This week reminded me why its good to stop into Cabelas every once in a while. While their prices are sky high on new guns and common used guns, the Gun Library occasionally gets it wrong and I’ve cashed in few times now. Consider this absolutely mint condition 1988 Walther P88 complete with a set of $150-$200 Nill walnut grips for $649. Clearly I couldn’t buy it fast enough.

The Walther P88 debuted in 1988 and it was Walther’s attempt at the US Army contract pistol. It was also the first 9mm Walther that abandoned the company’s tried and true falling block locking system from the P38 in favor of a Browning system. As we know, it was the Beretta 92 that won the contract. Ironically enough the Beretta used Walther’s locking system.

The biggest thing going against the P88 was the extremely high cost of manufacture, which translated into 1988 retail prices of over $800. That’s expensive for a service gun now, 30 years later. Needless to say, the P88 didn’t sell well and that led to its replacement by the slightly smaller and less costly P88 Compact in the mid 1990’s. Nonetheless, the P88 was a very well made weapon. Accuracy was outstanding, due to tight tolerances and an outstanding trigger. Fit and finish and attention to detail were superb. The gun was also completely ambidextrous, which was a big deal in the late 1980’s. While Walther built the P88 to higher standards (and likewise cost) than what was required by the military, it made it an outstanding, high quality shooter. While the P88 Series isn’t traditional by Walther standards, its always been my favorite by the company and I feel they are the finest pistols Walther ever created.

Interestingly enough, the P88 was never a “finished” product. Changes happened throughout its short lifespan and later P88s differ a bit from this early model, mainly with the sights and shape of the slide. A firing pin safety was brought over from the P5 and worked well. The P88 also features a combination slide release and decocker on both sides of the gun.

This example is pristine. It doesn’t have the plastic case, but the Nills sort of make up for that. There’s not a scratch on it, no bluing loss, and even the grips are without a mark. The serial number (2550) is only 112 away from my other P88, which is also a first year model. I’ve always thought this Walther had a sleek German look to it and the Nills add to that.

I’ve been buying a lot of Walthers lately. Other than the P5 and P88, I’m not a big Walther fan, but those two series are outstanding handguns.

Who here has a P88 or P88 Compact? What do you think of it?

Thanks for reading...
































Here's my P88 collection...two standard models, a Compact, and the SAO Competition model (very rare).

Beautiful. These are definitely on my wish list.
What modern day pistol do you think has this type of quality?

quote:

Originally posted by whisky22:
Beautiful. These are definitely on my wish list.
What modern day pistol do you think has this type of quality?

None really

I guess the high end 1911 market, but those are just straight copies of a proven design. Nothing special about them, but they are very well made.

The Sig P210 Legend was a high quality gun just a couple years ago, but those are no more.

Other than that, I'd say the FK BRNO 7.5

Nice score, that P88 is beautiful.

bac, I read your post on NRA American Rifleman about the FK last year. Do you shoot these or are these all safe queens? I'd hate to have these and not fire them.

quote:

Originally posted by whisky22:
bac, I read your post on NRA American Rifleman about the FK last year. Do you shoot these or are these all safe queens? I'd hate to have these and not fire them.

Well I don’t spend $7000 on a new production gun and not shoot it. That said, I need more ammo. I went through the box it came with.

I shoot probably 90% of my guns. I have some duplicates I don’t shoot and a few other older collectibles that I bought unfired that I don’t shoot.

You are who I want to be when I grow up.

You have fantastic taste in guns and I love how much you seem to enjoy the “kinetic art” of it all.

Enjoy them in good health.

WOW, what a deal. I would have jumped on that as well

Great guns

When they came out I was a poor boy helping out in Uncle Hal's gun shop and range. We had a Doctor that came in to shoot his P88 every so often. After shooting it, he left it for the Gunsmith to clean. $25 a pop was a healthy cleaning price in 1990.

I had always admired this pistol since the first article I read about it.

Well as was bound to happen sooner or later, I was working on one of the Doctor's visits to the range. So I had a little chat with the Doctor about the firearm, told him I had always wanted to shoot it and would give it a good cleaning, so I then wrote up the repair tag for the pistol and set it aside. When business slowed down I took a fresh box of Hornady Custom (one of my favorite ammunitions of the day) off the shelf and hit the firing line.

To say I was impressed would be an understatement. It was the most accurate (out of the box) combat pistol I had ever fired.

In 1992, I purchased this one. It is not quite double your serial number



I fell into a on-line deal on a set it's set of Nills grips that someone did not like and I bought them for $100. Unfortunately, when they arrived, the little plastic bar for the top-back of the grip was missing.

An E-mail to Nills in Germany and a replacement was in my hands in several weeks later, and at no charge, not even for postage

The one downfall was that magazines were crazy expensive.

I happened to notice that the Beretta 92 magazine body and the P88 magazine body were identical with the exception of the notch. It took me 30-40 minutes to setup a jig for our mill, but in less than one hour total, I had a dozen magazines including some flush fit 18 round Ram-lines and even a pair of silly long 30 rounders all set up to work in my Walther P99

Very nice snag!!!

Some might say it’s better than the P226, as that’s what they actually copied with the CZ99.

Just once I’d like to be that guy that stumbles on an amazing deal.

Congratulation on your P88 purchase. You got a great deal on a very fine pistol.

I have a few P88s. The '88 manufactured P88 posted above was the first model sold in the US. It has a rounded slide top, a drift installed front sight, and a tall adjustable rear sight. The trigger stop is installed on the frame. Later US sold models had non adjustable machined in front sights, grooved slide tops, and short adjustable rear sights.

The first version of the P88, which I have only seen in Europe, all have serial numbers beginning with "88". They have similar slides and tall sights to the first US model, but the trigger stop is installed on the back of the trigger and not the frame. Their frame dust cover extended to the very front of the slide similar to the P88 Compact model. It is the model originally shown on the cover of early P88 Owner's Manuals.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MG34_Dan,

Those things just ooze quality- congrats.

That's a beautiful gun. I'd love to get my hands on one, but haven't found the right one at the right time yet.

That's exactly why I didn't go to Cabela's as I drove past on my way home from Trexlertown. That museum room is a trap for my money.

But I would have made that deal.

bac1023, this thread is so very informative! Not often are so many drool-inducing pictures posted together by an OP!

Thanks for the excellent pictures and edifying subject matter... I have some new pistols to wish for!

-Bill

Cabelas must have left the leading 1 or even 2 off the price tag on that one, you got a Deal.

The P88's dual controls made it kind of broad for my hand; I really keyed onto the P88C with regular Walther safety. But by the time it was on the US market, so was the AWB and I could not see a neutered 10-shooter. So I bought a CZ75 that I could still get full size magazines for.

You mentioned that the P88 went through a few changes during the time it was produced. In what way were the sights and slide altered, and what were the other changes? In your pic differences in the P88C slides are noticeable. Thanks