“Grey Ghost” - The French Occupation Production P38 Pistol

[@MickaHuber]

It was the classical french movie's gun until the 70's. An icon in the hands of Jean Gabin, Lino Ventura, Paul Meurice...

[@AshleyPomeroy]

It was the Man from UNCLE carbine as well, and Megatron. I think it popped up in The Professionals a couple of times as well.

[@jameljay2183]

Belmonde

[@methodeetrigueur1164]

Jean-Paul Belmondo.

[@bruhmomentum404]

megatron

[@ralfklonowski3740]

As a Bundeswehr conscript in the late 80s, the P38 was my service pistol

[@DruidTimer]

Back in the 1980's, I had a Manurhin P-38, still kick myself for selling it.

[@johnmc6155]

You were lucky Ralf. I'll bet you felt pretty safe carrying it ??

[@happyhaunter_5546]

Awesome bro, I love the P-38, very forward-thinking and is really the inspiration for the Beretta 92

[@ralfklonowski3740]

@@johnmc6155 I actully carried it while on guard duty at the gate, and I knew it was very reliable. Patrolling the barrack grounds at night, we would have our G3s. We trained pistol shooting, though, and I liked it so much that I did it as sport for a number of years after my discharge.

[@peabase]

It must've been an aluminium-frame P1 instead. I was issued one as well when I went to Kosovo, since our new Hi-Power DAs had issues. My British commander called it a toy gun -- till I showed him at the range what it could do.

[@novacat3032]

the confidence Ian puts on display at the end... that he will get his hands on an example of an 'only 500 of em made almost 80 years ago' gun... I do guess he already knows someone who got one

[@ForgottenWeapons]

I do...me. :)

[@av8bvma513]

@@ForgottenWeapons Alas! Poor Ian is a Pauper! He spends ALL his money on desirable weapons!

[@bjornnilsson1827]

​@@ForgottenWeaponsA That begs the question. Do any of us REALLY know ourselves?!? 😅

[@TomSherwood-z5l]

I once had a BYF 44 with all the German code and waffen markings you would expect except it did have the star on the slide to indicate it went through French hands at some point.

[@jmpetersrn]

Still have my 43, no French star.

[@darrellmerino]

it blows my mind that in a continental Europe awash in 100's of tons of "free" captured weapons that the French were compelled to make even more. Now I need to go off and find the 98k video. These are incredible variants that I never knew existed. Still something new to know! Thanks, Ian

[@FIUMan-tk4iz]

Ian, excellent video. I own an SVW45 (German) and a SVW45 (French). Others might be interested to know that Mauser used a shiny plastic grip that I believe was made from a petroleum product on some or all of their SVW45 production. This is in contrast to the early composite grips made from a material like Bakelite. The grip on the pistol in the video appears to be this shiny plastic grip that only seemed to appear on the SVW45 pistols. In the 1980s/90s when Interarms imported their batch of these pistols many pitched these original grips, assuming they were not correct/original and replaced them with what many thought these "should" have, the Bakelite grips. As well, I should mention that the steel grips have some sort of rubber like coating on them, perhaps a thick paint, that may have been applied to prevent the steel from stick to wet hands in freezing weather. Bottom line to fellow collectors is not to try to make your collectible firearms "correct" as chances are good you are actually destroying the original condition of the firearm.

[@Dominic1962]

Excellent point. I have a Zella-Mehlis .22 PPK. When I first got it, it had the rear sight painted red. I figured it was done here sometime after the war but, not being a fool, I left well enough alone figuring maybe it was some sort of commercial Walther thing. It looked well done if nothing else. Lo, and behold, I find out it’s a Reichsbank contract pistol and that red painted sight was done that way for them-plus the “ugly” green bottom magazine numbered to the gun on the green part. It simply pays to leave things alone if you are not 110% sure. I’m certainly glad I didn’t “fix” the gun and throughly ruin a very collectible pistol.

[@AllAboutSurvival]

It's incredible to think about the mix of German and French marks on these pistols, telling a story of transition and necessity.

[@dallesamllhals9161]

? ..yeah?

[@beavis6363]

Similar story about the first post war VW Beetles. Any and all war time parts were organized and utilized in assembly of the first post war vehicles for British occupation use. (not exactly the same story but a common thread)

[@distalradius8146]

I'm really holding out for the video on the history of Interarms. I understand that was quite a wild ride.

[@bertroost1675]

I would love a long documentary of that guy. I read the book about Interarms.

