Tag Archives: Walther P-38

1990s Forgotten Classic: The Walther P88

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A design sandwiched between two of the most iconic pistols in history, the oft-forgotten yet still very collectible Walther P88 gets overlooked.

Developed in the early 1980s as a double-action/single-action 9mm duty pistol with a double-stack magazine to compete against just about every other big handgun maker in the world for the U.S. Air Force (and later Army) pistol trials, the gun that ultimately became the P88 has a distinctive profile.

Walther P-88 9mm pistol
A circa-December 1986 P88 prototype with wood grip panels and an extra safety behind the grip. The P88 entered production in January 1987. Photo taken at the Walther Museum in Ulm, Germany. (All photos unless noted: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
A circa-1988 cutaway Schnittmodell of the production variant of the P88, complete with the now familiar decocker lever. Photo taken at the Walther Museum in Ulm, Germany. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
When introduced, the P88 was billed as a more full-sized companion to the P5 Compact. The banner reads, “Self-loading pistols: over a century of experience in handgun manufacturing.” (Image courtesy of Walther.) 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The most common P88 variant has the fixed front sight milled into the top of the slide and a large frame-mounted decocker lever that doubles as a slide catch. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
Note the ambidextrous controls to include left and right-side push-button magazine release and decocker/slide catch. The pistol borrows the Walther P-5’s double-action trigger and safety system. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
Compare the pistol to the final variant of the P38, the P4. Introduced in 1974, Walther only produced a limited run of 5,200 P4s, with most used primarily by the West German Border Protection (Bundesgrenzschutz) and Customs (Zoll) agencies during the chilliest days of the Cold War. The follow-on P88, which debuted 50 years after the single-stack P38 was adopted, was billed as the metaphorical heir to the throne. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The standard full-sized P88 uses a 4-inch barrel, which gives the pistol a 7.4-inch overall length and a 5.92-inch sight radius. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
With its 15+1 shot double-stack magazine, it stands 5.61 inches high. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The width over the slide is a trim 0.93 inches, akin to the Browning Hi-Power. Note the milled sight trench with the integrated front sight blade and the peaked barrel hood inside a flared ejection port in the slide. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The width at the pistol’s widest point over the He-Man polymer grips and ambi controls is a beefy 1.5 inches. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The unloaded weight is 31.5 ounces, which bounces to 38.3 when loaded. Using a Duralumin alloy frame helps save a few ounces over an all-steel gun. Walther had lots of experience with alloy-framed service pistols, going back to the post-WWII P1 (updated P38) series, which debuted in the 1960s. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
Peeking at the inside of the pistol is easy, as takedown is toolless and familiar to many other common designs. Of note, the P88 was Walther’s first modern locked-breech pistol to abandon its traditional locking wedge design, instead opting for a Browning-style cam system. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
Note that the slide rails are full length. The pistol just glides through its cycle. 

 

Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The textured polymer grip includes a recessed lanyard ring, a must for handguns being shopped around for military and police contracts. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The Walther P88 had the distinction of being the company’s final production hammer-fired DA/SA 9mm with a decocker. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
This specimen shows the Ulm proof house’s antler proof mark and a 1990 date. Like most Walthers from that era, this one was imported and sold through the now-defunct Interarms company. For reference, Interarms folded in 1999. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
An exceedingly accurate design, the P88 shipped from the factory with a 25m proof target serial numbered to the gun, as seen to the left. Right is an example of rapid offhand fire from the 25, with all rounds keeping inside the 5-zone of a B27 silhouette. 

Walther later debuted several additional variants of the P88, including the Compact, Competition, Champion, and Sport.

Walther P-88 9mm pistol
Introduced in January 1991, the P88 A1 Compact uses a 3.83-inch barrel to create a pistol some 7.15 inches in overall length. It has a 14-round magazine due to its shorter 5.29-inch height. Unloaded weight is 29 ounces. This puts it almost the same size as the Walther P5. Note the slide-mounted P38-style decocker rather than the frame-mounted decocker as seen on other P88 models. It was also marketed in a 16-shot 8mm signal pistol format. Image courtesy of Walther. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The full-sized production P88, top, compared to the P88 A1 Compact, bottom. Photo taken at the Walther Museum in Ulm, Germany. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
By 1993, the Compact spun off into the Competition. Photo taken at the Walther Museum in Ulm, Germany.

