JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.

Walther P38


Author	Message
radaks Joined: October 2020	Posted: October 18, 2020 05:44 AM Ordered parts to repair an old family pistol that was missing rear site and associated parts. My question is I ordered a firing pin retainer pin (New style) Part# 200110 that is considerably smaller in diameter than the hole it fits into. Do I ned to order the (Old Style) part# 200100 pin? is it a larger diameter? The pistol had what appear to be a #8 bolt that had been cut off, in place of the correct pin. Any insight on this problem would be appreciated. The Serial # 4897 is a Spreewerk production and was manufactured in March of 1944. Image attached.

Ezequiel zn7555@aol.com https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/report/ https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/message/ Just a question or two. Does the hammer follow during a regular firing cycle? Has a trigger job been done changing any engagement specs and/or angles? Any springs been trimmed or replaced? Is this problem NEW to your ownership? You might want to go to www.gunsprings.com and oreder a new set of springs and start by replacing those..next would be the hammer and sear. Ezequiel Joined: August 2011	Posted: June 24, 2010 05:50 PM Just a question or two. Does the hammer follow during a regular firing cycle? Has a trigger job been done changing any engagement specs and/or angles? Any springs been trimmed or replaced? Is this problem NEW to your ownership? You might want to go to www.gunsprings.com and oreder a new set of springs and start by replacing those..next would be the hammer and sear.
jpb reedsburgarms@hotmail.com https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/report/ https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/message/ Thanks for the reply. This is a customer owned gun and I don't believe he altered it. I think he said that he received it from someone in his family. The hammer works as it's suppose to when the gun is in "fire" (safety off) and cycles and fires as it's suppose to. It's when the safety lever is placed in the "safe" position that the problem occurs, the hammer will not stay in the cocked position. If you pull the slide back and release it to load a round the hammer drops and the gun fires. I'll check out some new springs and start there. Thanks! jpb Joined: February 2010	Posted: June 24, 2010 07:37 PM Thanks for the reply. This is a customer owned gun and I don't believe he altered it. I think he said that he received it from someone in his family. The hammer works as it's suppose to when the gun is in "fire" (safety off) and cycles and fires as it's suppose to. It's when the safety lever is placed in the "safe" position that the problem occurs, the hammer will not stay in the cocked position. If you pull the slide back and release it to load a round the hammer drops and the gun fires. I'll check out some new springs and start there. Thanks!
Alan in Nevada1 apreiss@usgs.gov https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/report/ https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/message/ I drug out my 1944 Walther-manufactured P38 and a post-war P1 (February 1979 production) to refamilarize myself with the manual of arms of these pistols, plus a reference source. You may have two distiinct problems: ". . . . . . you can pull the slide back to cock the gun but on (slide) release the hammer drops and the gun fires. "If you pull the slide back and release it to load a round the hammer drops and the gun fires." I'm not very familiar with the design of the P38, but when the hammer follows the slide down on an auto it's generally because the hammer and/or sear engagement surfaces are worn (or, possibly, the pistol has been subject to an amateur-kitchen-table-gunsmithing trigger job). Possibly there is a tired spring in the mix as well. "The problem is that when the gun is on safe . . . . . . . . the hammer drops and the gun fires. The safety lever isn't blocking the hammer at all. " Something is clearly amiss. As per the safety/decocker, a reference I have says: Check to see tht the locking stem that secures the firing pin when the hammer is decocked is installed and functions. On most P38s when the hammer falls during decocking, it falls directly on the locked firing pin. Over a period of time, the firing pin safety could fail because of fatigue, and the gun would discharge when decocked: Here's how mine work, as a point of reference (assuming both my pistols aren't broke in the same way. LOL). On both my pistols, using new snap-caps: With the safety/decocking levers on "safe" and the hammers down, after I chamber a round the the hammers will not cock (they follow the slide down); the hammers cannot be actuated by trigger-cocking and the hammers will not cock by thumb-cocking; i.e. the pistols will not fire. As expected, there are no extraneous marks on the snap-cap "primers." Only by switching the levers to "fire" and trigger-cocking (or first thumb-cocking) the hammers can you "fire" the snap-caps. With the safety/decocking levers on "fire" and the hammers down, when I chamber a round the the hammers stay cocked; the pistols can either be fired or the levers switched to "safe," dropping the hammers but leaving no mark on the snap-cap primers. Another issue may be that your customer's pistol was made during the waning days of WWII when the Third Reich was in free fall. The arms factories