People's pistol
| People's pistol | |
|---|---|
| general information | |
| Military designation: | People's pistol |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Carl Walther GmbH |
| Development year: | 1944 |
| Manufacturer country: | Germany |
| Production time: | 1945 |
| Weapon Category: | gun |
| Furnishing | |
| Overall length: | 215 mm |
| Weight: (unloaded) | 1.088 kg |
| Barrel length : | 128 mm |
| Technical specifications | |
| Caliber : | 9 × 19mm Parabellum |
| Ammunition supply : | With stacking magazine of 8 shots each |
| Lists on the subject | |
Volkspistole is the name of a weapons procurement program of the NSDAP and the SS for a semi-automatic pistol from around 1944/45. Ultimately, a model was selected that was designed by the Walther company . She should u in the last days of the Second World War. a. issued to the Volkssturm , but was no longer produced in significant numbers.
history
The Mauser company presented two designs for people's pistols under the names “Device 25” and “Device 26”, which differed only in their breeches. They were rejected, as was the weapon later presented as “Device 40” and the samples from ERMA and the Gustloff and Steyr works . The Walther company had first submitted a model in sheet metal stamping technology that looked very similar to the Colt M1911 and was rejected as was a similar second sample. Only the third model with a single-action trigger was approved by the SS ; the Army Weapons Office was no longer involved. The accepted model was to be manufactured largely using sheet metal stamping, and externally corresponded to the Walther P.38 . The magazine of the P.38 could also be used.
SS-Standartenführer and Wehrwirtschaftsführer Erich Purucker sent Walther a production order, which was only accepted by the Walther company on January 4, 1945. Production began on February 12, 1945, and the first weapons should be delivered on March 30. Zella-Mehlis , the headquarters of Walther, was occupied by units of the 90th US Infantry Division on April 7th . Therefore, only a few of these weapons have left the factory.
Web links
- The Walther Volkspistole on www.forgottenweapons.com (Engl.)
- Walther Volkspistole on YouTube