Walther P1 questions

Connor_brokengun2132 · Dec 1, 2021

Hello my favorite forum, I’ve been away for a while spending money on other things and what not, and recently I’ve been back into guns I had been in the gun store when I came across a weapon I’d thought I’d never see in my lifetime, and purchased it. I am just am very curious about its origins (this particular gun not the p38/P1) and why it has features it has. One of them being the last three of the serial number are stamped over it seems and I’m not sure why, it’s the only serial number on it that’s more than 3 numbers and on the slide it has a 3 digit code which is crossed off and then a different one stamped, the same number can be found on the barrel under the slide near the frame, it also has two small Eagles on the right side of the frame above the trigger. Either way pictures will do more justice than anything so any info would be greatly appreciated.
On anther note the holster it came with has a German Reichsadler on the back with a Mauser code, I believe. I’m sure it’s a reproduction but again I’m not sure. Thanks !!

trackskippy · Dec 2, 2021

The German and a lot of other Euro guns usually have the last two or three numbers of the serial number stamped on other parts of the gun. If you see different numbers, then something was replaced or the gun was assembled from parts.

It looks like your slide was renumbered to match the serial number of the frame of a gun ending in 576.

It also looks like the frame its on now, isn't the one it was numbered to for some reason. Maybe at the point they surplused them, they were assembling things from parts left over.

I bought two of the P1's when they first showed up here. One was an early gun, without the cross pin, and one with it. The early gun had a Walther "P38" slide on it with an added P1 stamp. That slide had the original integral front sight too. The newer gun had the dovetailed "dot" sight.

The gun I kept has the cross pin in front of the trigger guard which was added to strengthen things after there were failures with the earlier frames. My gun has the the same serial number issues as yours, as the numbers dont all match.

I put a set of grips on mine similar to yours as well. The original P38 grips are now collectible and pretty salty, if you can even find them. The couple of aftermarket grips for them I tried werent very well done and fit was poor. The wood set is actually pretty nice and feel good in the hand.

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I picked up a hard case P38 holster from the old Pacific Canvas and Leather. They made really nice repro holsters and other gear, and were very reasonable too.

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I had a nice "BYF42" Mauser stamped P38 when I was younger, and foolishly traded it off for something else I just had to have at the time. Its one of the few I wish I had back.

Connor_brokengun2132 · Dec 2, 2021

trackskippy said:
The German and a lot of other Euro guns usually have the last two or three numbers of the serial number stamped on other parts of the gun. If you see different numbers, then something was replaced or the gun was assembled from parts.

It looks like your slide was renumbered to match the serial number of the frame of a gun ending in 576.

It also looks like the frame its on now, isn't the one it was numbered to for some reason. Maybe at the point they surplused them, they were assembling things from parts left over.

I bought two of the P1's when they first showed up here. One was an early gun, without the cross pin, and one with it. The early gun had a Walther "P38" slide on it with an added P1 stamp. That slide had the original integral front sight too. The newer gun had the dovetailed "dot" sight.

The gun I kept has the cross pin in front of the trigger guard which was added to strengthen things after there were failures with the earlier frames. My gun has the the same serial number issues as yours, as the numbers dont all match.

I put a set of grips on mine similar to yours as well. The original P38 grips are now collectible and pretty salty, if you can even find them. The couple of aftermarket grips for them I tried werent very well done and fit was poor. The wood set is actually pretty nice and feel good in the hand.

View attachment 1041393
View attachment 1041394
I picked up a hard case P38 holster from the old Pacific Canvas and Leather. They made really nice repro holsters and other gear, and were very reasonable too.

View attachment 1041395
View attachment 1041396
I had a nice "BYF42" Mauser stamped P38 when I was younger, and foolishly traded it off for something else I just had to have at the time. Its one of the few I wish I had back.

Thanks for the info man much appreciated, is the 10/74 on the slide the manufacture date ?

trackskippy · Dec 2, 2021

It may be, or maybe a date it entered service. The one I have now says 11/77. The older one I had, with the P38 marked slide, had a date on it too, but I got the impression it was a wartime, or early post-war slide.

JCooperfan1911 · Dec 2, 2021

Germans pronounce Walther as “Vahl-tuh”

It embarrasses we greatly to hear Americans sound it out how they do.

Just a point de référence.

Connor_brokengun2132 · Dec 2, 2021

JCooperfan1911 said:
Germans pronounce Walther as “Vahl-tuh”

It embarrasses we greatly to hear Americans sound it out how they do.

Just a point de référence.