 

Related: Factory Tour of Walther’s German Plant, Home of the PDP and PPK.

 

Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The P88 also evolved into longer-barreled Champion models such as this 5-inch circa-1993 specimen, complete with adjustable rear target sights and a muzzle brake/compensator. Note that the Champion is based on the Competition series with its shorter grip and slide-mounted safety decocker. Photo taken at the Walther Museum in Ulm, Germany. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
And this Lang Champion. Walther also made a rimfire variant dubbed the P88 Sport. Photo taken at the Walther Museum in Ulm, Germany. 

In all, Walther only made just under 10,000 standard P88s, which ended production in 1992, spanning six short years. The Compact variant remained in production until 2000 before the line shut down. In his book on Walther pistols, Dieter Marschall puts P88 Compact production at 7,344 pistols. The production numbers for Competition and Champion models are not mentioned in the book, but are likely much smaller.

The P88 line pistol was replaced with the smash-hit P99series, which was introduced in 1997 and has enjoyed a more than quarter-century run that is only now ending.

Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The P88 proved to be a bridge design, a link of sorts that took Walther from the legacy P38/P1/P4 series to the P99. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol in movies
The P88 was popular for a minute in the early 1990s and is seen in both an installment of “Beverly Hills Cop” and in Antoine Fuqua’s “The Replacement Killers,” famously appearing in the “empty gun standoff” scene between Kenneth Tsang and Chow Yun-Fat,
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
The build quality of the P88s we have seen come through our warehouse over the years has always been excellent. A pistol that has gravitas to it for sure. 
Walther P-88 9mm pistol
Interestingly, the P88’s nose and frame size are common enough to fit a wide array of holsters that are in circulation. For instance, this Galco Concealable 2.0 OWB holster, designed for a G48, fits it like a glove. 
We’ve even seen the occasional flashier variant pass through our vault. 

Suffice it to say that, should you come across a good P88, a gun that represents Walther’s old-world dedication to quality and craftsmanship, you’d kick yourself for not adding it to the collection.

We’d like to thank Christian Liehner from Carl Walther GmbH for his help with the research for this piece. 

My Favorite Walther

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While visiting Walther’s state-of-the-art factory in Ulm, Germany earlier this year, I came across my favorite pistol that carries the company’s iconic banner.

Walther has been around in one form or another, and one location or another, to the 1880s. Whenever you say the company’s name in a conversation, the immediate Pavlovian response is typically PPK, PDP, P99, or P-38.

However, my favorite Walther is the seldom-seen, and almost unheard-of, P4 (also seen as “P38 IV”).

A factory cutaway of the P-4 in Walther’s Museum in Ulm, Germany. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

A shortened version of the P1– which itself was an updated P-38– the P4 was adopted by the West German Border Protection (Bundesgrenzschutz) and Customs (Zoll) agencies during the chilliest days of the Cold War.

So what makes it my favorite? Check out the article in my column at Guns.com.

He was also one heck of a curler

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One of the most iconic photos of a World War II sniper is this one:

All photos, Library and Archives Canada

The man shown above is Sgt. Harold A. Marshall of the Calgary Highlanders‘ Scout and Sniper Platoon. It was taken by renowned Candian Army Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit shutterbug Ken Bell during a scouting, stalking and sniping course in recently-liberated Kapellen, Belgium, along the Dutch border, 6 October 1944.

Besides his Mk II Standard No.2 binoculars, his kit includes a Lee–Enfield No. 4 Mk 1 (T) sniper rifle with a No. 32 MK 3 scope. These rifles were standard issue for marksmen use during WWII with about 26,000 manufactured in conjunction with Holland & Holland for the Commonwealth forces and remained in service until the early 1960s when it was replaced by the L42 series, the latter basically an accurized No. 4 Enfield in 7.62 NATO.

