Walther Guru

About Walther

The Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen, or simply the Walther, is a German firearms manufacturer. Even for more than 100 years, the Walther has achieved major breakthroughs in the development and design of pistols. Some of them are really iconic in the gun world, for instance the PPK model or the P99. Both of these pistols carried by the fictional character James Bond and the P38, the standard-issue sidearm of the German military during the World War II.

This company was founded by Carl Walther in Zella-Mehlis, in what was then Hesse but is today Thuringia in 1886. The Walther originally produced hunting and also target rifles. Under the initiative of Fritz Walther, who was the oldest son of Carl Walther, they began to make pistols and it was not until 1908. Models 1, 5, 7 and 9 were chambered with 6.35 and 7.65 ammunition. The Walther's first attempt was model 6 at a 9mm Luger ammunition. It used blowback rather than a locked breech and also proved unsuccessful, with only around 1,000 made. Rarity of its design has made it highly sought after on the collectors market.

They began to make the popular police pistols or PP models in 1929. In 1931 it was followed by the first of the PPK's Police Pistol Detective Model. Both the PP and the PPK's were produced in .22 Long Rifle, .32 ACP calibers what is now the most common caliber, .380 ACP and a very small number in .25 ACP caliber. The PP models were absolutely the first mass-produced pistols with stamped parts, however the overall increase in dependability and also high quality of production even with lower relative manufacturing costs made them the best option to replace the P-08 Luger ammunition.

Its factory was destroyed by the World War II and Zella-Mehlis in Soviet-occupied East Germany, the Walther was reduced to just a collection of patents and designs. However Fritz Walther started manufacturing in Ulm, West Germany in 1953. The year 1957 was the year in which the P38 went into production again, this time as P7, in order to equip the new West German Army. After the death of Fritz Walther, the company was taken over by his Son. The brand was acquired in 1993 by Umarex of Arnsberg and the production continues under the name Walther up to this day.