My Walther P38 Exploded today.
- Thread starter Birdmang
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1KPerDay
Member
See there's your problem right there.
Mine hasn't been.... but I don't shoot mystery ammo in mine.
Yeah, your gun sounds like it blows up.
bigione
Member
Withmy poor eyesight, I loose ferrous metal parts of various things in the grass. i took a large, say 4". round magnet off an expired speaker and keep it on my truck. It comes in very handy for lost parts. Just a thought. Could be used lots of places.
jackstinson
Member
.
Actually, CCI makes aluminum cased Blazer AND "Blazer Brass"..called such because..yep, you guessed it..it has a brass case!
Walmart sells it by the truckload (when they can get it in). However, I've only seen it in a jacketed bullet, not bare lead. Most likely the flea market bag-o-carts were reloads....using blazer brass empties perhaps?
That said.....changing the thread title slightly might be appropriate now.
It's fairly apparent that the gun didn't "blow up". Thread titles and opening posts like this perpetuate the "my XXXX-Gun blowed-up on me!" myths.......leading to all sorts of erroneous aftermath. It must be true, I read it on the internet.
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falmike
Member
Check your barrel!
Look for bulging and any lead build-up. Excessive back pressure may have led to this situation as well as everything else already mentioned.
Unfortunately you have learned an expensive lesson as to why it is not a good idea to shoot rounds not loaded by yourself or the guy willing to replace your gun and pay your medical bills.
I'm glad you weren't hurt....I'm sure your Grandpa was more concerned about you than the gun.
Look for bulging and any lead build-up. Excessive back pressure may have led to this situation as well as everything else already mentioned.
Unfortunately you have learned an expensive lesson as to why it is not a good idea to shoot rounds not loaded by yourself or the guy willing to replace your gun and pay your medical bills.
I'm glad you weren't hurt....I'm sure your Grandpa was more concerned about you than the gun.
The suggestion to purchase a surplus P-1 (early ones were still marked "P-38") is good advice. The ones currently being offered will likely have the re-enforcing steel pin (hex head) that prevents undue battering of the alloy frame during recoil... a problem on the early alloy frame guns without the pin. Most of the P-1 pistols will have been factory overhauled and the markings will indicate that. While most will show some degree of slight wear, some will appear to be brand new and may never have been issued. It really comes down to the luck of the draw but whatever you get will be nice and give you the same shooting experience as your granddad's wartime P-38.
As some other's have reported, this is a known issue with the P-38. It's not really a BLOW UP! as it is a "rapid dissassembly" of the slide. The difference is it's probably not due to high chamber pressure, double charge, etc, so much as it is due to worn or improperly assembled parts coming apart in normal use.
To my mind, BLOWN UP means a catastrophic explosion, usually resulting from bad ammo or a plugged barrel. This wasn't catastrophic and the pistol can be returned to service once you replace the parts.
To my mind, BLOWN UP means a catastrophic explosion, usually resulting from bad ammo or a plugged barrel. This wasn't catastrophic and the pistol can be returned to service once you replace the parts.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
So you saved a few bucks and distroyed your grandfathers P-38 in the process.
Mercy Mercy!
rc
dfariswheel
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- Dec 26, 2002
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Anyone know if a numbers matching AC41 would be prone to this?
Yes.
Remember, many of these guns are over 60 years old and have been through who knows how many hands.
Some will have been disassembled and reassembled, possibly improperly, and many are simply getting old.
Then too, shooting improper ammo can cause the top cover to pop off.
The steel framed P-38 and the post-war aluminum P-38/P1 guns were all designed to use standard loads with 124 grain bullets.
They usually work well with 115 grain standard loads ammo.
Shooting hot ammo, heavy bullet ammo, or installing "extra power" recoil springs can contribute to top cover pop off and cracked frames, barrels, and locking blocks.
Yes.
Remember, many of these guns are over 60 years old and have been through who knows how many hands.
Some will have been disassembled and reassembled, possibly improperly, and many are simply getting old.
Then too, shooting improper ammo can cause the top cover to pop off.
The steel framed P-38 and the post-war aluminum P-38/P1 guns were all designed to use standard loads with 124 grain bullets.
They usually work well with 115 grain standard loads ammo.
Shooting hot ammo, heavy bullet ammo, or installing "extra power" recoil springs can contribute to top cover pop off and cracked frames, barrels, and locking blocks.
Funny, my P38 (P1) did the samething. I noticed the rear sight was missing after a round was pulled, then I noticed the entire rear of the upper slide was missing. I found the safety, firing pin and a spring and that was about it. I bought an entire new upper from CDNN and swapped it out with no problems. I kept the "numbers" matching slide due to the fact I had no idea how to reasemble the sum of the parts.
Love alloy guns . . .
Love alloy guns . . .
xtarheel
Member
I'm a little late finding this thread, just browsing. When I read the first post I had to go and look in the mirror. Yep! the scar is still there right between my eyes. As I remember it was the spring of 1972 I was going to impress my girlfriend by shooting this German P-38 that I picked up with $75 of hard earned money. I bought a small box of German surplus 9mm ammo (the dealer said it was for a machine gun). I took aim at a hand drawn target nailed to a tree and pulled the trigger. Something didn't seem right. As I turned around she let out a gasp! I had a good stream of blood running down my face.
