Walther
Encyclopedia
Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen or Walther is a German
arms
manufacturer. For more than 100 years, Walther made major breakthroughs in the development of pistol
s. Some are legendary, like the PPK
and the P99
– both pistols carried by the fictional character James Bond
– and the P38, the standard-issue sidearm of the German military in World War II.
Pronounce Walther: 'Val' as in Valley - then 'ter' as in Walter.
in Zella-Mehlis
, Hesse but today Thuringia
. The company originally manufactured hunting and target rifles. It was not until 1908 that, under the initiative of Fritz Walther, the oldest son of Carl Walther, they began to make pistols. Models 1 through 5 and 7 through 9 were in calibers 6.35 and 7.65. The Model 6 was Walther's first attempt at a 9mm Luger pistol. It used blowback rather than a locked breech and proved unsuccessful, with only around 1,000 made. Its rarity has made it highly sought after on the collectors market. In 1929 they began to make the popular "police pistols" or PP models. This was followed in 1931 by the first of the PPKs (Polizeipistole, Kriminalmodell). Both PP and PPK's were manufactured in .22 Long Rifle, .32 ACP (the most common caliber), .380 ACP and a very small amount in .25 ACP. The PP models were the first mass produced pistols with stamped parts, but the high quality of production made them a favorite to replace the P-08 Luger. In 1938 the German Reich awarded the contract for that replacement to Walther for the 9mm P38
with a weight of 960 g.
From 1942 until 1945, the company used slave labour of the Neuengamme concentration camp with an own factory at the camp.
After World War II
, Walther was reduced to just a collection of designs and patents. But Fritz Walther started anew and began manufacturing in Ulm
in southern Germany. The company resumed production of the P38 (renamed as the P1) in 1957 in order to equip the new West German Army, the Bundeswehr
, with sidearms. When Fritz Walther died in December 1966, his son, Karl-Heinz, took over the company, which then concentrated on the sports sector and the introduction of new technologies. In 1993 the Walther firm was acquired by Umarex
of Arnsberg
, who continued to manufacture under the Walther name in Ulm and Arnsberg.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
arms
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
manufacturer. For more than 100 years, Walther made major breakthroughs in the development of pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
s. Some are legendary, like the PPK
Walther PPK
The Walther PP series pistols are blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols.They feature an exposed hammer, a double-action trigger mechanism, a single-column magazine, and a fixed barrel which also acts as the guide rod for the recoil spring...
and the P99
Walther P99
The Walther P99 is a semi-automatic pistol developed by the German company Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm for law enforcement, security forces and the civilian shooting market as a replacement for the Walther P5 and the P88...
– both pistols carried by the fictional character James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
– and the P38, the standard-issue sidearm of the German military in World War II.
Pronunciation of the name Walther
In German, w sounds like /v/ and th sounds like /t/. However, it is common for English speakers not familiar with German phonology to pronounce the w and th in the usual English manner. (As for the -er ending, both German and English have several typical variations, depending on the speaker's regional accent.)Pronounce Walther: 'Val' as in Valley - then 'ter' as in Walter.
History
The firm was founded in 1886 by Carl WaltherCarl Walther
Carl William Freund Walther was a German gunsmith from Zella-Mehlis, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who founded the firm of Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen, generally known as Walther, in 1886....
in Zella-Mehlis
Zella-Mehlis
Zella-Mehlis is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated in the Thuringian Forest, 5 km north of Suhl, and 20 km east of Meiningen. The town of Zella-Mehlis is the site of the original Walther arms weapons factory. It remained there until the...
, Hesse but today Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
. The company originally manufactured hunting and target rifles. It was not until 1908 that, under the initiative of Fritz Walther, the oldest son of Carl Walther, they began to make pistols. Models 1 through 5 and 7 through 9 were in calibers 6.35 and 7.65. The Model 6 was Walther's first attempt at a 9mm Luger pistol. It used blowback rather than a locked breech and proved unsuccessful, with only around 1,000 made. Its rarity has made it highly sought after on the collectors market. In 1929 they began to make the popular "police pistols" or PP models. This was followed in 1931 by the first of the PPKs (Polizeipistole, Kriminalmodell). Both PP and PPK's were manufactured in .22 Long Rifle, .32 ACP (the most common caliber), .380 ACP and a very small amount in .25 ACP. The PP models were the first mass produced pistols with stamped parts, but the high quality of production made them a favorite to replace the P-08 Luger. In 1938 the German Reich awarded the contract for that replacement to Walther for the 9mm P38
P38
P38 or P-38 may refer to:* Lockheed P-38 Lightning, a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed* p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases, a class of mitogen-activated protein kinases, two British Royal Navy ships...
with a weight of 960 g.
