Walther P38 & P1, postwar government issue
Official wording
Walther, post World War II production Model P38- and P1-type semiautomatic pistols made for or issued to a military force, police agency, or other government agency or entity.
What this entry requires
- ATF REQUIRESMade for or issued to a body ATF names: “made for or issued to a military force, police agency, or other government agency or entity”
- INFOATF states no date; production was about 1957–2000.
Editorial facts · Our research
- Country
GermanyBasis: no citation - Manufacturer
- Carl Walther, UlmBasis: the ATF wording
- Type
- PistolBasis: the ATF wording
- Action
- Semi-autoBasis: the ATF wording
- Caliber
- 9mm ParabellumBasis: no citation
- Made
- 1957–2000production; ATF states no dateBasis: outside reference ¹
- Service
- Military
Source
- 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: Medium · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. Wikipedia, “Walther P38” ↗, years: infobox production date: 'Pistole P1 1957–2000'; company resumed P38 (renamed P1) production in 1957 for the Bundeswehr
- 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
- None
Historical context
Image: Wikimedia Commons, “Walther P38 (6971798779).jpg” by Askild Antonsen, CC BY 2.0. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “Walther P38”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The Walther P38 is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that was developed by Carl Walther GmbH as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was intended to replace the comparatively complex and expensive to produce Luger P08. Moving the production lines to the more easily mass producible P38 once World War II started took longer than expected, leading to the P08 remaining in production until September 1942 and copies remained in service until the end of the war.