[@Goc4ever]

The P38 is truly an iconic gun along with many others and the fact this one was made by the Germans makes it even more special especially for you Ian. The P38 is iconic especially for pop culture in Operation U.N.C.L.E, Megatron's alternate mode in Transformers Generation 1 and being the Arsene Lupin's signature weapon. Here's a fun fact: 'Grey Ghost' was also the nickname given by the Japanese to the Yorktown-class carrier USS Enterprise(CV-6), the most decorated US warship of WW2.

[@dallesamllhals9161]

..aka BAD-guys pistol Numba 1!

[@_Briegel]

I shot the slightly modified version in the mid-1980s as a service weapon in the German Armed Forces. Here it was called the “P1” and was largely identical to the P38. The handling was not perfect, but the precision was amazingly good. I liked it!

[@GigAnonymous]

The P1 were also branded (and maybe manufactured) by Manhurin in France, so it's closer to this P38 variant than you might think!

[@jeffreyoldham55]

Incredibly cool pistol. I particularly love the grips. _Grey Ghost_ does have a certain ring to it.

[@fishingsammystyle8682]

I love the way that an American KZbinr knows more about french modern history than the average European. Myself included. Thanks Ian and I'm forever greatful for your input towards my understanding of how Europe is today through your knowledge of guns. I'd love to meet for a pastice and not a shootemup.

[@skullfracture2]

Ian is quite the Francophile.

[@GarGhuul]

If Tintin has taught me anything, it is you can tell a pistol is French because it goes “Pan” instead of “Bang!”

[@morgansmit8564]

I always enjoy your videos, and learn a lot. Thank you Ian!

[@joaoie]

F for German and G for French. Very simple.

[@reliantncc1864]

German would of course be a "D" if they were intended as initials. (Deutsch/Deutsche)

[@alexander1902]

@@reliantncc1864they lost the war, so they had to use "F" and like it.

[@SigmundAnschutz-wi2fj]

The P38 is massively under respected. It truly drove pistol design forward.

[@jameslucas583]

I love that that many of the close ups in this video show witness marks indicating the machining processes involved in manufacture - surface grinding, fly cutting, facing on the lathe. It makes my inner engineer happy!

[@ProfessorBidoof]

engineer here. Tons of milling/endmill marks on that thing lol.

[@evanmorris1178]

That one is pretty rough “ wartime standard”. I have one that has a better finish. I’m surprised that Ian never mentioned the name Manurhin. The French company that was running the old Mauser Factory.

[@MrStickthrower2001]

Yes, I was astonished by the "com-block quality" of the machining. Stuff you expect on a Mosin Nagant M44, not a post war Mauser!

[@ProfessorBidoof]

@@MrStickthrower2001 my 1944 nagant (made in 1944) has less milling marks.

[@spondulixtanstaafl7887]

Thanks Ian, Iconic design, fascinating variation.

[@plumaDshinigami]

Hayashi from Jet Set Radio Future first introduced me to this variation of guns.

[@oldesertguy9616]

When I hear stamped metal grips all I can think of is how hot or cold those things would be. Where I live it gets to 120 F quite often and I can't imagine trying to grab your holstered weapon after standing in the sun for more than about 2 minutes.

[@spartan8705]

And that would have actually been a problem since France's first post-War engagements were in Algeria, which is largely desert

[@FIUMan-tk4iz]

The stamped metal grips on my P38 SVW45 (French) have a thin black rubber like coating on them. I have not tried to shoot that pistol in extreme high heat or cold, but I suspect that both conditions could have become problematic to bare uncoated steel grips. My guess is that the Germans were trying to make steel grips work but had not perfected the part far enough to field them or the exploration was shelved in the name of directing resources toward the manufacturing compacity that they already had going.

[@oldesertguy9616]

@@FIUMan-tk4iz thanks for the description. I wonder if that thin coating really accomplished much. I mean, it would be better than bare metal, but by how much?

[@Dominic1962]

In a full flap holster it wouldn’t matter.

[@trooperdgb9722]

@@Dominic1962 It would in cold weather. The aluminium grip panels on my CZ are like ice in winter here. So much so that I turned a small USB heating pad into a tube I can slip over the grips while holstered...waiting for my turn to shoot (IPSC competition) People laughed at that...at first. Only at first!

[@JerryEricsson]

Years ago, I had a buddy who had one of those. He refused all my offers to buy it, I wonder what ever happened to it when he died back in the mid 90's, I had already taken a job hundreds of miles away by that time. To bad I really liked the P38.

