Any gun nuts here? I need to find an answer.

[tech3149]

My Dad has a Walther P-38 WWII vintage. We took it out last week for some target practice. All the old ammo worked well(at least 30y/o), but the newer ammo would jam in the clip and not load the chamber. Are there variations of shells that would cause a problem? All the ammo worked fine in my sisters Glock. I didn't see any damage to the clip, but the shells were getting hung up at the rim. Consideringthe historica value of the gun, I don't want to screw things up by doing any modifications, but I think I'd like to have a reliable gun when needed.
TIA

[Wonk]

1. Try the gungeon instead of GD

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=118

[951]

2. Ouch! I was thinking "The DU Lounge"

[Worst Username Ever]

3. Not sure, but firing 30 year old ammo is DANG_ER_OUS!

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. Possible that the newer ammo is jamming in the feed ramp.

Especially if the newer ammo is hollow-point. Older military sidearms are designed for what's called "ball" (ie, round-nose) ammunition, and using anything else can cause them to jam unless the weapon is disassembled and the feed ramp is polished to smooth it, allowing hollow-point ammo to feed properly. Colt 1911's have this problem; Walthers probably, too, it sounds like. Take the weapon to a competent gunsmith and he should be able to fix this problem.

[tech3149]

7. New ammo was hollow point

but the bind was definitely on the rim. I've torn the gun down a few times, but never polished the feed ramp. There's no noticeable damage or wear even under magnification. The gun seems to have a pretty good resale value, so I'd like to avoid any un-needed damage. If I sold it, I could probably buy 3 equal sidearms.

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. So it's jamming in the clip?

Could be that the diametre of the cartridge is just a few thousandths out of spec to feed properly. You might try getting a couple of repro clips of differing manufacture and seeing if one of them works. And if the case jams in the breech and doesn't clear after a round is fired, you might want to polish the rim of the ejection port.

Also, you might try looking at a few firearms message boards, looking for Walther owners. Find out what they shoot in their weapons. Odds are if the same ammo is popular among many who own this pistol, it will work for you.

[Trajan]

5. A few GU nuts here, indeed ...

Even fewer liberal gun nuts ....

[JeebusB]

6. All the above is correct

You might also try different brands and different bullet weights. Some pistols are just finicky about things like that.

[marano]

9. Sounds like an extractor problem.

Clean thoroughly around the extractor.

[EDT]

10. That gun was designed well before Hollowpoint ammo was invented

Hollowpoint ammo requires a much more forgiving feed ramp and precise timing to feed without jamming.

Modern guns may take this into account, but older designs were made for round nosed, full metal jacket ammo.

Also- most US made 9mm is a bit less powerful than European 9mm, and some semiauto guns are sensitive to this, jamming a bit more readily if you hold the gun with a "limp" hold, instead of firmly holding the gun out in front of you.

I'd stick with FMJ for that gun. It's a great gun, but made well before modern hollowpoints.

[LibLabUK]

11. Hmm..

Gotta love a thread asking advice on Nazi memorabilia.

Something chilling about people talking about the historical significance of a Nazi officer's sidearm... who knows whose temple that has been pressed up against.

[EDT]

12. Far more chilling, and in the current timeframe-

I've heard there are some countries in the world where honest, law abiding citizens have had their right to own guns crushed down with
an iron fist, and been judged criminals, unfit to be trusted with
that right.

Fortunately in the US, even very Liberal politicians recognize this importance, and do not lobby for outright gun bans for honest citizens.

[-..__...]

13. That's quite an imagination you have.

P-38... ammo jamming... Nazis... executions.

Please explain how you came to this conclusion.

[Wonk]

14. Google is your friend

http://www.google.com/search?q=walther+p38+wehrmacht

http://www.olive-drab.com/od_other_firearms_pistol_p38.php

(snip)

The Luger was an aging design as Germany began preparations for war in the 1930s. In the mid-1930s, the Wehrmacht requested Carl Walther Waffenfabrik and other companies to develop a new military pistol, a more modern approach that would be cheaper to mass produce for the coming war. Walther had already been working on such pistols, in particular the Armee Pistole (or AP) and the Heeres Pistole (or HP) that were quite similar to the forthcoming P38. In 1938 the Wehrmacht accepted Walther's work and adopted the new design as "Pistole 38". Military production began the next year, issued first to elite Panzer crews.

[-..__...]

17. And.....?

:shrug:


Do you know what the "Wehrmacht" is?

[slackmaster]

16. It's called spoils of war

We helped kick Nazi Germany's ass. Keeping a defeated enemy's weapons as trophies is a long tradition.

[AMD_CPU]

18. Care to wager how that gun came to the US?

I'd bet it was taken off of either a captured or dead enemy officer.

Some folks collect communist guns, like the Mosin-Nagant. Does that mean they're secretly communists?

[LibLabUK]

19. Actually...

" Does that mean they're secretly communists?"

I wasn't inferring the owner of the pistol was a Nazi.

I was commenting more on the ghoulish nature of owning such a weapon.

[slackmaster]

15. It's designed for full metal jacket a.k.a. "ball" ammunition

If you want a reliable gun for self-defense I would advise mothballing the P-38 and buying something new.

Guns can be very finnicky. Your P-38 may work well with some ball ammo and not others. I have a semiautomatic handgun that reliably shoots one brand of factory ammunition and reliably jams with all other kinds. Using precision measuring tools I determined that the brand that gun likes uses bullets a fraction of a thousandth of an inch smaller than the others.

OTOH getting your P-38 worked on might not be bad. I have one similar to yours made in 1944. It's had a ramp-and-throat job done by an expert pistol smith, and feeds everything reliably. If you are concerned about preserving it as-is for historical value I recommend cleaning it thoroughly, coating all the metal parts with rust preventative grease, and putting it in mothballs. (Not literally mothballs, but a well-sealed container with some silica gel to keep it dry.