Note the decocker/safety and slide release are well placed and easy to reach. The rear sight is a wide U-notch adjustable for windage via drifting. It took a backseat though to the higher magazine capacity of the Belgian’s 9mm P35 Hi-Power, and 9mm ball lacked the terminal performance of the American.
Walther p1 cleaning kit manual#
380-inch Enfield and Webley revolvers and was faster into action than the Soviet’s 7.62x25mm TT-33, which lacked a manual safety. When put to the test in actual combat it proved at least the equal of the Polish Radom, possessed superior terminal performance compared to France’s 7.65mm Long 1935 series, easily outclassed England’s. Heavy field use in incredibly harsh conditions quickly proved it to be a tough and durable weapon which soon became popular with the troops. P38s went on to see combat in every theatre where German soldiers were engaged. Walther, Mauser-Werke (starting in 1941), and Spreewerke GmbH (starting in 1943) churned out over one million P38s during the war. Military production began in 1939, with the first issues being made to Panzer (tank) crews. Controls consisted of a decocker/safety mounted on the left side of the slide, a slide release on the left side of the frame, and a magazine catch located on the heel of the butt. The proven double-action lock of the PP was included, and feed was from an 8-round magazine.
Walther p1 cleaning kit free#
The slide, now released, was free to recoil backwards and complete the reloading cycle. Then the wedge was driven down by striking against a frame transom. This held the slide and barrel together as they recoiled a short distance. Rather than having the barrel lock into the slide, Walther used a locking wedge under the barrel. Not only was the double-action operation unique at the time on a service pistol, but its method of operation also stood out. A full-size double-action service pistol, it chambered the standard 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge. Like the P.08 it was intended to replace, the new P38 had a certain menacing look to it. Beretta later used this method on their popular 92 series. The P1's lock-up consists of a wedge that rises to lock into cutouts, seen here, in the slide. Walther kept at it though, and their AP (Armee Pistole) was eventually refined and adopted as the Pistole 38 or P38. Unfortunately, these failed to satisfy the German ordnance officials. So, Walther developed and submitted a number of models. Service in the Great War had shown the P.08 to be both slow and expensive to manufacture as well as being temperamental in the mud of the trenches. In the 1930s the rearming Wehrmacht began looking for a suitable replacement for its aging P.08 Parabellum service pistol. Their handsome good looks didn’t hurt them either. Both of these designs were well-received due to their compact size, innovative double-action operation, reliability and accuracy. These were the PP-Polizei Pistole introduced in 1929 and its smaller sibling, the PPK-Polizei Pistole Kriminalbeamte, introduced in 1930. Following the Great War Walther produced two designs which made the company justly famous. The German firm of Carl Walther Waffenfabrik first began producing handguns at a plant in Zella-Mellis in 1908. For those of you unfamiliar with this model let’s delve a little into the history of Walther before looking at the weapon itself. Now surplus Walther P1s are both an interesting collectible and fun shooter. Today, the Cold War is little more than a fading memory, Germany is united, the Bundeswehr is just a shadow of what it once was, and Walther’s P1 was long ago replaced in German service. Although they might be overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers, they would go down hard defending their Fatherland. It was well understood, on both sides of the Iron Curtain, that the Bundeswehr would certainly make the Soviets/Warsaw Pact pay dearly if they invaded West Germany. Bundeswehr units, especially their armor, soon earned the respect of their peers for their professionalism and abilities. In doing so it became the backbone of NATO in Central Europe. The Bundeswehr would eventually expand out to a force of 495,000 military and 170,000 civilian personnel. Working at their new factory in Ulm-an-der-Donau, Walther produced the 9x19mm P1 for not only the Bundeswehr but also the Austrian Army and export as well. It subsequently served several generations of Teutonic soldats during the Cold War, as they faced down the Russian Bear. So rather than adopting a totally new design, the Bundeswehr simply fielded a modernized version of the P38 designated the Pistole 1 (P1). Recent combat experience had proven the Wehrmacht’s Walther P38 to be a tough and reliable service pistol. For other weapons, though they looked to the past.
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