German
Guns

Walther Home

Walther

2. Model Information

PP

In 1929 the Carl Walther, Waffenfabrik was a solidly established business, manufacturing precision target rifles and small caliber autoloading pistols. That year they introduced the Walther PP for Polizei Pistol or Police Pistol.

Although the PP was not the first double-action pistol, it was the first to enjoy great commercial success. Gun writers gushed over the "self-starting" mechanism in much the same way they would over the "wondernines" of the 1980's. Until the advent of double action guns, there was no real pistol equivalent of the double action revolver -- no pistol existed that allowed the user to safely carry a loaded gun and draw and fire it without thumb safeties to defeat. Before the advent of the double-action pistol, only the double action revolver had that immediate first-shot capability.

The PP, PPK, and PPK/s families share a number of safety features which are worth enumeration:

• The slide mounted Manual Safety serves three purposes. When rotated downward, covering a red dot painted on the slide, the safety lever shields the firing pin from any possible contact with the hammer, lowers the hammer safely, and locks the firing pin from forward travel. The pistol may be safely carried in this manner, with a live round in the chamber.

• The Automatic Safety is an internal hammer block which prevents the hammer from moving forward and contacting the firing pin unless the trigger is being pulled. The Automatic Safety prevents accidental discharge even if the gun is dropped muzzle upward from a great height onto the cocked hammer.

• The Loaded Chamber Signal Pin which protrudes from the rear of the slide indicates if a cartridge is present in the chamber. Early German PPs were made with or without the signalstift. All guns chambered for .22 LR cartridge are not equipped with a signal pin because of the rimfire design of the cartridge.

• Lastly, the disconnector ensures that the pistol will not fire unless the slide is fully forward. The disconnector is located on the right side of the frame, beneath the slide rail and just above the grip panel. The slide presses downward on the disconnector unless it is fully forward, when a noch in the slide allows it to move up.

The PP, PPK, and PPK/s lack a plunger-type firing pin safety (a la the SIG-Sauer, Browning Hi-Power, and Colt Series 80). Rather, the firing pin is locked from forward travel by the manual safety when (and only when) it is applied. If the gun is dropped from a height onto a hard surface with the safety off, inertia could drive the firing pin into the primer resulting in an accidental discharge. For this reason, these guns should not be carried with a live round in the chamber without the manual safety engaged.

A number of readers indicate Walther made some small production runs of the PP chambered in 9x18 Ultra, a round which falls between .380 ACP and 9mm on the power scale.

PPK

The Polizei Pistole Kriminal was introduced in 1931, just two years after the PP. The Kriminal designation indicated it was to be carried by the Kripos or criminal investigators -- just as Colt would later dub a shortened Police Revolver the "Detective's Special". There are those who hold that the "K" stands not for Kriminal but for Kurz or "short".

Either way, it is a shortened version of the PP, ideally suited to concealment.

The U.S. Gun Control Act of 1968 tried to address the perceived problem of "Saturday Night Specials" by defining and prohibiting the importation of a class of firearms characterized by low price, small size, light weight, and small caliber. Under the resulting point system, the Walther PPK was prohibited from importation into the United States. Some small number were brought in on behalf of police agencies (who are exempt from the ban), but for all intents and purposes, U.S. shooters were cut off from any supply of PPKs.

James Bond, Ian Flemming's famous fictional spy, carried a PPK (because of its superior stopping power over his Browning .25!) and added to the mystique of a gun officially declared "forbidden fruit" by the U.S. government.

With interest and demand climbing, and the supply of PPKs fixed, prices steadily climbed; a situation familiar to current U.S. shooters seeking high-capacity magazines following the 1994 Federal Crime Bill.

Relief came in 1986; Walther licensed the U.S. Interarms Corporation (who had been importing Walthers since 1955 as "Interarmco") to manufacture the PPK. Since 1979, Interarms has subcontracted the manufacture of the PPK, PPK/S, and TPH to Emco, a division of Dixie Gun Works, in Alabama. The quality of the American guns is frequently compared to that of the German guns, most often unfavorably. Highly critical reports of the American Walthers are common on rec.guns; as are the occasional glowing ones from readers who happened to purchase reliable one (or had a gunsmith work on it). At the very least, purchasers should be prepared to perform an extensive "break in" and reliability test for Walthers carried for self-protection.

PPK/S

In 1985, the Austrian company Glock Inc., sought to import their Glock 17 into the U.S. and, like the PPK, it was found to have too few points (primarily because of the Glock's light weight). The engineers at Glock spent a weekend designing a cheap, easily-removed adjustable sight and thereby earned enough points to be imported.

Walther took a different strategy in 196??. The small PPK slide was grafted onto the large PP frame and the PPK/S ("Special") was born. The result had sufficient points to be imported, held the same number of rounds as the PP (7+1), and was only slightly larger and less concealable than the small PPK. Shooters with large hands may prefer the PPK/S over the PPK because of its larger, more rounded grips as well as its additional capacity.

P38

In 1938, the German army adopted a variation on Walther's HP called the Walther P38 as its standard issue handgun. More than one million Walther P'38 were produced during World War II by Walther, Mauser, and Spreewerke; a good many GI's brought P38 home as war trophies; doubtlessly many were disappointed by the lousy double-action trigger. In the postwar period, it was dubbed the P1 and was the standard handgun of the Federal Police into the 1970's.

