The falling locking block design provides good accuracy due to the in-line travel of the barrel and slide. Two return springs located on either side of the frame and below the slide, having been compressed by the slide's rearward movement, drive the slide forward, stripping a new round from the magazine, driving it into the breech and, in the process, re-engaging the barrel ending its return travel with a fresh round chambered, hammer cocked and ready to repeat the process. The slide however continues its rearward movement on the frame, ejecting the spent case and cocking the hammer before reaching the end of travel. When the pistol is fired both the barrel and slide recoil for a short distance together, where the locking block drives down, disengaging the slide and arresting further rearward movement of the barrel. The moving-barrel design mechanism operates by use of a wedge-shaped falling locking block underneath the breech. P38 made by Mauser, coded "byf 44" with matching presstoff and leather holster Besides a DA/SA trigger design similar to that of the earlier Walther PPKs the P38 featured a visible and tactile loaded chamber indicator in the form of a metal rod that protrudes out of the top rear end of the slide when a round is present in the chamber. A pull of the trigger, with the hammer down, fired the first shot and the operation of the pistol ejected the fired cartridge case, loaded a fresh round into the chamber and cocked the hammer for single-action operation for each subsequent shot, all features found in many modern day handguns. The shooter could load a round into the chamber, use a de-cocking lever to safely lower the hammer without firing the round, and carry the weapon loaded with the hammer down. The P38 was the first locked-breech pistol to use a double-action/single-action (DA/SA) trigger (the earlier double-action PPK was an unlocked blowback design, but the more powerful 9x19mm Parabellum round used in the P38 mandated a locked breech design). 22 Long Rifle versions were also manufactured and sold.įrom an engineering perspective the P38 was a semi-automatic pistol design that introduced technical features that are found in other semi-automatic pistols like the Beretta 92 and its M9 sub-variant adopted by the United States military. In addition to the 9 mm Parabellum version, some 7.65x21mm Parabellum and some. 38 Super, but these were never mass-produced. Several experimental versions were later created in. After a few thousand pistols the Heer changed all codes from numbers to letters and Walther was given the "ac" code.
#P38 SERIAL NUMBERS SPREEWERKE WIKI CODE#
The third series pistols satisfactorily solved the previous problems for the Heer and mass production began in mid-1940, using Walther's military production identification code "480".
#P38 SERIAL NUMBERS SPREEWERKE WIKI SERIAL#
Walther began manufacture at their plant in Zella-Mehlis and produced three series of "Test" pistols, designated by a "0" prefix to the serial number. The P38 concept was accepted by the German military in 1938 but production of actual prototype ("Test") pistols did not begin until late 1939. The first designs submitted to the German Army featured a locked breech and a hidden hammer, but the Heer ( German Army) requested that it be redesigned with an external hammer. The P38 was developed from the Walther AP ( Armee Pistole/Army pistol). Development File:Walther Model AP 1 AdamsGuns.jpg