that weren't bombed to oblivion were cranking weapons out at a frantic pace to save the Reich and functional quality often suffered; machining tolerances and, especially, metallurgy. Adding to that, some P38s were manufactued by slave labor. Wolff should have the new spring set to you within a few days. Install them and take it from there. Many consider it SOP to replace the orginal springs on such an old pistol as a matter of course when acquired and a new spring set is never a bad idea; at minimum is ensures that an old and tired recoil spring won't abuse the old pistol. Alan in Nevada1 Joined: February 2010	Posted: June 25, 2010 04:24 AM I drug out my 1944 Walther-manufactured P38 and a post-war P1 (February 1979 production) to refamilarize myself with the manual of arms of these pistols, plus a reference source. You may have two distiinct problems: ". . . . . . you can pull the slide back to cock the gun but on (slide) release the hammer drops and the gun fires. "If you pull the slide back and release it to load a round the hammer drops and the gun fires." I'm not very familiar with the design of the P38, but when the hammer follows the slide down on an auto it's generally because the hammer and/or sear engagement surfaces are worn (or, possibly, the pistol has been subject to an amateur-kitchen-table-gunsmithing trigger job). Possibly there is a tired spring in the mix as well. "The problem is that when the gun is on safe . . . . . . . . the hammer drops and the gun fires. The safety lever isn't blocking the hammer at all. " Something is clearly amiss. As per the safety/decocker, a reference I have says: Check to see tht the locking stem that secures the firing pin when the hammer is decocked is installed and functions. On most P38s when the hammer falls during decocking, it falls directly on the locked firing pin. Over a period of time, the firing pin safety could fail because of fatigue, and the gun would discharge when decocked: Here's how mine work, as a point of reference (assuming both my pistols aren't broke in the same way. LOL). On both my pistols, using new snap-caps: With the safety/decocking levers on "safe" and the hammers down, after I chamber a round the the hammers will not cock (they follow the slide down); the hammers cannot be actuated by trigger-cocking and the hammers will not cock by thumb-cocking; i.e. the pistols will not fire. As expected, there are no extraneous marks on the snap-cap "primers." Only by switching the levers to "fire" and trigger-cocking (or first thumb-cocking) the hammers can you "fire" the snap-caps. With the safety/decocking levers on "fire" and the hammers down, when I chamber a round the the hammers stay cocked; the pistols can either be fired or the levers switched to "safe," dropping the hammers but leaving no mark on the snap-cap primers. Another issue may be that your customer's pistol was made during the waning days of WWII when the Third Reich was in free fall. The arms factories that weren't bombed to oblivion were cranking weapons out at a frantic pace to save the Reich and functional quality often suffered; machining tolerances and, especially, metallurgy. Adding to that, some P38s were manufactued by slave labor. Wolff should have the new spring set to you within a few days. Install them and take it from there. Many consider it SOP to replace the orginal springs on such an old pistol as a matter of course when acquired and a new spring set is never a bad idea; at minimum is ensures that an old and tired recoil spring won't abuse the old pistol.
jpb reedsburgarms@hotmail.com https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/report/ https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/message/ Well I determined that the automatic fire pin lock is not engaging the firing pin and allowing it to move forward enough to hit the cartridge caused by wear on the firing pin, the lock lift lever and the pin lock. Customer decided he didn't want to invest the money so I marked it "Unsafe" and gave it back. But it was an interesting gun to work on! Thanks guys, for your time and advice! jpb Joined: February 2010	Posted: June 25, 2010 12:08 PM Well I determined that the automatic fire pin lock is not engaging the firing pin and allowing it to move forward enough to hit the cartridge caused by wear on the firing pin, the lock lift lever and the pin lock. Customer decided he didn't want to invest the money so I marked it "Unsafe" and gave it back. But it was an interesting gun to work on! Thanks guys, for your time and advice!
Delos Watson scr508@att.net https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/report/ https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/message/ If you have a WWII P38 you need the old type part .P38s made after WWII use the new type parts. Delos Watson Joined: January 1970	Posted: October 21, 2020 02:39 PM If you have a WWII P38 you need the old type part .P38s made after WWII use the new type parts.
radaks radaks@ispmgt.com https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/report/ https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brblog/post/message/ Thank you for your reply, I was afraid of that, now just to find one! Most sites are out of stock for this style. I will keep looking. radaks Joined: October 2020	Posted: October 22, 2020 09:29 PM Thank you for your reply, I was afraid of that, now just to find one! Most sites are out of stock for this style. I will keep looking.