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A few weeks ago I picked up a 1973 P38 chambered in 7,65 mm Parabellum or .30 Luger. According to Dieter's book only around 5000 P38's were made in this caliber. Its got an Interarms import logo on the right side of the slide. I doubt that many were imported into the US.
Its previous owner got some use out of it. The finish on the frame has the usual wear from cycling the slide and rotating the disassembly lever. There are also a few spots of light corrosion on the right side of the slide (which I assume came from the blood of the high ranking nazi officer it was taken off of
). It came with two 7,65 mm marked magazines but nothing else. I replaced the plastic grips with some wooden ones and installed a set of Von Stavenhagen sights.
Today I finally got to shoot it. I brought fifty rounds each of Fiocchi and Prvi Partizan, both in 93gr FMJ. After reading MG Mike's post about his experience with these brands I was eager to see how my new toy would like them. The Fiocchi was first. Recoil was mild and noticeably lighter than 9mm. I didn't keep track of all the malfunctions but there were probably twelve to fifteen failures to eject. The open top of the P38 slide was a big help in clearing these. I also had several failures to feed but I suspect that may have been a magazine problem.
Next was the Prvi Partizan. Fifty rounds, no malfunctions ! Recoil was a little heavier. I used both magazines but by this point was only loading six rounds into them and had no feeding problems. Accuracy at seven yards was the same as my other P38's. Next time I'll try it at 50'. I'm very pleased with this addition to my collection.
Its previous owner got some use out of it. The finish on the frame has the usual wear from cycling the slide and rotating the disassembly lever. There are also a few spots of light corrosion on the right side of the slide (which I assume came from the blood of the high ranking nazi officer it was taken off of
). It came with two 7,65 mm marked magazines but nothing else. I replaced the plastic grips with some wooden ones and installed a set of Von Stavenhagen sights. Today I finally got to shoot it. I brought fifty rounds each of Fiocchi and Prvi Partizan, both in 93gr FMJ. After reading MG Mike's post about his experience with these brands I was eager to see how my new toy would like them. The Fiocchi was first. Recoil was mild and noticeably lighter than 9mm. I didn't keep track of all the malfunctions but there were probably twelve to fifteen failures to eject. The open top of the P38 slide was a big help in clearing these. I also had several failures to feed but I suspect that may have been a magazine problem.
Next was the Prvi Partizan. Fifty rounds, no malfunctions ! Recoil was a little heavier. I used both magazines but by this point was only loading six rounds into them and had no feeding problems. Accuracy at seven yards was the same as my other P38's. Next time I'll try it at 50'. I'm very pleased with this addition to my collection.