[@_Briegel]

I shot the slightly modified version in the mid-1980s as a service weapon in the German Armed Forces. Here it was called the “P1” and was largely identical to the P38. The handling was not perfect, but the precision was amazingly good. I liked it!

[@zanegandini5350]

@@_Briegel The P1 is the P38 but with an aluminum alloy frame instead of the steel frame P38s used. From what I've heard, even the lighter alloy doesn't make much of a difference in how it handles.

[@Dominic1962]

@@zanegandini5350 It’s a bit lighter overall, and feels a bit more too heavy over the all steel P38.

[@muhughu]

My grandfathers older brother had a P38 that he was given by a Norwegian resistance fighter during WW2. He lived in a small cabin in the mountains right by the Swedish/Norwegian border and was visited in the middle of the night by four men on skiis, they said they knew him through a common friend and asked to stay the night. He obliged and they ended up staying for a couple of days waiting out some bad weather, when they where leaving they gave him the pistol as thanks and in case "the wrong people" came around asking questions. He would often show it as a conversation piece and there is an old photo from his house where it is visible on a table and he just referred to it as "the nazi pistol". He died 90 years old in 2009 but the whereabouts of the pistol is still unknown, it was never found when they cleaned out his house and he never told anyone where he kept it. But it's probably for the best that it remains lost since anyone that finds it can get up to seven years in prison as a result.

[@M8Military]

The seven years is why the Germans won ww2. No freedom in Europe

[@bertroost1675]

And that is why it has never shown up 😉

[@kirbyculp3449]

One hopes. What terrible laws.

[@mattorama]

I love Ian's French gun videos the most because he has that little extra bit of enthusiasm over reviewing a gun from, say, Elbonia.

[@zenden9]

The Megatron pistol, I like it!

[@curteaton]

I bought my P38 because if this.

[@davisdf3064]

"This pistol is so good, it can single handedly defeat a truck"

[@OrionJLRolen]

Thank you Ian, your videos are always in depth and I miss the Scotch (whiskey). Peace be with you always brother! 💜🙋👍👊✌

[@GigAnonymous]

9:00 And then, Manurhin in France domestically produced P1, which are closely related to P38. Those are identically to the Walther P1 fielded by the Bundeswehr until the 90s. Depending on who you ask, either: - All P1s were made by Manurhin, then some were shipped to West Germany to be branded by Walther, or - All P1s were made by Walther, then some were shipped to France to be branded by Manurhin Who knows!

[@methodeetrigueur1164]

Manurhin recovered the Walther machines after the war and produced P.38, P.1, PP, PPK and PP sport.

[@sealove79able]

a great very interesting video Mr. Ian. have a good one Mr.

[@EdMikes]

I got my hands on a p38 a number of years ago in Des Moines Ia. Small gunshop that has long since closed. It was a cyq code that was made in German occupied Czechoslovakia in 44 or 45. Still a good shooter.

[@crossbow1203]

Had an uncle that was a navigator on a B17. He said that he had a 45 1911 that he carried and couldn't hit the side of a barn with it. He tried a P38 that someone had captured and he loved it. It just fit him right and could hit what he aimed at, but his commander made him get rid of it and wouldn't let him carry it.

[@natural-born_pilot]

I find that interesting because it’s the same kind of senseless mind set the Air Force had in the 70’s and 80’s when I served.

[@grantmo821]

A friends grandfather, an Army medic in the Pacific, had the same problem. his 1911 was almost useless. Fortunately, he took an officers sword & a Nambu pistol & holster off the body of a Japanese Lieutenant. He kept the sword, but swapped the pistol & holster to a Navy transport driver for a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver in a shoulder holster, & some extra ammo. He told his Company Commander he found it on the beach, & they let him carry it the rest of the war. The commander not letting your Uncle carry that P38 was likely for his own safety, in case he was shot down & captured. The Germans considered collecting enemy souvenirs as extremely disrespectful & dishonorable, & had zero tolerance for allied prisoners who did so. Soldiers found in possession of a German-issue pistol were frequently shot on the spot with it.

[@Integritys_Sum]

I would also have zero toleeance for people carrying the superior technology of my people,who hated our peole but loved to benefit from the works of our superior thinkers.

[@PipMan1101]

@@Integritys_Sum Bro you lost, twice, get over it.

[@saldol9862]

@@natural-born_pilotThat same mindset is still unfortunately alive and well in the 2020s.

