In the 1930s the rearming Wehrmacht began looking for a suitable replacement for its aging P.08 Parabellum service pistol. Their handsome good looks didn’t hurt them either. Both of these designs were well-received due to their compact size, innovative double-action operation, reliability and accuracy. These were the PP-Polizei Pistole introduced in 1929 and its smaller sibling, the PPK-Polizei Pistole Kriminalbeamte, introduced in 1930. Following the Great War Walther produced two designs which made the company justly famous. The German firm of Carl Walther Waffenfabrik first began producing handguns at a plant in Zella-Mellis in 1908. For those of you unfamiliar with this model let’s delve a little into the history of Walther before looking at the weapon itself. Now surplus Walther P1s are both an interesting collectible and fun shooter. Today, the Cold War is little more than a fading memory, Germany is united, the Bundeswehr is just a shadow of what it once was, and Walther’s P1 was long ago replaced in German service. Although they might be overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers, they would go down hard defending their Fatherland. It was well understood, on both sides of the Iron Curtain, that the Bundeswehr would certainly make the Soviets/Warsaw Pact pay dearly if they invaded West Germany. Bundeswehr units, especially their armor, soon earned the respect of their peers for their professionalism and abilities. In doing so it became the backbone of NATO in Central Europe. The Bundeswehr would eventually expand out to a force of 495,000 military and 170,000 civilian personnel. Working at their new factory in Ulm-an-der-Donau, Walther produced the 9x19mm P1 for not only the Bundeswehr but also the Austrian Army and export as well. It subsequently served several generations of Teutonic soldats during the Cold War, as they faced down the Russian Bear. So rather than adopting a totally new design, the Bundeswehr simply fielded a modernized version of the P38 designated the Pistole 1 (P1).
Recent combat experience had proven the Wehrmacht’s Walther P38 to be a tough and reliable service pistol.
For other weapons, though they looked to the past.
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