Okay? But as an American why would I spell it as such when it’s quite literally Walther? I understand if your German or whatever but thats completely irrelevant to the question. Anyway thanks for your “answer”

Connor_brokengun2132 · Dec 2, 2021

trackskippy said:
It may be, or maybe a date it entered service. The one I have now says 11/77. The older one I had, with the P38 marked slide, had a date on it too, but I got the impression it was a wartime, or early post-war slide.

Makes sense, thank you !

trackskippy · Dec 2, 2021

Have you shot it yet Connor? They are fun, accurate, and easy shooters. Chuck the empties to the left, which is different.

Connor_brokengun2132 · Dec 2, 2021

trackskippy said:
Have you shot it yet Connor? They are fun, accurate, and easy shooters. Chuck the empties to the left, which is different.

I haven’t had the chance, very excited too, and I did notice the extractor was on the left and it has a round in chamber indicator which is awesome, I never knew they were double action either. The thing seems so far ahead of its time.

H&R Glock · Dec 2, 2021

I first saw new Interarms P1's advertised for $169.xx in a gun magazine when I was about 18. Fast forward to age 55. My first was about $300, and the second was $375 at age 65. The last one was $425 at age 70. The price seems to go higher every day. Glad you got the frame reinforcing bolt change in yours. Only one of mine has it.
The Waa acceptance stamp on the holster looks real WWII, but too real for a holster in new condition such as yours. It is still super neat!
All of mine require a load producing at least 1150 fps to function reliably.

dfariswheel · Dec 2, 2021

The original Walther P-38 was made from 1938 to 1945 by three makers, Walther, Mauser, and Spreewerk.
These had steel frames.

After the war ended the German police and a number of foreign police and military wanted to buy the gun, so Walther first had them made under contract in France by Manurhin, then moved production back to Ulm Germany when they got a factory up and running and were permitted to manufacture guns again..
Almost all of the post-war Walther's had aluminum frames.

When the German military bought them they were adopted as the Pistole One, or P1.
The P-38 and the P1 are virtually the same with only minor differences.
This is pretty much the same situation as with the Colt Model 1911 military guns and the Commercial Government Model....one was for military sales and the other for police and commercial sales.
The Post-War Walther P-38 and P1 were made at the same time, and both were used by the German military and police, and sold commercially, including here in the USA.
Due to production schedules and the fact that other then markings the guns were the same, it was not uncommon for German police to get P1 marked guns and the military P-38 marked guns.

Most of the P1's imported into the USA were German military or police models and were heavily imported in the the USA in the 90's and 2000's.
Condition ranged from virtually brand new in the box to well used versions with miss-matched serial numbers,
The German military routinely had them inspected or rebuilt as needed, often using good parts from one damaged or worn gun to rebuild another.
When the guns were inspected or rebuilt older inspection numbers were "X"ed out and new numbers stamped.
It was common for miss-matched slides and frames to be "force matched" by "X"ing out one serial number and stamping another.

The OP's Walther P1 is a version made later in production with the addition of a steel pin in the frame.
This was actually to provide a wear pad for the locking lug.
Under heavy use it was found that the soft aluminum frame would wear in the locking lug ramp and the gun would start having locking problems.
The steel pin was added to production as a way to prevent this and increase the practical life time of the guns.
The 10/74 is the date the original gun was manufactured, the other numbers were dates it was inspected and/or rebuilt.
The walnut grips are not original, the original grips were Walther banner marked black plastic.

NIGHTLORD40K · Dec 2, 2021

Connor_brokengun2132 said:
I haven’t had the chance, very excited too, and I did notice the extractor was on the left and it has a round in chamber indicator which is awesome, I never knew they were double action either. The thing seems so far ahead of its time.

I didnt care for mine, but the fella I sold it to loves it. Hope you like it.

Walther Forums collective opinion is to avoid using the decocker to drop the hammer, if possible, as broken safeties and hammers are a thing.
Also, it seems to be the general consensus to not shoot any sort of "hot" or +P ammunition in a P-38 style pistol.

The front sight posts come in, IIRC, 6 different heights and are numbered to identify them. Last time I looked, replacements werent hard to find, but I HIGHLY recommend getting a sight pusher tool for the job or letting a gunsmith swap them.

Good luck and good shooting!

Connor_brokengun2132 · Dec 2, 2021

H&R Glock said:
I first saw new Interarms P1's advertised for $169.xx in a gun magazine when I was about 18. Fast forward to age 55. My first was about $300, and the second was $375 at age 65. The last one was $425 at age 70. The price seems to go higher every day. Glad you got the frame reinforcing bolt change in yours. Only one of mine has it.
The Waa acceptance stamp on the holster looks real WWII, but too real for a holster in new condition such as yours. It is still super neat!
All of mine require a load producing at least 1150 fps to function reliably.
View attachment 1041467

Very cool thanks for the holster info I figured it was repo. very cool collection you have !

