Walther P38 Semi-auto

Walther AC41 P38 WWII Pistol Kit. 9mm Factory 359 Marked W/ Nazi Proof Marks SN# 6837c Dates To May Of 1941.

The Walther P38 9mm pistol was developed as a replacement for the P08 Luger 9mm Pistol. In service with the German military since 1908, the P08 was complex and much more costly to manufacture due to its design. The P38 began development in 1938 and several prototype variants were made before a final design was accepted and full production began in 1940. As the P38 was in production during WWII, the German military assigned the code "AC" to Walther to disguise the actual manufacturer in the hopes of making it more difficult for Germany's enemies to locate war materiel factories for possible attack. This policy was used by Hitler to hide his military buildup leading to WWII not just for armaments but for more mundane items issued to military forces like leather goods and supplies. This coding system was so effective that despite its discovery by the Allies early in the war, it was not broken until after the war had ended. In fact, to this day collectors around the world are still deciphering lost codes. The P38 uses a locked breech design and was the first double to single action 9mm service pistol. It has design features such as the "Safe Hammer Drop", still used today in modern pistols like the Beretta 92 series, Sig Sauer P226 and many others. The P38 still remains in service around the world and has been adopted by at least 28 countries including Afghanistan and Iraq, where it fills a military role in the form of the P1 pistol. The P1 is a modernized version of the P38 with an aluminum frame. The P1 went into service between 1957 and 1963 with the post war Bundeswehr (German Army) only to be replaced in the 1990's by the Heckler & Koch P8 (USP) 9mm pistol. The P38 has been easily one of the most reliable and rugged service pistols ever developed. The P38 will remain in military inventories and in private collections for the foreseeable future as well over 1.5 million of these pistols have been manufactured.