith, ‘Famous pistols and handguns’ by A J R Cormack, ‘Price guide for collector handguns’ by R H Balderson, ‘Pistols of the world’ by Hogg and Weeks p259)

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