Connor_brokengun2132 · Dec 2, 2021

NIGHTLORD40K said:
I didnt care for mine, but the fella I sold it to loves it. Hope you like it.
Walther Forums collective opinion is to avoid using the decocker to drop the hammer, if possible, as broken safeties and hammers are a thing.
Also, it seems to be the general consensus to not shoot any sort of "hot" or +P ammunition in a P-38 style pistol.

The front sight posts come in, IIRC, 6 different heights and are numbered to identify them. Last time I looked, replacements werent hard to find, but I HIGHLY recommend getting a sight pusher tool for the job or letting a gunsmith swap them.

Good luck and good shooting!

thanks for the info man ! And the decocker was another thing I didn’t know it had until I put the safety on and the hammer was back. It always seems on the older style handguns it’s best to avoid those features.

drobs · Dec 2, 2021

I regret selling my P1. Not sure what I was thinking. Just not worth replacing at what they are going for now on Gunbroker.

bannockburn · Dec 2, 2021

Have had a couple of P38s, one a Mauser wartime model dated 1943. There was also a commercial P38 II that came complete with it's original box and manual, a Walther P1 police trade-in (imported by Interarms and included a holster and spare magazine). and a Manurhin P4. My current P1 is also a Manurhin that was issued to the West Berlin Police Department. The slide was part of a contract run for the Portuguese Army but apparently that order was cancelled so the proof marks were crossed out and used for the West Berlin contract instead.

JT-AR-MG42 · Dec 3, 2021

Agree the reproduction holster seems well made and the application of
the (deliberately) incorrect makers code/WaA combination shows class.
Not sure of the Mauser connection, as I've not heard of a P38 holster made by them before.

Remember that German holsters made during WWII used un-bleached thread, so
you can always check that one out under a black light if questions to it's date persist.

JT

Zebraranger · Dec 3, 2021

I purchased mine about 22 years ago when they were being imported over here in large numbers. They were cheap then, I think I paid $200 and it included the holster and cleaning kit. They're different and a lot of fun to shoot. I changed out the original grips to the wood grips right after purchasing it.

Jimbo80 · Dec 3, 2021

The 1.78 after the W on the frame SN was the date the gun was rebuilt by the Bundeswehr. The frame is probably early 60s and the force matched slide of course is from 11/74. The cross bolt was probably added at that time. The holster appears to be a modern reproduction.

Terry G · Dec 3, 2021

Mine has P38 on the slide, though I think it was a a P-1 that a P-38 slide was put on. The holster has no markings at all, Repro? This was bought from C.A.I. when they were a couple hundred bucks with spare magazine, holster, and cleaning rod. Price one now. Shoots any FMJ but Silver Tip's hang up. .

trackskippy · Dec 3, 2021

That was the issue holster with the P1's. I got one with each of mine.

Jimbo80 · Dec 3, 2021

They used P-38 markings until late '63. A lot were reworked in the mid 70's to add the cross bolt and a good number of slides were replaced. I think the OPs pistol frame is an early version ('57-'62) and with some research could be fairly accurately dated.

Connor_brokengun2132 · Dec 3, 2021

bannockburn said:
Have had a couple of P38s, one a Mauser wartime model dated 1943. There was also a commercial P38 II that came complete with it's original box and manual, a Walther P1 police trade-in (imported by Interarms and included a holster and spare magazine). and a Manurhin P4. My current P1 is also a Manurhin that was issued to the West Berlin Police Department. The slide was part of a contract run for the Portuguese Army but apparently that order was cancelled so the proof marks were crossed out and used for the West Berlin contract instead.
View attachment 1041527

Very cool man !

Connor_brokengun2132 · Dec 3, 2021

Jimbo80 said:
The 1.78 after the W on the frame SN was the date the gun was rebuilt by the Bundeswehr. The frame is probably early 60s and the force matched slide of course is from 11/74. The cross bolt was probably added at that time. The holster appears to be a modern reproduction.

Thanks for the info I appreciate it.

PzGren · Dec 5, 2021

The gun is BW surplus and the upper has been replaced and force matched, the grips are aftermarket. It has been arsenal refinished at the St. Wendel facility and all that counts for a gun like that is how it shoots.

I was Anschusschuetze in a PzGrenBtl for the P1 and found some to be much more accurate than others.

Walther P1 questions

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