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    Legacy Member A34's Avatar
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    Safe ammo for P-38 Walther?

    Hey Guys,

    Is it safe to shoot modern 9mm ammo in a P-38 Walther? I read somewhere that it has higher pressures than WWII ammo.

    Thanks!

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    Advisory Panel Brian Dick's Avatar
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    Sure, as long as it isn't +P. The WW2 ammo was designed for SMGs and is much hotter.

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    Quote Originally Posted by A34 View Post
    modern 9mm ammo in a P-38 Walther
    Like Brian says, just use normal pressure white box ammo and nothing high vel or +P. I used to load a 150 Gr RN lead bullet and three grains of Bullseye. It was very positive and accurate.
    Regards, Jim

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    The P38 was designed to use the parabellum round. The parabellum round is a 124gr round nose fmj loaded to 1150fps. The high powered 9mm round for submachine guns was known to regularly damage P38's.

    Modern high velocity Law Enforcement ammo should be avoided. Never use +P or worse +P+ or NATO ammo. Heavier bullets are not recommended and should be used with caution as the wartime P38 slides are prone to cracking at the bridge foward of the ejection port. The toggle block is also known to crack with excess recoil. Recoil springs should also be replaced with a fresh set of standard weight springs as 80 year old originals may no longer have the proper resistance.

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    If your going to shoot one of these war trophies, please keep in mind they are at least 75 years old. I would put a fresh set of springs in the gun before shooting them.

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