[Duncan 223]

Why was the P38 designed for only 8 round mags??

Sure, the double-action is nice, but the HiPower P35 held 13 rounds - why didn't the Walther designers pursue a staggered stack for the 9x19??

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[MGMike]

Eight rounds was thought to be adequate, and for all except those with vivid imaginations, it probably is.

It should be remembered that John Browning did not design the 13-round magazine for the HP; he believed it would not be reliable. Dieudonne Saive at FN proved him wrong, but even so John Inglis later encountered many problems trying to produce a similarly reliable magazine in Canada during the war. No such problems attend single-column mags, and they last longer.

 

[Que]

Exactly, I'm sure that they didn't see the double stack as reliable enough for a military pistol, and eight plenty adequate, and one more than a 1911, and equal to the Luger.