[@claywurzlow8487]

Outstanding video, Appreciate it !

[@HayesTech]

I really miss my post war P38. I should have never got rid of it.

[@fletchermunson6225]

The P38 is one great pistol. I would not feel underarmed if I had one for my personal protection. Had one and sold it. Wish I had not.

[@nomadmarauder-dw9re]

Back in the 70 s I found a Nazi Radom pistol. All proper marks, and a spare mag. And the O.G. grips. The replacement grips were Lucite. The right one had a nude pin up and the left was Hitler amid a furled flag. 120.00. Wish I'd bought it.

[@beargillium2369]

The French didn't need coloured safety markings, after all the crayon is a French staple of le arte and there were plenty on hand to fill in yourself 🖍️

[@hoilst265]

This is why the US Marines were limited to the Pacific Theatre: to prevent the depletion of French crayon stocks.

[@Integritys_Sum]

​@@hoilst265It' true, they refuse to just eat normal MREs like the army

[@roryoutdoors5431]

“I … still… function!” Long Live Megatron!

[@nextcaesargaming5469]

I've always wanted a P38. Such a cool looking gun. It's a shame nobody's still making them. Edit: What I meant to say was that it's a shame there's no new production runs of the P38. I understand that they made so many that it's still inexpensive, I'm just lamenting that they *stopped* making them.

[@beargillium2369]

there are plenty to be had out there, literally 700+ on gb alone right now

[@nextcaesargaming5469]

@@beargillium2369 True enough. I'm just lamenting that the only modern options we've got for a WWII era military design are the Browning Hi Power and the 1911. Those are great, don't get me wrong, but I want a modern production run of P38s with some slight updates. I would sell kidneys for a double-stack mag version of this gun.

[@XxJay71xX]

@@nextcaesargaming5469 Walter still make the PPK too

[@AshleyPomeroy]

@@nextcaesargaming5469 I've always wondered if the single-stack magazine was a patent thing - the Hi-Power had a double-stack magazine, and that was 1935. Having a great new double-action pistol with only eight rounds seems like one step forwards, one step back.

[@G.W-01]

​@@nextcaesargaming5469We also still have the Tokarev that are still in production.

[@cooksterexe9948]

I own a “grey ghost” with a serial number around 3400 in the G block. Very early with the plastic grips and a poor finish that is almost gone. My slide is marked “BYF 44” and all the numbers match on the gun. Great gun, barrel is perfect, and has all of the French stars

[@jakesolver4359]

French torpedo boats from Drachinifel and French p38’s from Forgotten Weapons. It’s a good Saturday.

[@willgillies5670]

i recall Manhurin were producing Walther PPK's for a time.

[@niel9612]

They also produced P38's as the P1

[@deusvult7180]

Here is a story for you all: My bosses friend owns a gunshop here in the UK, and had someone hand in a P38 recently. It was from a deceased estate, and long story short, the old boy who brought it back looked after it for 80 years. Full Nazi markings and is prestine with original ammunition, it was also accompanied with officer papers and morphine. Fortunately, the shop has the appropriate licence to keep it, so it won't be destroyed.

[@Outlaw_Deadman1996]

That's wonderful to hear! Even though your country's gun laws are absolutely garbage, greetings from across the pond

[@turbogerbil2935]

Unfortunately, it is still likely that the gun will be cut up. Even if the RFD has a Sect5 that allows firearms to be taken on in an unplanned way (many have a quota and have to be specific about how many Sect5 guns they handle), the local Police force may confiscate it as pistol "hand ins" usually have to be checked against the forensic database - even if its obvious they've been out of circulation for decades. On top of that, the market for "live" section pistols of common types is virtually zero in mainland UK, and so most end up being deactivated.

[@damirblazevic4823]

​@@Outlaw_Deadman1996 There's absolutely nothing wrong with UK gun laws

[@marlowek1936]

​@@damirblazevic4823 As an American, I absolutely disagree.

[@Irisfruit]

​@@Outlaw_Deadman1996 UK gun laws are directly responsible for a dramatic reduction in all kinds of crime. If owning guns is more important to you saving thousands of lives every year, you're a sociopath. Funny how the people who fearmonger abt crime the refuse to do the one thing that will stop it.

[@pithicus52]

I am really looking forward to the next video because I have a SVW 46 P38 with sheet-metal grips that I know almost nothing about.

[@alistairmscott]

Easy to see the Beretta 92 locking block and open slide in its infancy here.