Sergeant H.A. Marshall of The Calgary Highlanders cleans the telescopic sight of his No.4, MkI(T) rifle during scouting, stalking and sniping course, Kapellen, Belgium, 6 October 1944 LAC 3596658 Ken Bell, photographer

Marshall wears a modified camouflaged paratrooper’s Denison smock. On his belt is a single No. 36M Mill’s Bomb grenade and a Gurkha kukri — because badass, that’s why. Around his head is a skrim camouflage face veil in place of the typical Highlander Tam hat or red and white diced Glengarry, the official field and garrison caps, respectively, of the unit at the time.

Marshall’s spotter, Cpl. Steven Kormendy, was also captured by Bell.

He wears much the same kit but notably has a captured German Walther P-38 9mm pistol as his sidearm.

Corporal S. Kormendy and Sergeant H.A. Marshall of The Calgary Highlanders cleaning the telescopic sights of their No.4 MkI (T) rifles during scouting, stalking and sniping course, Kapellen, Belgium, 6 October 1944. LAC 3596657 Ken Bell, photographer

Sergeant H.A. Marshall (left) and Corporal S. Kormendy, both of The Calgary Highlanders, observing terrain from a concealed firing position during scouting, stalking and sniping course, Capellen, Belgium, 6 October 1944. LAC 3596661 Ken Bell, photographer

Cpl. Steven Kormendy, left, and Sergeant Harold Marshall of the Calgary Highlanders sniper unit pose for photographer Ken Bell in Belgium on Oct. 6, 1944.

Lieutenant-Colonel D.G. Maclaughlin of the Calgary Highlanders speaks with scouts Corporal S. Kormendy and Sergeant H.A. Marshall, Kapellen, Belgium, 6 October 1944. Note they have switched to their Tams with cap badges and the size of Marshall’s kukri. LAC 3257124

As noted by the Calgary Herald,

“Harold Marshall was one of the original Calgary Highlanders who sailed for the United Kingdom on S.S. Pasteur in 1940. Four years later, he was part of an elite platoon of scouts and snipers. Specially equipped and trained in stealth and camouflage, they were the forerunners of today’s reconnaissance troops. It was a dangerous job as scouts advanced ahead of troops and snipers were often exposed to enemy fire.”

Marshall took a bullet in the leg on 15 December 1944, a wound that ended his war. He went on to work for the City of Calgary Electric System from 1946 until 1975 and died just short of his 95th birthday in 2013. 

He was also notably an avid curler, a sport he was shown partaking in his obituary.

Ken Bell would go on to profile Marshall in his excellent book, Not in Vain. 

As for the Calgary Highlanders, formed in 1910 as the 103rd “Calgary Rifles” Regiment, they still exist in battalion strength as a reserve unit, based at the Mewata Armoury in Calgary. Active in Afghanistan in recent years, their Scottish motto is Airaghardt (Onward).

The Everlasting P38

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Here we see a Portuguese Corpo de Fuzileiros Marine on UN duty in the Central African Republic.

Of note, his rifle is the 7.62 mm Espingarda m/961, essentially an updated HK G3 and in the holster is the m/961 9mm pistol, which is a Walther P38.

The guns date back to Portugal’s brutal African brush wars in Angola, Guinea, and Mozambique during the 1960s and 70s.

As such, the P38 is one of few WWII-era combat handguns (besides the Hi-Power, 1911 and to a lesser extent the TT-33) that are still in regular use downrange some 75 years later.

More on the P-38’s longevity in my column at Guns.com.

The Walther P38: Godfather of the modern combat handgun

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When you think German Army pistol, the Luger comes to mind. The thing is, the Germans themselves wanted something better and came up with one of the great-unsung handguns of all time. You may call it the Walther P38 and its influence has been felt far and wide.

In the 1930s, the German military was quietly rebuilding. Even before Hitler came to power, the tiny Reichswehr had done extensive research into rearming their nation with the most modern of equipment. After Hitler came to power, this process got louder. One of the things the army wanted was a new handgun to replace the 1900-vintage Luger. While the Luger was a beautiful weapon, its toggle-action was prone to clogging, especially when dirty. It was also expensive, and every army in history had a budget.

Carl Walther, an up and coming firearms manufacturer who had just won a contract to supply his innovative PP and PPK pistols to the German police, threw a design from his workshop into the ring.

canadian soldier checking out a captured P38 during WWII
Read the rest in my column at GUNS.com