Walther Model 4

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Here's a rather nice little pistol which came my way the other day. Its a 7.65mm Walther Model 4, second pattern - probably circa late 1917 or 1918.
The pistol has matching numbers to the frame and slide, these being the only parts which were ever numbered. In 1915, the German government gave Walther a contract to supply 250,000 of these pistols. Although rather small in calibre, they were much favoured by German officers over the much harder hitting Luger P08. Their simple design made them an ideal choice for trench warfare. They were straightforward to take apart, had few components, and were easy to keep clean.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Nice little pistol. You don't see these too often over here, so nice buy.

Cheers, Ade.

[Gunny Hartmann]

Great looking little pistol Steve, here's a film with a bit of info about 'em!...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yvHZ4PRCgw

[HARRY THE MOLE]

I think he must have read my post before he made the video!

[Gunny Hartmann]

I think he must have read my post before he made the video!

That's what i thought!.....

[lew07]

Cool. I think there are two or three variants of this model as well.

[guns ltd]

Very nice Pistol Steve.
Thanks for sharing this with us.


John

[harryamb2]

v/nice pistol Harry.

[lew07]

The Walthers are nice to try and collect.Starting with the model 1 (1908) through to model 9 (1921).Then of course PP,PPK,and P38.Do You have any of the others from 1-9? They are quite rare I see mostly model 9s more than anything

[HARRY THE MOLE]

The Walthers are nice to try and collect.Starting with the model 1 (1908) through to model 9 (1921).Then of course PP,PPK,and P38.Do You have any of the others from 1-9? They are quite rare I see mostly model 9s more than anything

No, the only one I have is this late pattern 2nd model from around 1917/18. Although I do have a Mauser Model 1914 from the Weimar period. I try to stick to WW1 period, although I have a Mk V Sten which sticks out from the rest like a sore thumb! The Sten was obtained recently purely to use at my book launch next month. Anyone who fails to buy a copy of the new book at the launch will get shot.

The Sten was often used by the IRA in the early 1970's when I was there - before they changed to more sophisticated weapons in the 1980's. Much of the weapons we found in searches were either of WW1 or WW2 vintage. The attached photographs are of some of our finds in early 1972 and will appear in my new book. Notice the Lee Enfield jungle carbine and the silenced Sten. The Sten was recovered from the boot of a car which had been used to ferry ANFO bombs (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil) shortly after an ambush on one of our patrols. The Bren and the two rifles were recovered from a wardrobe of a house in Andersonstown.