[@cseivard]

Fascinating. Thanks!

[@jayabramson6702]

I had heard when these P-38s came into the country they were discovered hidden in sub pens after the war. Glad to hear the true story. I had one of the Interarms guns. It was in amazing condition so naturally I shot it and then sold it. Decades later I found one at a gun show. I rectified my earlier mistake. both of theP38s had the stamped steel grips.

[@Thesoulxx1]

wounderful things, love this channel :D

[@Qualltoxy]

Blocky metal pistols are so damn aesthetic

[@svetovidarkonsky1670]

Wow, I owned ( legal on a pistol licence) a P-38 here in Australia back in the '80s... love it to bits and always love a P-38 vid, especially when I'm in the first 100! 👌

[@buncer]

Mind if I ask whatever happened to it?

[@svetovidarkonsky1670]

​@@buncer I've no idea​

[@jayhansen4918]

I love guns. My dad lost my .38 about a year ago. Im still fucking furious

[@akhondakhond]

great Please make an episode for the 9mm Kalashnikov PLK pistol

[@B-TRU86]

Beautiful piece of art ..id love to own one!

[@dallesamllhals9161]

M9?

[@MRFlackAttack1]

Really needed the music and introduction from the Batman animated series episode “The Grey Ghost”

[@jamesfairmind2247]

Any theories as to why the P38 ejects to the left?

[@earthenjadis8199]

So it doesn't hit your comrades on the right wing.

[@tomhalla426]

I remember one murder case from Los Angeles where that odd ejection pattern was an issue. P 38s are not all that common, and one suspect was known to have one.

[@WH250398]

Same with the P5. If I remember correctly the reason for it was being able to clear potential malfunctions easier for right handed shooters. In practice though, it simply yeets shells at you.

[@johnharder5618]

Nice video I had a Inter Arms imported P38 for a while In the H block But mine had wood grip panels instead of plastic or metal I was told that the owner before me broke the plastic grip panels So he used some Oak to make grip panels

[@scottrobinson3281]

The kudu antelope is also known as the "Grey Ghost" The P38 was among a variety of pistols used by the South African Police before the standardisation of the Beretta 92 clone, the Z88.

[@davidt3563]

My first dart gun as a kid was one of these!

[@TomSherwood-z5l]

I thought the "grey ghost" was applied to the Walter PP pistols that were phosphate but my star Mauser was blued. Oh I once had one of those East German PP ;pistols that was gray and had a 1001 code or something, I forget. Was rough and the grips were cheap wood.

[@mbr5742]

Makes sense. 9x19 was a well established european caliber and the P38 a known good design (served into the late 1980s with the west german army as the P1 with minor modifications). As shown easy to assemble, easy to use, quite safe (That safety system will bend the trigger before it fires the gun). And a nice shooter (I still shoot a post WW2 german one)

[@damirblazevic4823]

How was 9 x 19 mm "a well established caliber"?

[@reonthornton685]

9x19 wasn't actually a well established European calibre until post WW2 and it became well established because of guns like this one being basically everywhere after WW2, as well as Browning Hi-Power's becoming more widespread. Before that point it was primarily a German round only with a few exceptions, with the main usage of 9x19 interwar being from countries who got their hands on copies of the German MP-18 or it's later variations such as the British copy, the Lanchester Submachine Gun. Post WW2 you had not only German pistols and submachine guns mostly chambered in 9mm, you also had Sten guns being basically everywhere.

[@dungu8180]

​@@reonthornton685 maybe not established but widely used. If we count out the french and soviet submachine guns and american weapons supplied in .45 ACP nearly every SMG during that time was in 9mm. All of Italy and German Smg's where in that caliber. Also every Smg's made by Britain,Australia and Switzeland. So if we go by 'market share', yes you can say it is well established, even during wartime. Post wartime it became even more established when even France switched to that caliber

[@reonthornton685]

@@dungu8180 Britain, Australia and Switzerland were all using copies of German Submachine guns though, especially early on, or were developments of them, so in Truth only German and Italian SMG's were in that calibre. (And Finnish as well but I'm unable to be certain if they were using 9mm at the start) Which is understandable, 9x19 is a German Calibre. It is still incorrect to call them widely used though because SMG's in general were not widely used until the war was already underway, even in Germany. ONLY Russia had SMG's in significant number mostly because Finland rocked them really badly with their SMG during the Winter War.

[@mannywilliams6409]

If I remember correctly the French thru Mahurin built Walther PP and PPK "clones" during the 50s? I think I remember seeing one in .22lr.

