Walther P1 pistol, recently widely available as surplus, traces its origins to the P38 model 
adopted by the German Army in 1940. P38 eventually became more common than the 
Luger P08 as the standard army sidearm, mainly because it was more reliable under 
adverse conditions and cheaper to manufacture. According to Ordnance Went Up Front, 
the main advantage of the P38 over the P08 was its ability to function with steel-cased 
ammunition and the ease of performing malfunction drills. After WW2, West German 
army continued to use those arms which performed well in combat. The famous MG42 
became MG3 with the change of chambering to .308, and P38 continued on as P1. In 
1957, Walther started production of alloy-framed P1 pistols, and those became the 
standard Bundeswehr sidearm until the early 1980s. P1 weights just over 28oz, 5oz less 
than the all-steel P38.
The distinctive profile of the P1 stems from its unusual design. The side is abbreviated 
and does not enclose the barrel. On recoil, the barrel moves back fractionally but does not 
tilt as in the conventional Browning designs. Instead, a separate locking block is used to 
effect the lockup. The end result is a barrel which retains alignment well despite the lack 
of support at the muzzle end. The advantages of this design are wide ejection port, 
simplicity of maintenance compared to most of the contemporary pistols. Beretta used a 
similar design, with a separate locking block, in several pistols staring with the model 51. 
Unlike P1, their guns used a tilting barrel to facilitate feeding, and supported the slide at 
the muzzle.
P1's main claim to fame at the time of its introduction was its double action trigger, 
which allowed safe carry with a chambered cartridge. The slide-mounted combination de-
cocker and safety lever is similar to the earlier PP design, and has seen been adopted by 
many other manufacturers. Like the PP, P1 has a cartridge indicator pin which protrudes 
from the back of the slide above the firing pin. Designed for maximum reliability, this 
pistol also has two recoil springs arranged inside the slide.
In addition to its historic interest, Walther P1 deserves examination as a practical self-
defense weapon. At this time, surplus P1 pistols are available for $250 to $320, including 
a belt leather holster and two magazines. The flap holster is hardly practical for fast draw 
from concealment but offers good protection from the elements for field use. A side 
pocket stores an extra eight-round magazine. The frame of the gun is stamped "73" and 
the slide is stamped "4/81". Parkerizing on the weapon and the magazines is in very good 
shape, and the bore looked brand new. The only worn part was the stamped metal dust 
shield at the top of the slide and at the muzzle, probably worn from holster contact.
Several range sessions with the P1 showed that it is a viable weapon, but not without 
some limitations. None of them were enough to disqualify this pistol for consideration, 
but the user should be aware of the potential problems before relying on it for social 
work.
The chief limitation is that only FMJ ammunition will feed reliably. None of brands and 
weights of JHP and SP ammunition tested would feed from the magazine. I have, in the 
past, fired war-time P38s which would feed JHPs reliably but, in general, the design 
cannot be considered suitable for anything other then ball. Using 115 and 124 grain FMJ 
cartridges by Winchester, PMP, Wolf and S&B, the sample P1 was 100% reliable. Five-
inch barrel ensures high muzzle velocity. Ejection was front left.
The double-action trigger is fairly heavy at .. pounds, and of average smoothness. That in 
itself would not be a problem, but the long reach required and the generous size of the 
grip means that shooters with small hands would be hard-pressed to fire this gun quickly 
and accurately on the first shot. On the plus side, the generously sized backstrap and 
efficient action design add up to very low felt recoil. Single action, available once the gun 
cycled or was cocked manually, requires only half the reach of the double action and is 
crisp, after a slight take-up. De-cocking a P1 also engages the safety. To make the pistol 
ready, the safety lever must be flipped up, a move which is less than intuitive for the US 
shooters accustomed to the 1911 type. In practical use, the safety is usually disengaged 
prior to holstering the gun. Some sources warn about possible de-cocker malfunction, but 
the sample pistol worked fine in that regard. The pistol is drop-safe when the hammer is 
down, but the firing pin block appears to be disconnected then the hammer is cocked.
Sights are a slight update from the P38. Front has a white dot, rear a vertical bar. Both 
front and rear sights are dovetailed and adjustable for windage. Elevation is on at about 
30 feet with 115 grain ammunition. The front sight had a gap between it and the bottom 
of the dovetail. Within about a hundred rounds, the front sight fell off the gun. It stayed 
put after a strip of brass was placed under it for additional friction.
Practical accuracy, a function of the gun's mechanical accuracy and ergonomics, was 
decent. At 30 feet, slow fire using single action produced 8-round groups around two 
inches at the point of aim. Using double action (de-cocking after every shot) yielded the 
same size group an inch and a half up and right of the point of aim. For comparison, the 
same shooter would produce one and a half inch groups at the same distance with a Glock 
17 or a Colt Government .45 
Push  the safety catch to "safe" position. Pull back the slide until the slide stop retains it. 
Remove the magazine. Revolve the take-down latch 150 degrees clockwise until it stops. 
Release the slide stop and ease the slide and barrel assembly forward, off the receiver. 
Push in the exposed end of the locking block pin to separate the barrel from the slide. The 
locking lug is retained by a steel spring clip, and comes out against slight resistance. For 
re-assembly, reverse the process, making sure that both the ejector and the firing pin 
block lifter are down when the slide rides over them. P1 can be assembled and fired 
without the locking block in place. Doing so will ruin the gun, although serious injury to 
the user is unlikely.
The magazines are well made from thick sheet steel. They hold eight rounds each. Due to 
the heel release and single-stack construction, reloading is relatively slow. In an 
emergency, the magazine can be unlocked by pressing the release latch against any 
convenient hard surface, but in ordinary use, both hands are required for a reload. In 
military, that is acceptable, as heel release is slightly less susceptible to  accidental 
dropping of a loaded magazine. For civilian self-defense use, this may be a slight 
disadvantage.
Walther P1 is a competent self-defense weapon. Its relatively tame performance in terms 
of chambering and magazine capacity for the size and weight are offset by the low recoil 
and great reliability. Unfortunately, the inability to use anything other than ball 
ammunition is a serious drawback. Further, the selection of carry holsters for it is limited 
to Uncle Mike's,  Shooting Systems and Umarex  nylon  or cordura models.