Welcome to ALPS

Information, photos, references, and trivia on the WW2 Walther P.38 and post-war P38 pistol. If you wish to link to this page, please link only to the main page, not sub-pages or documents. Please do not rip off my PDF files or pictures for your own site. Thanks.

Updated 20 Feb 2014 17:33 -0800

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Most Recent updates:

Two more "BTH12" pistols have been reported. See "BTH12" under "Pistols"

Added "When was my post-war pistol made?" to "Information"

Added another late date AC frame pistol to "Pistols"

Added some late war pistols to "Pistols"

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Pistols

Post-war volume I

Post-war parts gun, two guns in .30 Luger, and a high-polish gun.

Late date AC frame variation. Warren Buxton calls these the '"oddballs of oddballs." Who made these - and when?

byf44 FN slide. Post-war volume II

P38 surplus, P1 surplus, P38 commercial, and P4 surplus guns.

Consecutive serial number SVW-45s. Consecutive serial number SVW-46s. Post-war P38 in 7.65mm Parabellum. East German P.38s. Reworked wartime ac40, ac44, and an East German manufactured gun.
Steel frame P38 from Earl's Repair Service.

ac45 matching "c" block.

 

Post-war P.38 in 5.6mm (.22 LR).

 

A Zero series and "a" prefix Spreewerk reworked for use in post-war East Germany.
The Czechoslovakian Vz46. byf44 police issue with British markings.

 

Commemorative "100 Jahre" P38 marking the 100th year anniversary of Walther. Unknown BTH12 marking on several P.38s.
Norwegian military surplus P38. Mixmaster P.38 with WW2 German, East German, Czech, and British markings. The ultra-rare "ac no-date" - and how to spot a fake. Some things you can do to a P.38. Please don't!

WARNING: disturbing!

French Mausers 1945 to 1946. Gotterdammerung - some pistols from the last months of the war. Another version of the late date AC frame pistol.  

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Information

Pistol Information

An excellent article by Peter Kokalis on the wartime P.38 pistol can be found here, and another article on the post-war P38 here.

My post-war pistol has no date or date code - about when was it manufactured? You can get a rough estimate based upon these observed pistols.

Need to replace a broken WW2 slide part with a post-war part, and don't know if the new part will fit? Read the slide part compatibility guide. Note: this information is intended as a guide only. I am not a gunsmith. If you do not have working knowledge of the P.38 pistol, consult a competent gunsmith before attempting to effect repairs to your P.38.

Over the long term, will oil cause bakelite grips to deteriorate? An attempt to find out starts here. And continues after one year... and finally ends at three plus years.

Atarian's quick reference magazine guide. Helps to identify which magazine is correct for your pistol.

Atarian's post-war reproduction and aftermarket grip guide. Some of the currently available non-World War II grips for the P.38.

Can a "dipped" pistol be "un-dipped?" The answer is yes, and quite successfully. Take a look at zero series cyq serial number 030.

What's that 13 digit number on my pistol and/or magazine?

Drawings and Manuals

P38 Owner's Manual  (multilingual - 4.8 MB). P38 Owner's Manual v2 (multilingual - 6.2 MB). P38 Operating Instructions (multilingual - 1.2 MB, source: Walther Germany). P38 Owner's Manual (1 MB, source: Interarms(?)). P38 Owner's Manual (edited for clarity - Thanks to Quentin for providing this).

German military drawings of the 9mm Patrone: page 1, page 2, page 3, and page 4.

P.38 manual from 1940 (German) - Thanks to Johan and Ron Clarin for providing this.

P.38 illustrated parts breakdown (German - 95KB, source: Walther Germany).

Explanation of the markings on a post-war P38/P1 (source: Federal Foreign Office – Division 241, Germany).

Time Wasters

Test your P.38 knowledge with the P.38 quiz!

bullet one
bullet two
bullet three
bullet four (new!)

Auction Antics - Fantastic stories and overpriced pistols:

bullet Most expensive P.38 ever listed (this was a typo...)
bullet Second most expensive P.38 (...that this genius later referenced!)
bullet Best story/crappiest p.38 ever?

Articles and Advertisements

Information on the P.38 from the 2008 Walther catalog.

The Defense Intelligence Agency's Small Caliber Ammunition Identification Guide. German ammunition section (213kb) or the entire document (10.1Mb).

Small arms section of the Handbook on German Military Forces.

P.38 converted to .45 ACP.

