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[MLB]

Great pictures!. Enjoy.

[AoxoMoxoA]

Originally Posted by GreyCoupe

OK now, get ya a box of range pills and take the new off of that one!!

Took care of that post-haste! Already have a couple-hundred rounds through her with no issues. I'll try to keep it as scratch-free as possible, as with all my guns, but it will be used...

I've shot quite a variety of handguns, some very good, some, middle of the road and some just plain bad - but this has got to be one of the most accurate pistols ever made... Ever... By anyone... It's amazing how tight it shoots.

Can't wait to get to the range this weekend.

[searcher451]

Originally Posted by AoxoMoxoA

I've shot quite a variety of handguns, some very good, some, middle of the road and some just plain bad - but this has got to be one of the most accurate pistols ever made... Ever... By anyone... It's amazing how tight it shoots.

Agreed. If I was stuck on a desert island with but one pistol to shoot (unlimited ammo, of course), it would be the P5, hands-down. Just think of all the coconuts that could be blasted into oblivion.

[Piexcel]

That's an interesting serial number!

--Piexcel

[MGMike]

Years ago I developed an interest in the human side of gun design. The designer of the P5, I learned, was a Walther engineer named Volkmar. He was assisted by a younger engineer, Walter Ludwig. Their design for the safety/decocker/slide release was unique, and was patented in Germany and the USA. I have a copy of the patent somewhere, not readily at hand, but those interested in the patent could probably run it down on the PTO website.

Volkmar and Ludwig reportedly did not get along very well. Volkmar eventually retired, while Ludwig went on to work on the P5C project, and later on the ill-starred P88. When the nearly-bankrupt Walther was taken over by its creditors, Ludwig was let go. The then-Managing Director of Walther (a former Heinkel executive appointed by the banks) said he didn't need designers, he could buy any design he wanted...). Ludwig went on to SIG and worked on other designs there before he too retired.

In my own comparative testing, I was very surprised to find that the P5C --though shorter and lighter-- performed even better than the P5, being faster on the recovery after firing, with less muzzle whip. I remain sentimentally very fond of the P5, and still regard it as the best and most satisfying gun, overall, that Walther ever made.

A final idiotic note: when the last remaining inventory of P5s was closed out in the mid-1990s, they could be bought for $440, NIB.

M

[AoxoMoxoA]

Originally Posted by MGMike

...Ludwig went on to work on the P5C project, and later on the ill-starred P88...

I remain sentimentally very fond of the P5, and still regard it as the best and most satisfying gun, overall, that Walther ever made.

MGMike,

I can't imagine a pistol shooting much better than the P5, but if you know, how does the P5 compare to the P88? I haven't seen or fired a P88, but it does appear to be a fine pistol in its own right. The ones I've seen for sale online have commanded a 33+% higher price for the most part...

[MGMike]

Originally Posted by AoxoMoxoA

MGMike,

I can't imagine a pistol shooting much better than the P5, but if you know, how does the P5 compare to the P88? I haven't seen or fired a P88, but it does appear to be a fine pistol in its own right. The ones I've seen for sale online have commanded a 33+% higher price for the most part...

It's all very subjective. If you really want to know, swallow the 33+% premium and try it for yourself.

The biggest problem with P88s was durability, a problem not shared by P5s. Satisfaction, I would suggest, is a longer term proposition.

M