C&R · II · 585

Walther pistols, Zella-Mehlis

Section II: curio or relic, still subject to the Gun Control Act

Official wording

ATF P 5300.11 · APRIL 2025 EDITION · SECTION II · VERBATIM · PDF P. 19 ↗

Walther, pistols, mfd. at Zel1a-Mehlis (Thur) prior to 1946, all models, all cal.’s.

ATF REQUIRESMade or imported as stated: “mfd. at Zel1a-Mehlis (Thur) prior to 1946”
ATF REQUIRESMade 1945 or earlier (ATF’s dates)ATF: “prior to 1946”

Official wording

ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section II · PDF p. 19 ↗ · ATF original ↗

Entries

1 line

Verbatim check

Checked against the PDF text before every release

Editorial facts

Confidence: High · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence

References

1. Wikipedia, “Carl Walther GmbH” ↗, country: German firearm manufacturer; shop established 1886 in Zella-Mehlis, Thuringia
2. Wikipedia, “Carl Walther GmbH” ↗, action: pre-1946 pistol line: Models 1–9 (blowback, from 1908), PP (1929), PPK (1931), P38 (1938), Olympia; the PP and P38 articles class them as semi-automatic pistols
3. Wikipedia, “Carl Walther GmbH” ↗, years: 'It was not until 1908 that ... they began to make pistols'; end 1945 follows ATF 'prior to 1946'

Fact tags

ATF the ATF wording states it.
REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.

Source checked

20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition

Corrections

1 change · see below

17 October 2026Image review: article images and reference linksReference article: Carl Walther GmbH → none. Carl Walther GmbH is about the Walther company, not this class of pre-1946 Zella-Mehlis pistols

Image: Armémuseum (Swedish Army Museum) via Europeana, “Pistol m/1939”, CC BY 4.0. Retrieved October 2026.