Walther P38 The Walther P38 is a 9 mm semi - automatic pistol that was developed by Walther arms as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II . It was intended to replace the costly Luger P08 , the production of which was scheduled to end in 1942 . Development . The first designs submitted to the German Army featured a locked breech and a hidden hammer , but the " Heer " ( German Army ) requested that it be redesigned with an external hammer . The P38 concept was accepted by the German military in 1938 but production of actual prototype ( " Test " ) pistols did not begin until late 1939 . Walther began manufacture at their plant in Zella - Mehlis and produced three series of " Test " pistols , designated by a " 0 " prefix to the serial number . The third series pistols satisfactorily solved the previous problems for the " Heer " and mass production began in mid - 1940 , using Walther ' s military production identification code " 480 " . After a few thousand pistols the " Heer " changed all codes from numbers to letters and Walther was given the " ac " code . Several experimental versions were later created in . 45 ACP , and . 38 Super , but these were never mass - produced . In addition to the 9 mm Parabellum version , some 7 . 65x21mm Parabellum and some . 22 Long Rifle versions were also manufactured and sold . Design details . From an engineering perspective the P38 was a semi - automatic pistol design that introduced technical features that are found in other semi - automatic pistols like the Beretta 92 and its M9 sub - variant adopted by the United States military . The P38 was the first locked - breech pistol to use a double - action / single - action ( DA / SA ) trigger ( the earlier double - action PPK was an unlocked blowback design , but the more powerful 9x19mm Parabellum round used in the P38 mandated a locked breech design ) . The shooter could load a round into the chamber , use a de - cocking lever to safely lower the hammer without firing the round , and carry the weapon loaded with the hammer down . A pull of the trigger , with the hammer down , fired the first shot and the operation of the pistol ejected the fired cartridge case , loaded a fresh round into the chamber and cocked the hammer for single - action operation for each subsequent shot , all features found in many modern day handguns . Besides a DA / SA trigger design similar to that of the earlier Walther PPK s the P38 featured a visible and tactile loaded chamber indicator in the form of a metal rod that protrudes out of the top rear end of the slide when a round is present in the chamber . The moving - barrel design mechanism operates by use of a wedge - shaped falling locking block underneath the breech . When the pistol is fired both the barrel and slide recoil for a short distance together , where the locking block drives down , disengaging the slide and arresting further rearward movement of the barrel . The slide however continues its rearward movement on the frame , ejecting the spent case and cocking the hammer before reaching the end of travel . Two return springs located on either side of the frame and below the slide , having been compressed by the slide ' s rearward movement , drive the slide forward , stripping a new round from the magazine , driving it into the breech and , in the process , re - engaging the barrel ; ending its return travel with a fresh round chambered , hammer cocked and ready to repeat the process . The falling locking block design provides good accuracy due to the in - line travel of the barrel and slide . Initial production P38 pistols were fitted with walnut grips , but these were later supplanted by Bakelite grips . Variants . The Walther P38 was in production from 1938 to 1963 . From 1945 to 1957 , no P38s were produced for the German military . Slowly over time , West Germany desired to rebuild its military so that it could shoulder some of the burden for its own defense . Walther retooled for new P38 production since no military firearms production had occurred in West Germany since the end of the war , knowing that the military would again seek Walther firearms . When the " Bundeswehr " announced it wanted the P38 for its official service pistol , Walther readily resumed P38 production within just two years , using wartime pistols as models and new engineering drawings and machine tools . The first of the new P38s were delivered to the West German military in June 1957 , some 17 years and two months after the pistol had initially seen action in World War II , and from 1957 to 1963 the P38 was again the standard sidearm . In late 1963 the postwar military model P1 was adopted for use by the German military , identifiable by the P1 stamping on the slide . The postwar pistols , whether marked as P38 or P1 , have an aluminum frame rather than the steel frame of the original design . The aluminum frame was later reinforced with a hex bolt above the trigger guard . During the 1990s the German military started replacing the P1 with the P8 pistol and finally phased out the P1 in 2004 . An improved version of the P38 , the Walther P4 , was developed in the late 1970s and was adopted by the police forces of South Africa , Rhineland - Palatinate and Baden - Württemberg .