1964 Luger parts list and prices.

1964 P38 parts list and prices.

Pricing of Stoeger's Mod HPs and Lugers (1948).

1970 Interarms P38 advertisement.

Stoeger's guide to World War II pistols circa 1948 (page 1, page 2).

Miscellaneous

A baker's dozen of Walther post-war slide legend variations (this is far from all-inclusive).

Here's what a P.38 frame looks like before the machining process begins.

Is Walther still making the P.38?

Information Exchange Pursuant to the OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons 2003, 2008, 2010. Note in 2002 the United States was by far the largest importer of German "Revolvers and Self-Loading Pistols" with 1,040,985 imported (of 1,082,797 - the balance of 41,812 or about 4% going to 20 other countries), while the Germans destroyed only 5,666 "surplus" pistols. In 2009 the US imported none and 17,520 surplus pistols were destroyed (none were exported to any country). See Annexes 2 and 3.

Patent Information

Fritz Walther's "automatic pistol," patent number 2135992 dated November 8, 1938 (English).

Fritz Walther's "automatic firearm," patent number 2145328 dated January 31, 1939 (English).

Walther pistol patents 1926 to 1942 (German).

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Page Number

433937 Sept. 1926 1 2 3 4 5
664926 Sept. 1938 1 2 3    
677094 June 1939 1 2 3 4 5
678067 July 1939 1 2 3    
706038 May 1941 1 2 3    
715176 Dec. 1941 1 2 3 4 5
721702 June 1942 1 2 3 4 5
722332 July 1942 1 2 3 4 5
726501 Oct. 1942 1 2 3 4 5

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Interarms Catalogs

Interarms was a long-time importer of products from Walther and many other manufacturers. Browse some of their catalogs here.

Stanag 2174 [patched]

As of 2025–2026, NATO is actively revising the AECTP-500 series, including STANAG 2174. Future editions are expected to address:

Behind her, a young intelligence analyst, Corporal Vance, shifted nervously. "Ma'am, the last transmission from his team was garbled. Something about a wadi and 'static ghosts.' The search-and-rescue package is ready, but the weather's grounding the birds."

This article explores the purpose, application, and importance of STANAG 2174 in modern military logistics. 1. What is STANAG 2174?

In a tactical environment, military police and engineers use STANAG 2174 to conduct and report findings back to headquarters. This information allows commanders to designate routes for specific uses, such as: Reserved Routes: Exclusive to a specific unit. Dispatch Routes: Requires prior priority for use0;238;. stanag 2174

Updating maps with standardized route symbols defined in the agreement. STANAG 2174 - Military Routes and Route/Road Network

Lena knelt beside him, checked his pulse, and smiled back—a rare thing. "STANAG 2174, Sergeant. We don't leave you. Not ever."

"Is hostile, yes. I read the brief." She finally lifted her eyes. They were the color of cold steel. "But I also read STANAG 2174 ." As of 2025–2026, NATO is actively revising the

Differentiating between paved highways and rugged, unpaved tracks. 2. Standardized Route Signing

(officially titled "Military Routes and Route/Road Network") is a NATO Standardization Agreement that establishes a uniform method for marking and classifying military routes. Its primary goal is to ensure that NATO forces can navigate and manage traffic across various road networks consistently during joint operations. Key Provisions of STANAG 2174

(Standardization Agreement 2174) defines a common framework for Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) in land-based military vehicles. Its primary goal is to move away from traditional scheduled maintenance or reactive repair towards Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) and predictive logistics. The standard provides a standardized data model and interface to allow vehicle onboard health monitoring systems to communicate with off-board (garrison/deployed) support systems. Something about a wadi and 'static ghosts

Under STANAG 2174, contamination survivability encompasses three key pillars:

For any defense contractor bidding on a NATO program, the advice is simple:

The 2026 updates to STANAG 2174 reflect a growing need for , moving away from legacy paperwork toward real-time, data-driven logistic publications that support rapid-reaction forces. Current Status

Identification of bottleneck areas or restrictions. 2.2. Marking and Identification

The primary goal of STANAG 2174 is to eliminate confusion during tactical and administrative movements. When troops from different nations operate in the same theatre, a lack of standardisation in road signs or route classifications could lead to bottlenecks, wrong turns, or accidental entry into hazardous zones. By adhering to this agreement, NATO members ensure that a French convoy commander can navigate a route marked by German engineers as easily as if they were in their home country. Key Provisions

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Only YOU can keep it alive!

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