Walther P5

Walther P5
general information
Civil name:	Walther P5
Country of operation:	Germany, Netherlands, Portugal
Developer / Manufacturer:	Carl Walther GmbH sporting arms
Manufacturer country:	Germany
Production time:	1979 to 1993
Model variants:	P5 / P5 Compact
Weapon Category:	gun
Furnishing
Overall length:	180/169 mm
Weight: (unloaded)	0.795 / 0.78 kg
Barrel length :	90 mm / 79 mm
Technical specifications
Caliber :	9mm Parabellum ; 7.65mm Parabellum ; 9 × 21mm IMI
Possible magazine fillings :	8 cartridges
Ammunition supply :	Bar magazine
Number of trains :	6th
Twist :	Right
Visor :	Rear sight and front sight
Charging principle:	Recoil loader
Lists on the subject

The Walther P5 is a self-loading pistol from the German gun manufacturer Walther .

History and Development

When the West German state police requested a new, more powerful service pistol in the 9 × 19 mm caliber in the mid-1970s , the manufacturers Walther (Ulm), SIG Sauer (Eckernförde), Heckler & Koch (Oberndorf) and Mauser (Oberndorf) began development a new generation of pistols, which were finally introduced as the P5 (Walther), P6 (SIG Sauer) and P7 (Heckler & Koch) police pistols . The HSP model presented by Mauser was ruled out in the first tests by the procurement offices.

technology

The P5 borrowed technically from the P38 , whose swivel bolt lock was taken over with a briefly sliding back barrel. However, the security systems have been completely revised. Instead of a manual backup, the P5 has four independent automatic backups. The pistol can be carried safely when it is ready to fire without the need to operate a safety lever before firing a shot. A special feature of the P5 is the combined slide catch and release lever, which is unique in its way for pistols. Another special feature is that the case is ejected to the left, in contrast to most self-loading pistols, which regularly eject the case to the right.

The P5 was offered in three versions and three different calibers (9 × 19 mm, 9 × 21 mm and 7.65 mm Parabellum):

The standard version P5
The P5L version with an extended barrel whose shape is reminiscent of that of the P38
The compact version P5 Compact with shortened barrel and slide. In contrast to the P5 and the P5L , the magazine locking for the weapons intended for the civilian market was carried out using a button on the side behind the trigger; at the request of the authorities, there is also a version with a magazine holder at the lower end of the grip.

Walther P5 long

In the meantime, none of the models are manufactured by Walther. The P5 (whose elaborate locking construction made the production of the weapon very expensive from the start) thus suffered the same fate as the P88, also from Walther, a short time later .

use

Although the P5's successful and functional design and high level of functional reliability were confirmed by experts, there was no great sales success within Germany. Only the police of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate procured the standard model in 9x19mm from 1979. Few criminal police departments in Baden-Württemberg also used the compact version at times. The P5 was more successful on the foreign market:

Dutch police
Portuguese Armed Forces
United Kingdom Armed Forces . In the UK, 3000 copies were introduced as the L102A1 pistol at the 14th Intelligence Company in Northern Ireland and other special forces. In the collector's market, these pistols are usually incorrectly assigned to the SAS today
Another official user was the US special unit "Detachment Alpha", which was set up in West Berlin during the Cold War as a unit for special tasks in the fight against terrorism and counter-espionage and was disbanded when the "Iron Curtain" fell.

literature

Chris McNab, Small arms of the 20th and 21st centuries , Neuer Kaiser Verlag, new edition from 2009

VISIER special issue German police pistols

Web links

Commons : Walther P5 - Collection of images, videos and audio files