As Germany geared up for WWII, their standard side arm was the venerable P-08, commonly known as “The Luger.” Superbly crafted with a reputation for excellence, it was time consuming and costly to produce. A simpler piece, which could be mass produced, was needed. Enter the P-38 produced by the German firm of Carl Walther Waffenfabrik.
Like the Luger, it was in 9mm, so ammunition was interchangeable, and it held 8 rounds. With a simple double-action design, it was cheap to produce, took little of the time- consuming, highly-skilled machining the Luger required, and it proved more reliable. It was adopted by the German military in 1938. Designated Pistole 38, it simply became known as the P-38.
As war began in 1939, the German military underwent a massive expansion and more sidearms were needed. The Walther firm alone could not meet the demand, and production soon was taken up by the Mauser firm. Even a third firm, Spreewerk, began producing P-38s. More than 1 million were produced by these three firms during WWII.
Fearful of air raids crippling their factories, the Germans developed an alphabet code in 1940 to hide the names and locations of production sites. On WWII military P-38s, the name of the firm producing the pistol is absent. Rather, we see the letter codes AC for Walther, BYF for Mauser and CYQ for Spreewerk.
P-38s produced late in the war were victims of short-cuts to speed production. While the finish and fit might not have been up to pre-war standards, the pistol remained a reliable and solid weapon. Readily available, it became a favorite of the victorious GIs and thousands were brought back to the U.S. as war souvenirs. Production ended with the war, but the Walther firm again began production, which continued until 2000. This iconic weapon is still used throughout the world, even being recently encountered by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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