The fixed sights are a simple front post and rear U-shaped notch, but they work well enough. Despite the success of the Smart Shot ammo, I used standard Umarex steel BBs for the bulk of my testing. That‘s not always the case with some BB guns though, so it’s always a good idea to make sure you have some recommended ammo on hand as well. I don’t normally waver from the manufacturer’s recommendation when it comes to ammo, but one of our Belgian readers recently contacted me to ask whether H&N’s Smart Shot Excite copper-coated lead BBs would work in this gun, and I can confirm that they cycle flawlessly. Umarex suggests shooting nothing but steel BBs. When you’re ready to shoot, you can cock the P38 by thumbing back the hammer, or if you really want to you can rack and release the slide, which ends up doing the same thing. This way all 20 BBs will be stacked up securely. The fix is simple though – pinch your fingers over both sides of the hole and then release the follower. The next thing would naturally be to release the follower, but if you do this up to three BBs will fall out the top of the mag because there won’t initially be enough spring tension to hold the whole stack in place. With the follower secured, up to 20 BBs can now be inserted through the hole in the top of the magazine, blocking it with a finger from the other side so the BBs drop down inside the mag rather than fall straight out the back. When loading the magazine, the spring-loaded follower can be pulled down and secured in a gate, which is great as it means you don’t need to maintain constant finger pressure, which can be both fiddly and tiring. In order to do this you’ll need to hold the hammer open with your thumb, ensure the safety is set to “F” then gently guide the hammer back to its resting, uncocked state while squeezing the trigger. The P38 can be dry-fired with a CO2 gas capsule inserted but no magazine in place, and can also be decocked. It can be applied before the gun has been cocked or after, in which case it will prevent the return of the hammer.
#WALTHER P1 DURABILITY FULL#
The safety catch locks the slide and blocks the full range of travel of the trigger. Umarex has managed to include an integrated piercing screw, which is very useful as it means you need no extra tools to prep the P38 for shooting, and the screw has a folding handle so it’s invisible when the grip has been put back in place.
There are two little locator tabs at the top of the grip, so take care not to snap these off when removing or refitting the part. My son is left-handed and reported no problems with the feel, function, firing cycle or fun factor of this gun.Ī 12 gram CO2 capsule is housed inside the grip, and to access this area you need to pop off the left-hand grip. 38 came from an era when left-handed shooters were largely ignored, and Umarex has correctly carried over the 1938 design, with the safety catch being located only on the left-hand side of the gun and a thumb groove being added to the left-hand grip, both features assisting right-handed shooters. 38s were fitted with metal or Bakelite grips, so despite the change in naming, Umarex’s version resembles a wartime gun, borne out by the box art, which features a black and white photo of a German Heer soldier equipped with a P. 38 also differed in losing the dot and space between the letter and numbers, now just known as the P38. 38s were made of blued steel, but post-war variants had a parkerised finish, giving them an ultra-matt and almost grainy texture. While it would have been great to have seen the metalwork given a blued finish, the black finish on the CO2 variant is smooth and evenly applied. Some small details are missing, however, such as the “S” (Sicher/Safe) and “F” (Feur/Fire) lettering underneath the safety catch, which should be white and red respectively, while the letters are just the same overall black as the rest of the gun. Umarex’s P38 is a well-balanced and good-looking pistol, and just like the 9x19mm Parabellum-firing original is of metal construction.Īs might be expected from Umarex, this BB-firing replica has a nice level of detail, such as the lanyard loop and ersatz grip screw. 38 was made for the German armed forces during the war years, but production continued after the Second World War, first for the French, then for West German and South African military and police forces, who used the P38 and its later P1 and P4 variants.