Aim Surplus seems to have a number of P-38's for a not bad price.

Saw that email and had missed out a few years ago.

More than I’d like to have spent, and we’ll see what condition they’re in. I’ll let you know when mine comes through.

Saw those as well, and was tempted. Still am. Will be interested to see how BuddyChryst's turns out!

Alloy frame, no hexagonal screw head on the left side. Not the kiss of death by any means, but back when I told people I was looking for a shooter they tended to steer me toward one of the models with the hexagonal screw for what that's worth.

The models with the hexagonal screw would be more desirable. But was never a show stopper for me.
I have examples of both. And I just don't shoot plus P or hot 9mm in any of them. That includes NATO spec ammo.

John

Of course these pistols at AIM are not collector's items, they are strictly shooters.

These pistols with the non-reinforced slide and non-reinforced frame are not particularly durable and that's being kind about it.

If the pistol pictured on AIM's site is representative of what they have available I would not pay 550 dollars for one, but that's because I remember when they were half that price and plentiful. But, if you have the cash and you want to play with a P38, you can have some fun. The sights are regulated for standard velocity 124 ammunition. I would avoid NATO-spec loads and stick to stuff like Federal's American Eagle 124 grain.

You'll probably get a mix-and-match pistol- earlier frames with later slides, or vice-versa.

Postwar P38 barrels are two piece, having an inner liner containing the chamber and rifling, and with enough shooting, the barrels made before 1974 or so tend to eventually extrude their liner. The slim slides can fracture with hot loads, and the same is true with the non-reinforced frames.

All of this may sound like I'm not a fan of these pistols but this is not so. I'm just being realistic. I own quite a few P38s, all of them commercial pistols. I acquired mine between 15 and 20 years ago, when they were inexpensive and plentiful. Back then, most of the serious P38 collectors were concentrating on prewar and wartime production pistols. It's only in the last few years that serious collectors have turned their interest to the postwar pistols., My mantra back then was "Collect 'em where they ain't" meaning acquiring those guns not yet deemed particularly desirable at the time. I did the same thing with P22x Classic SIGs. I look at prices these days on Walther and SIG pistols of days gone by and I realize I did pretty damn good.

In the case of these AIM pistols, as long as you've got the cash to spare and you know you're getting pistols that have been tended to by the armorer once or twice, and you don't try to hotrod 'em, you'll be OK.

I saw the Email and wondered if they were Manhurin made.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I saw the Email and wondered if they were Manhurin made.

Weren’t all postwar Walther Manhurin made?

Or am I getijng mixed up on just the PP and PPK pistols?

Bill R

You're thinking of the PP and PPk pistols. Walther P38s were manufactured, finished and assembled in Ulm.

Regarding this batch of surplus P38s, the chances of encountering a Manurhin-marked example are essentially none. The number of P38s so marked is relatively low and any such pistols would be culled out of the AIM inventory. A person paying for a Walther P38 expects to get just that, and not a gun with French markings.

The Manurhin P38s were made from parts Walther supplied to Manurhin in the white. The parts were stamped, finished, assembled and proofed by the Manurhin factory

I may be wrong about this but weren't most of the Manurhin marked P38s used by the West Berlin Police? West Berlin service pistols have a "flower" stamp on the triggerguard. Because of the status of West Berlin during the Cold War era, the police there could not carry West Germany made pistols. (Most likely the USSR was the determiner in that ruling). Oddly enough, the Volkspolizei in East Berlin carried East German made Makarovs, the "Pistole M"!

quote:

Originally posted by stylophiles:

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I saw the Email and wondered if they were Manhurin made.

Weren’t all postwar Walther Manhurin made?

Or am I getijng mixed up on just the PP and PPK pistols?

Bill R

It's easy to get this stuff mixed up. If I remember right it goes like this.

The Walther marked PP, PPK, PPK/L (I think), PP Sport and PPK/S were made in France and finished in Germany.

The Manuhin marked PP series guns were made and finished in France

The Walther marked P-38 and P-1 were made and finished in Germany.

The Manurhin marked P-1 was made in Germany and finished in France. Those were made for a contract with the West Berlin Police. They could not be armed with W. German production because of a treaty stipulation.

There were also P-38s made in France from Mauser parts.

At some point after Manurhin lost their production license, after that the PP might have resumed in Germany, with the PPK, and PPK/S being made in the USA.

After the S&W deal for PPK, and PPK/S production in the US market Walther contracted with FEG for production of the short lived PPK/E for the European market.

quote:

Originally posted by lechiffre:

quote:

Originally posted by stylophiles:

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I saw the Email and wondered if they were Manhurin made.

Weren’t all postwar Walther Manhurin made?

Or am I getijng mixed up on just the PP and PPK pistols?

Bill R

It's easy to get this stuff mixed up. If I remember right it goes like this.

The Walther marked PP, PPK, PPK/L (I think), PP Sport and PPK/S were made in France and finished in Germany.

The Manuhin marked PP series guns were made and finished in France

The Walther marked P-38 and P-1 were made and finished in Germany.

The Manurhin marked P-1 was made in Germany and finished in France. Those were made for a contract with the West Berlin Police. They could not be armed with W. German production because of a treaty stipulation.

There were also P-38s made in France from Mauser parts.

At some point after Manurhin lost their production license, after that the PP might have resumed in Germany, with the PPK, and PPK/S being made in the USA.

After the S&W deal for PPK, and PPK/S production in the US market Walther contracted with FEG for production of the short lived PPK/E for the European market.

the PPK\s were made in the US by Ranger, and stamped Interarms for a good bit IIRC,

Ranger was in Ft Smith AR, not sure if that is the same facility that Walther uses now

Maybe the right question is…. Where are the P 38K?

It would be a tough choice if offered one or the other, between a nice wartime ac P38, a P88, or a P 38K…

Bill R

quote:

Originally posted by stylophiles:
Maybe the right question is…. Where are the P 38K?

Well, if you don't have one now, you'd better be a rich man.

What I am talking about!

I probably wouldn’t be able to buy today, and really when you look at it from anything other than an emotional level, they make no sense, but I still dig the idea of a short barrel P38.

It just has a “look” to it.

But from a technological point, at that time, what else was on the table for a DA 9mm pistol of “reasonably concealable” size?

A ways out from the SW 39, much less the shorter customs like the Devel or ASP.

Bill R

^^ Wasn't that also a few years before the P5/P6/P7s came out?

I absolutely enjoy my 1959 P38. Easy to shoot. Fun to shoot. Quite accurate. I'd shoot it more often, but it was near mint when I found it at the LGS, so I've tried to be extra diligent. Good to know about the fragility Para described.

Okay, I picked it up tonight. Overall condition is about what I’d expect. But it has a coating of grease. There isn’t terrible wear. No immediate signs of rust. Still clearly visible rifling. It’s not gonna be a showpiece, but I wasn’t looking for one anyway.

I don’t really know what to look for as far as parts matching or anything. Quick search may indicate 1962 production? Don’t really know.

Here’s a couple of pics:

Slim slide, non-reinforced frame. What's the serial number?

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Slim slide, non-reinforced frame. What's the serial number?

124322E