From 1942 until 1945, the company used slave labour of the Neuengamme concentration camp with an own factory at the camp.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Walther was reduced to just a collection of designs and patents. But Fritz Walther started anew and began manufacturing in Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
in southern Germany. The company resumed production of the P38 (renamed as the P1) in 1957 in order to equip the new West German Army, the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
, with sidearms. When Fritz Walther died in December 1966, his son, Karl-Heinz, took over the company, which then concentrated on the sports sector and the introduction of new technologies. In 1993 the Walther firm was acquired by Umarex
Umarex
Umarex Sportwaffen GmbH & Co. KG is a manufacturer of air guns , tear-gas and signal pistols, paintball markers under the RAM brand and airsoft guns, based in Arnsberg, Germany...
of Arnsberg
Arnsberg
Arnsberg is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg's administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hochsauerlandkreis.-Geography:...
, who continued to manufacture under the Walther name in Ulm and Arnsberg.
Sport
- Walther OSPWalther OSPThe Walther OSP is manufactured by Walther, it is a pistol chambered in the .22 Short caliber. The OSP was designed for the Olympic 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol event and became the perennial winner of the event....
- Walther GSPWalther GSPThe Walther GSP, Gebrauchs Sport Pistole , is a single-action, precision target shooting pistol made in Germany by Walther Sportwaffen...
- Walther GSP ExpertWalther GSPThe Walther GSP, Gebrauchs Sport Pistole , is a single-action, precision target shooting pistol made in Germany by Walther Sportwaffen...
- Walther SSPWalther SSPThe Walther SSP is a precision target shooting pistol made in Germany by Walther Sportwaffen. The SSP was created in response to ISSF rule changes to the 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol in 2005 which effectively rendered the Walther OSP obsolete...
- Walther OlympiaWalther OlympiaThe Walther Olympia was a handgun manufactured by Walther as an improvement on the earlier Walther Target Model. It was chambered for the .22 Long Rifle, and a few chambered for the .22 Short. It was produced to equip the German team for the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936 for the rapid fire events....
- Walther P22 TargetWalther P22The P22 is a semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen.Distribution in the United States is by Walther America, a joint venture with the Smith and Wesson Company.-Design details:...
- Walther SP22Walther SP22The SP22 is a modular semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Walther Sportwaffen and distributed by Smith and Wesson. The SP-22 is chambered in .22LR and is designed for sport and competition shooting. It is manufactured with a high-strength aluminum housing with all-steel internal components...
- Walther LP53
- Walther LP300
- Walther LP400
Defense
- Walther Model 5
- Walther Model 9Walther Model 9The Walther Model 9 was a semi-automatic pistol produced by Walther arms and chambered in .25 ACP.-References:**...
- Walther PP
- Walther P38
- Walther TPHWalther TPHThe Walther TP and TPH handguns are extremely compact double-action lightweight semiautomatic pistols in .22 Long Rifle and .25 ACP calibers.The TP was produced from 1961-1971 and the improved TPH has been produced continuously since 1968...
- Walther P1
- Walther P4
- Walther PP Super
- Walther P5/CompactWalther P5The Walther P5 is a 9mm semi-automatic pistol developed in the mid-1970s by the German small arms manufacturer Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen. It was designed with the German police forces in mind, who sought to replace existing 7.65mm pistols with a modern service sidearm incorporating enhanced...
- Walther P88/CompactWalther P88The Walther P88 was a semiautomatic pistol developed by the Walther company of Germany in 1988, hence the model name P88. Its main feature was a high-capacity double-stacked magazine designed for military and law enforcement use....
- Walther P99Walther P99The Walther P99 is a semi-automatic pistol developed by the German company Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm for law enforcement, security forces and the civilian shooting market as a replacement for the Walther P5 and the P88...
- Walther P22Walther P22The P22 is a semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen.Distribution in the United States is by Walther America, a joint venture with the Smith and Wesson Company.-Design details:...
- Walther PPSWalther PPSThe Walther PPS is a semi-automatic pistol developed by the German company Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm for concealed carry for civilians and plainclothes law enforcement personnel. It is available in either 9×19mm Parabellum or .40 S&W chamberings...
- Walther PK380Walther PK380The Walther PK380 is a semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen.Distribution in the United States is by Walther America, a joint venture with the Smith and Wesson Company.-Design details:...
- Walther PPQWalther PPQThe Walther PPQ is a semi-automatic pistol developed by the German company Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm for law enforcement, security forces and the civilian shooting market as a potential replacement for the Walther P99...
Match air rifles
- Walther LGV
- Walther LGRWalther LGRThe Walther LGR air rifle was developed by the German arms manufacturer Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen as a high end match rifle for 10 metre air rifle competition shooting. The LGR was the first match air rifle that employed the then futuristic single-stroke pneumatic method as power source...
- Walther LG90
- Walther LGM
- Walther LG200
- Walther LG210
- Walther LG300Walther LG300The Walther LG300 is an air rifle. Olympian Abhinav Bindra won the Gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics using a Walther LG300.TECHNICAL DATAMechanical system Precharged air rifleCaliber/Ammunition .177 cal...
- Walther LG400
External links
- Carl Walther, official German brand website.
- Walther U.S., official U.S. brand website.