Since she was so sympathetic I acted worse than it really was
Anyway, it was the rear sight that did the dammage. I had a gunsmith put it back together and traded it off. A couple years ago I picked up a P-1 but haven't had the nerve to shoot it yet. What is it they say? "Once bitten, twice shy"
Since she was so sympathetic I acted worse than it really was
Anyway, it was the rear sight that did the dammage. I had a gunsmith put it back together and traded it off. A couple years ago I picked up a P-1 but haven't had the nerve to shoot it yet. What is it they say? "Once bitten, twice shy"
Mad Magyar
Member
This constant repetition in this post & others that the earlier P-1's are somewhat inferior & prone to some calamity is really getting old. I don't know of anyone that fires the early P-1's or any P-38's in competition, so the average pistolero that fires a box or two weekly-monthly or whenever will not have a problem. So let's stop this nonsense...Yep, I have the early one and it's sound....
If you got any data to support this notion: let's have it...BTW, a change in design doesn't verify a problem.I have seen that happen several times. The usual causes of the "deckel" blowing off are gas leaking around or through a primer, or a case head failure that releases gas into the breech face. The latter condtion almost always blows out the extractor also. FWIW, the damage is usually repairable by replacing the parts.
Without seeing the fired case, it might not be possible to determine exactly what the cause was, or why it happened, but it does happen. Not common, but not unknown, either.
Jim
Without seeing the fired case, it might not be possible to determine exactly what the cause was, or why it happened, but it does happen. Not common, but not unknown, either.
Jim
SharpsDressedMan
member
Your gun should be fully functional with replacement part from RTG or CDNN (both used to have extensive P1 parts avaialble). I had a P1 do the same thing, but I found most of the parts. It's an inherent design problem, and any gun could get worn enough to do it. It probably only happens to one in 1000 guns, but there ARE a lot of guns out there. Good luck.
rocky branch
Member
Prying off that cover and fooling around putting it back often precludes this failure.
Piss poor design for a front line weapon, but that's the case.
I believe the fingers on that cover can lose tension or be bent by careless handling.
I actually had a "blow up" where a lug sheared off the locking block and split the front of the slide after tearing off the front strap over the barrel.
I rethought firing valuable original pieces after that.
Your problem is the results of age, mishandling and above all, unknown reloads.
Piss poor design for a front line weapon, but that's the case.
I believe the fingers on that cover can lose tension or be bent by careless handling.
I actually had a "blow up" where a lug sheared off the locking block and split the front of the slide after tearing off the front strap over the barrel.
I rethought firing valuable original pieces after that.
Your problem is the results of age, mishandling and above all, unknown reloads.
blue german
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- Sep 3, 2009
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- 32
The P-38 has been known to occasionally crack one of the spring 'fingers' on the top cover and eventually the top cover comes off during recoil and "BAM"....it's time to find the up to five parts that disappear into the weeds. First, you need a new, strong, UNDAMAGED top cover. Second, a rear sight and the coil spring and DA lockout pin underneath it along with the pin that goes under the other side. I have had to replace 4-5 sets of these over the years when the owners shot the P-38 while not noticing the top cover was cracked.
relocker
Member
Thanks guys...
I'll blame whoever brought this thread back to life... Guess what happened to me on Saturday.
During a family range outing on Thanksgiving weekend, I picked up my dad's P38. My dad and brother had already put a box through it. I loaded it from a box of reloads I had in my bag. First shot was fine, but on the second I felt what I thought was brass hitting my cap and quickly noticed the rear sight was missing.
I pried the case from the chamber and noticed the case had failed. We searched a while and came up with some, but not all of the missing parts. Luckily, none were embedded into my forehead. The entire ejector assembly is still missing.
After packing it up, I went to remove a FTE my wife had on my P89. Sure enough, another case failure from the same box of reloads.
Needless to say, that box of 9mm is history and armed with the info posted earlier in this thread, I'll be hunting down parts to repair dad's gun. Attached are pics of the case, the gun, and the recovered parts.
I'll blame whoever brought this thread back to life... Guess what happened to me on Saturday.
During a family range outing on Thanksgiving weekend, I picked up my dad's P38. My dad and brother had already put a box through it. I loaded it from a box of reloads I had in my bag. First shot was fine, but on the second I felt what I thought was brass hitting my cap and quickly noticed the rear sight was missing.
I pried the case from the chamber and noticed the case had failed. We searched a while and came up with some, but not all of the missing parts. Luckily, none were embedded into my forehead. The entire ejector assembly is still missing.
After packing it up, I went to remove a FTE my wife had on my P89. Sure enough, another case failure from the same box of reloads.
Needless to say, that box of 9mm is history and armed with the info posted earlier in this thread, I'll be hunting down parts to repair dad's gun. Attached are pics of the case, the gun, and the recovered parts.
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