Like the PP that preceded it, the double action mechanism of the P38 was hailed:

"Our verdict is [...] the automatic pistol without the double-action first-shot "self-commencing" feature will be as far behind the times, after the war, as the Model T "crank-it-yourself" Ford!" American Rifleman, May 1945

The P38, like the PP, PPK, and PPK/S has the loaded chamber indicator pin.

Like most long-lived designs, the Walther P38 can be found in a number of varieties. Some small numbers were made in .22LR. Some versions shortened the 5" barrel to 4.5" (adopted by the German Army and designated the P4) or to 2.75", the P38K. In 1957 Walther began manufacturing an aluminum alloy-framed P38.

The slide mounted safety/decocker on the P38 was prone to parts breakage which may result in unintentional discharges; Walther owners to this day are cautioned to slowly lower the hammer when applying the safety.

P5

Like the SIG-Sauer P225 and Heckler & Koch PSP (P7), the Walther P5 was designed to meet the mid 1970's West German Police requirement for an eight round or more 9mm handgun which could be safely carried with a round in the chamber, and be ready to fire without needing to deactivate a safety lever.

Like the P38 which it most closely resembles, the P5 has an eight round magazine with a heel-mounted magazine release. The 3.5" barrel rides on an aluminum alloy frame. The decocking lever, positioned on the left side of the frame, is most reminiscent of the SIG-Sauer designs except that the lever also serves as a slide stop/slide release. Strangely, the ejection port is on the left side, and empty cases are ejected in that direction.

A P5 with a somewhat shortened barrel (3") and slide but with the same eight round capacity is available as the P5 Compact.

TPH

Walther's tiniest gun, the TPH was born under an unlucky star. Introduced in 1968, only a small number were brought into the United States before the Gun Control Act of '68 went into effect. The tiny TPH simply did not have enough points to be imported.

Like the PPK, some German TPHs where imported for police agencies, and the public was out of luck until Interarms began manufacturing them. The Interarms TPH has a stainless steel frame; the German police-only imports have a lighter aluminum frame.

Chambered in .25 Auto and .22 LR, the Taschen Pistol, Hahn ("Vest Pocket Pistol, with Hammer") or TPH is about 2/3 the size of the PPK.

Takedown is similar to its larger brethren, but internal parts are greatly different. The major concession to its small size is the European magazine release.

P88

Like the P5, the P88 is a double-action delayed blowback semi-auto with a frame mounted decocker/slide stop. Introduced at the height of the 1980's fascination with high-capacity 9mm "wondernines", the P88 has a fifteen round double-column magazine.

The most notable feature of the P88 is its totally ambidextrous design. The P88 has dual decocking levers on both sides of the grip, and the button magazine release may be pressed inward from either side of the frame.

P88 Compact

Most notably, the 9mm P-88 Compact dispenses with the dual-function control lever of the P-88 and replaces it with a separate slide stop and an ambidextrous slide-mounted safety.

The National Socialist Party embraced the Walther pistols like no other. Hoffschmidt writes "Walther pistols were a product of the new [post World War I] Germany. They represented the best in German design, precision and workmanship. PP and PPK were adopted as official [Nazi] party guns." Accordingly, a huge number were manufactured in the prewar years and adorned with a bewildering variety of Nazi insignias. Nazi-era Walthers are naturally collectors items, but novice collectors should be cautioned regarding counterfeit Nazi Walthers.

Can I Dry Fire my Walther?

Dry firing is the simulated shooting of an unloaded firearm for the purpose of helping the practitioner master fundamental shooting skills like trigger squeeze and sight picture without the distraction of recoil or the necessity of traveling to a range.

I have yet to receive an authoritative answer to this question, so my suggestion is to avoid dry firing the Walther handguns.

Address

For information regarding Walther firearms, service, repair, or to order a catalog contact Interarms:

   Interarms                   Phone: (703) 548-1400

   10 Prince Street            FAX:   (703) 549-7826

   Alexandria, VA 22313

References:

Books:

1. Small Arms of the World, Edward Ezell. 12th Edition, 1983. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-88029-601-1.
2. Know Your Walther PP & PPK Pistols, E.J. Hoffschmidt. 1975. Blacksmith T Corp. ISBN 0-941-54003-0.
3. P.38 Automatic Pistol: The First Fifty Years, Gene Gangarosa
4. Axis Pistols, Jan Still
5. The Famous Automatic Pistols of Europe, Jolex Publishing.
6. Glock: The New Wave in Combat Handguns, Peter Alan Kassler. 1992, Paladin Press. ISBN 0-87364-649-5.

1. Walther's P88 Compact, Wiley Clapp. Handgunning. January/February 1993.
2. Walther P88: Precision, Accuracy and Beauty, Gila May. Women & Guns. June 1993.

Please note: Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within, but the author disclaims any responsibility for the use of this information. Comments and corrections are always welcome.

Author's Note: Although a draft copy of this FAQ section was made available for general review, only a single kind individual (who wished to remain anonymous) had any comments. Some information (in the table, for example) is missing.

About the Author: Mike Cavanaugh is Head of Civilian Instruction at Tactical Handgun Training in Kingston, NY. He is a Certified SIGARMS Armorer as well as a NRA Certified Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor and NRA Life Member.

©Mike Cavanaugh (cavan@mhv.net) 1995
Tactical Handgun Training
PO Box 1817
Kingston, NY 12401
(914) 339-3440