Genuine Dutch police P5

[DennisV]

The Dutch police is using the Walther P5 as fire-arm since the early 80's. However, at this moment the police are changing over to a new pistol as the old Walthers do not meet up anymore with todays requirements. Around 50,000 P5s are in service with the Dutch police and they will probably all go to the shredder after they are being replaced by the new pistol. The biggest order of Dutch police guns was done in the serial range 50,000-100,000 and the serial numbers of the Dutch police start with a prefix letter "N". Below you can see pictures of my Dutch police pistol with serial number N 085068. Only a few Dutch police pistols are in hands of private collectors and that makes this pistol for collectors one of the rarest P5 variations. This pistol was delivered to the police of the city of "Wassenaar" in March 1984. Unfortunately the service history after this date is unknown.
The prefix letter "N" is only found on Dutch police pistols and therefore these pistols can be easily recognized by this feature.


Dutch police guns were adapted in a few ways to accomodate the Dutch reguirements. First, the dutch LE agencies used Hogue grips. Ordinary hogue grips have an encircled "Hogue" logo. Dutch P5's have the Dutch police "Flame" logo instead of the hogue logo.


The pistol is stamped with ID on the right side of the frame and this code indicates that the pistol was manufactured in 1983 and has the same design features as a commercial 4th variation P5.


Another feature found on Dutch P5s is the adapted drop safety. This is visible from the outside by a small hole that was drilled in the top of the slide. Under this hole is a small spring that presses the firing pin down. The firing pin is raised when the trigger is pulled. This additional spring increases the trigger pull noticeable.

[searcher451]

Dennis: That's an incredibly detailed report, and a great-looking pistol besides. Thanks for filling us on. We poor folk on the opposite side of the pond never would have gotten to see the Dutch version of the P5 otherwise. Well done. And ... congratulations on a fine score.

[MGMike]

Dennis, that is an OUTSTANDING post. Terrific information.

Looks to me like the Dutch police equivalent of the Glock "NYPD" trigger.

M

[TANFOGLIO]

German Police RLP have the same modified Safety on the last used P5
Fine Pistol DennisV

[DennisV]

Thanks guys! I'm glad that I can share this variation with you. Tanfoglio, I was not aware that other police forces are/were also using these adapted drop safeties! Thanks for the additional information. Do you know the serial numbers of the P5 pistols used by the police of Rheinlandpfalz? I'm very happy that die Deutsche Regierung will sell firearms to the civilian market!.

[searcher451]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd sure love to have one of these puppies tucked away in the safe here in beautiful downtown Oregon. That's a fabulous looking pistol and a most interesting variation. Thanks again for sharing it with us, Dennis. Bravo.

[MGMike]

The additional plunger is purely redundant, so I think it has more to do with increasing trigger pull weight than with "drop safety"... but I may well be wrong.

If it were REALLY necessary, it would have been incorporated in the P5C. But it
was merely "offered".

In any event the Dutch authorities' statement that the surplus guns were in bad shape is dubious on its face. Why should their guns be any worse than the typical German police surplus of the same era? Walther was contractually obligated to supply spare parts until quite recently. My instinct is that the Dutch officials who claim the guns are worn out anyway are trying to CTA about their failure to realize the monetary savings that would result from trading them in rather than shredding them. Thank you, EU: You are such a bunch of south ends of the alimentary canal.

M

[DennisV]

I think the plunger serves two purposes. 1- The firing pin is forced downwards by the spring, so upon dropping it is less likely that the firing pin gets in the upward firing position. 2- This safety implies that more force (trigger pull) is necessary to overcome the drop safety.

I agree that the Dutch politicians should take the opportunity to generate funds by surplussing these pistols. However I have seen many of those guns and most of them are indeed in a very bad shape due to the heavy A3/Action effect or NP ammo. Many barrels and frames broke because of the ammo. I also saw the police stock of P5 replacement parts (salvaged from broken P5's) and what I observed was that the secundary parts present in lowest amounts were trigger bars, firing pins and slide catches , indicating that these were used the most for replacements. These 3 parts are the main parts that break after intensive use. I also noticed few broken locking blocks and hammer struts.

Best regards,
Dennis

[MGMike]

Dennis: With the pistol at rest, or even with the hammer cocked, the firing pin is already forced down into the "safe" (i.e., locked and shielded) position by the primary spring inside the firing pin "block". Except maybe under some really extreme condition, or if the primary spring breaks, it is difficult to see what is accomplished by adding a secondary spring except to increase the trigger pull --which may or may not have been intended.

Whether the benefit is worth degrading the fine trigger pull is a different matter. Typically these kinds of modifications snowball out of some isolated incident of accidental discharge in a police station, which the bureaucrats insist must never happen again (and which probably never would, anyway).

I take your point about many of the P5s being in bad shape. Any time police or military replace a large quantity of arms, there is bound to be a wide range of condition, with some fit only for scrapping. I don't think I have ever seen a group of guns in worse overall condition than the British-contract PP .22 pistols --most of them were just beat to hell-- but among them was, inevitably, a sprinkling of guns that were like new.

M

[searcher451]

Hey, Dennis, a fast question: Can you advise as to the specs for the ammo that the Dutch Police were using in these pistols? There might be a lesson in there somewhere. Thanks in advance.