Anybody else like the P-38s?

[jar]

Here's my old ('41) P-38. It's amazing how popular you become when you bring this out at a range.

http://www.fototime.com/BF3BF28E1215E09/standard.jpg

[dirtshooter]

Sharp looking pistol! I've been thinking about getting one but haven't gotten a 'round to it.

Do they handle full power +P? Is there any quirk I have to worry about?

[hkshooter]

I have one as does my father. His came from his father out of WWII. If only it could talk. I like the P-38 for it's connection to the war my grandfather was in and had to buy a K98 to go with it. It's a Yugo, "PREDUZE(sp?)44" gun that still has the waffenmants all over the place. If I new how, I would put up a picture of the P-38 here.

[Dryfire]

They are very good. There are a lot of P1's out now. As far as ammo goes, the European military loading for the 9mm is a lot hotter than the commercial stuff. The P38 types actually run better on the hotter ammo.

[DC]

I've always liked them too, just can't bring myself to paying the price for one when there are CZ75B's out there. They are cool.

My genius sperm provider had one I shot as a teenager. Pretty good bluing and all Nazi markings. It should have been. It was from his one and only gun trade. He traded an MP40 for it back in the late 50's or early 60's. Idiot.

[Dryfire]

Yea, I think the CZ75 is the best 9mm in the world. But I still think the current unissued P1's are worth the asking. You get Walther quality for a little investment. Traded an MP40 for a P38? Well, the only positive is you are now not breaking the law by owning it. The unregistered full auto stuff is still out there, but unless you live in a remote area, you can't really enjoy them anyway.

[marko16]

When looking at all matching German WW2 items what better deal is there? For 4-5 hundred you can get a piece of history. Work great and are durable.

[DC]

Originally posted by dryfire:
<STRONG>Yea, I think the CZ75 is the best 9mm in the world. But I still think the current unissued P1's are worth the asking. You get Walther quality for a little investment. Traded an MP40 for a P38? Well, the only positive is you are now not breaking the law by owning it. The unregistered full auto stuff is still out there, but unless you live in a remote area, you can't really enjoy them anyway.</STRONG>

actually it could have been registered and kept. It was a war trophy.

[LAFAL]

http://www.aviation-history.com/lockheed/p38-14.jpg
one of my favorites.........

[FAL guy]

Crap....I followed this link because I love that little can opener!!

[EmbassyMarine]

I like both kinds of P38...plane and pistol, but I like the pistol better because one saved my @ss one night. A guy pulled a knife on me, and I reached under a counter and pulled out a P38 the boss had stashed there and stuck in the knife man's face.
Once more, never bring a knife to a gun fight.!! ;) ;)

[Arby]

I like the old P-38s (WWII), but less so the P-1s. There is more plastic in the P-1s, and of course more alloy.

I find the P-38 a bit odd the way they shoot; the recoil torques the wrist a bit. In my experience they usually function flawlessly as long as there is a mag in the well. Otherwise, the ejector doesn't come into play. I think it is a fine pistol and a good shooter, if you practice with it. I find it has a lot different handling characteristics than most other autos. It is a marvel of engineering, given the period that it first came into widespread use. DO NOT use the safety to drop the hammer on a loaded chamber, though. Don't ask me how I know this is a bad idea.

I've got a byf 43 with holster and belt that my father brought back from France. I actually have a picture of him wearing it in theater. He had missed an enemy at virtual point-blank range with his .45 (as did another soldier that was at his side at the time). The German was on the run and popped out of nowhere (actually, out of a doorway a few feet from them). Although both were good pistol shots, they were scared to death at the time and under duress from MG rounds kicking up dust, mortar and brick around them.

Anyway, he dumped the .45 for the P-38. This particular P-38 has what appears to be the profile of a Native American scratched on each of the bakelite grips. I asked him what he thought of them, and whether or not he had taken the pistol from a living or dead enemy. He couldn't remember where he picked it up (he had another one that was in a barracks bag stolen while he was in the hospital, and didn't remember a whole lot of where he picked up what). He had noticed the Indian heads, though. The Germans were alleged to have often referred to Americans as "Indianers", stemming from the western heritage and movies. I presume the former owner of that P-38 may have scratched the figures on the grips as a way of "notching" his pistol. I hope not. If THAT pistol could talk, history would come alive.

OT: another souvenier of his I found when I was a kid was an oil-stained scarf with an aluminum deaths-head pin on it. I asked him about it. He told me he had crawled into a knocked-out tank and taken it off the dead driver (he said it was from an SS tanker). "I wore it all over France", he told me. As a child, I wondered if there was some macho significance to wearing a dead man's scarf. So I asked him: "Why did you wear it?". "Because I was cold", he gently responded. As a kid, the thought that he was so often cold hadn't occurred to me.

So much for war stories of an earlier generation.

[marko16]

Had a near mint BYF43 that I sold to buy a not so mint BYF43 and am very happy with the not so mint. The better one was buffed by someone and I just had to have a more original one. I like that this one is rough and has all the mill marks. As far as accuracy I watched this guy shoot his 1911 at 50 yds, that I couldn't do at 10yds with any pistol. I'm really not a pistol guy so I wonder how well a P38 can shoot--with the right ammo and shooter of course.

[tigerfans2]

Originally posted by newFALguy:
<STRONG>Crap....I followed this link because I love that little can opener!!</STRONG>

;)
I have a couple of those around somewhere! I'd like to have a P-38 handgun too but... waiting for the 03A3 to hit the credit card, waiting for the K31 to arrive. Looking at another FAL kit........

[kc8kk]

here's a bit of trivia- Does U.N.C.L.E know you didn't turn in your weapon?

[EmbassyMarine]

ARBY: it is a major good fortune that your father did not get captured with that P=38
It was not uncommon for Germans or Japs to kill on the spot anyone who had material that they took from the enemy.

[Arby]

Originally posted by EmbassyMarine:
<STRONG>ARBY: it is a major good fortune that your father did not get captured with that P=38
It was not uncommon for Germans or Japs to kill on the spot anyone who had material that they took from the enemy.</STRONG>


Oddly enough, I don't think he cared at the time. He told one of his men whom I met for the first time a few years ago, that this guy shouldn't carry around a Luger that came into his possession, as the Germans would kill him if they caught him with it. But he carried the P-38, himself, as a sidearm. Interesting double-standard!

Personally, I much prefer the 1911 to the P-38. But I haven't had his experiences in actually using either one.

[EMDII]

Originally posted by LAFAL:
<STRONG> http://www.aviation-history.com/lockheed/p38-14.jpg
one of my favorites.........</STRONG>

Mine too! (just HAD to copy that pic!)

The P-38 pistol is a fine piece of engineering. Now seen most often as a Beretta M9, I think it is too complicated for a combat pistol. It is a fine Police pistol, just as-is the Beretta.

[ April 05, 2002: Message edited by: EMDII ]

[Wadman]

The P-38 as well as a shooter grade Luger in 9mm are both on my must-own-someday list. As far as warplanes though, the Brewster Buffalo has a special place in my heart. Doesn't anyone else like the Buffalo?

http://www.danford.net/buff2f1.jpg

[Arby]

Originally posted by Wadman:
<STRONG>Doesn't anyone else like the Buffalo?

[/IMG]</STRONG>


I think the Japanese loved them. Especially when they encountered them at Midway. A sad day for many of the Brewster pilots that sought to blunt the Japanese attack.