I picked up a Walther P-38 which has a steel frame,
some how that the precious owner cobbled.
Does anyone know if this can be straightened?
Thanks
some how that the precious owner cobbled.
Does anyone know if this can be straightened?
Thanks
Straightening a Steel Frame
- Thread starter MI.264
- Start date
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Wow... that's really FUBAR'D. As a riflesmith I can't answer with certainty, but given the very tight tolerances between the slide and frame I suspect not- at least within any reasonable cost based on the time I expect it would take. Hopefully there's a pistol smith here that can comment.
Because it's a 1942 Original, and the fact of what I paid for it, I don't mind spending the money if I can find a smith to straighten the frame. To have this all operational to me would be to have a bice piece of history.
I have since in my research come across the American Pistolsmiths Guild: https://americanpistolsmithsguild.com, So I hope to find someone who can do this. either here, or from their list of Smiths.
What I had to do to fix this Walther P-38: The Safety Hammer Lowering lever was not the right part that was in there, and was pretty chewed up.
So I bought and installed the correct part.
The Sear had a chip out of it, which come to find out is a norm for these.
So a New Sear in as well, allowing it to cock fully back.
The bend in the frame I was able to get a lot of it out by running the magazine
catch between the inside of the frame handle, as it's the same size, and lightly tapped it with a soft dead blow hammer up the handle little by little.
Everything functions as it should.
Took it in the back yard 1 round in the first Mag, to make sure there were no issues, 2nd mag 4 rounds shot one after the other, all went great.
For a little over $215.00 total cost of gun and parts I have a fully operational Walther P-38 AC1942 Matched # Pistol. This is a wonderful piece, has a bit of a bark to her. But Wow.
So I bought and installed the correct part.
The Sear had a chip out of it, which come to find out is a norm for these.
So a New Sear in as well, allowing it to cock fully back.
The bend in the frame I was able to get a lot of it out by running the magazine
catch between the inside of the frame handle, as it's the same size, and lightly tapped it with a soft dead blow hammer up the handle little by little.
Everything functions as it should.
Took it in the back yard 1 round in the first Mag, to make sure there were no issues, 2nd mag 4 rounds shot one after the other, all went great.
For a little over $215.00 total cost of gun and parts I have a fully operational Walther P-38 AC1942 Matched # Pistol. This is a wonderful piece, has a bit of a bark to her. But Wow.