[@PomeloYuntao]

Hey Ian, would you ever take a look at the Bergmann MG-15 n.A machine gun? I would really love to see how it works, it's a pretty fascinating WW1 machine gun, but kinda sucks the fact that it was overshadowed by the much large produced MG-08/15, such a great engineering piece from Louis Schmeisser and Theodore Bergmann.

[@brindlebucker4741]

Cool video. It looks like a sweet pistol.

[@_nunyabuisness_]

On this episode of the Francophile Files...

[@Drosophilax]

Franco Philes ;)

[@Charles-k9g5y]

I’m Canadian and love guns

[@davissampson3991]

I have one of these, but it is marked ‘Manhurin’ on the slide. I bought it in the late-70’s.

[@GigAnonymous]

Probably a P1 then, check if it has an aluminium frame

[@methodeetrigueur1164]

Manurhin recovered the Walther machines after the war and produced P.38, P.1, PP, PPK and PP sport.

[@gwen6518]

Cracked top cover.

[@gwen6518]

My P1 broke the same way.

[@grantmo821]

I worked at a pawn shop that once had a P38 with the French star stamping, but a prior owner had the gun nickel plated & replaced the issue grips with aftermarket ones, which killed my interest in it. The guy who bought it said later it gave great accuracy, & was 100% reliable, even with hollow point ammo. I'm still half conflicted about that one.

[@hrldp4394]

Please, if you are trully a francophile, you have to do a sp2022 showcase: it was the largest order of small arms since the WW2 At the time that were made, and it pass to german to US manufacture so we have two generation of the same gun i am sure you will like to review it

[@PiousHeathen]

Am I wrong in thinking this is the first time Ian has disassembled a P38 in a Forgotten Weapons video? I looked through the Walther playlist and in most instances of a p38 or pre 38 model he does not have the chance to take it apart and show the bolt and the interior of the slide. Im not familiar with walthers, and the bolt assembly on this is interesting.

[@the_borax_kid2233]

love it

[@irebell528]

But isn't that Walther? My mother put them together in Spreewerk. She just said Walther. It is definitely a development by the Walther company.

[@DiggingForFacts]

Yes but production of much of the war materiel was spread around, especially after 1943. Mauser probably also got a contract for the P.38 because they were big enough to set up another production line. In the same vein there were three different companies producing Panther tanks and parts for the Panther.

[@irebell528]

@ Then it must be Walther P38, manufactured by Mauser.

[@grantmo821]

@@irebell528, that's correct, the design was Walther's, but they were also made by the Mauser & Spreewerk factories during the war. For one thing, it took multiple factories to produce the enormous amount of guns needed for the war effort. But they also wanted them made in several different locations in case one or more of the factories was bombed. If that happened, production would be slowed down, but not stopped completely.

[@faelwolf1177]

Informative video as always, and pretty timely for me. My local gun scalper has one of these up on his wall for his usual rip-off price. I knew something was wrong when I saw that it was black Parkerized, so I didn't even bother to look at it closely. But didn't know about these French post-war guns. I'll go take a closer look at it, it will be interesting to see if it's an occupation pistol and not somebody's clumsy "refurb", but I'm certainly not paying $1600 for it! :)

[@schizoidboy]

I remember seeing a photo in an Osprey book about the French Army in WWII and they showed some French soldiers who were being trained in the post-liberation period during the war. They were all armed with captured German weapons so it might explain why they used P38s, simply because there was some familiarity with them.

[@pouyan225]

A french P38! -Ian: Hold my Chauchat

[@evenjohansen4584]

Wow. Not often Ian uses direct sarcasm like that!

[@patrickmason2982]

Some rough finishing or lack of finishing. Czech made 038’s in 1945 had rough looking finishing on the slides as they went into overdrive to produce guns

[@ReboyGTR]

0:50 *My, how the turntables.*

[@John_Buckson]

What do you mean by this? No hate just curious

[@dungu8180]

​@@John_Buckson It's about how the french don't want to rely on foreign arms supplies but now they're phasing out the local produced Famas rifle to replace it with HK416 made by the germans.

[@John_Buckson]

@@dungu8180 aaah

[@gringostarr69]

Thanks from the video Ian and I know you don't like french ww2 jokes, but you told one by yourself. "They didn't want aid, and wanted to stain more dignity" 😊 Edit: btw p38's are really nice pistols to shoot. My friends father brought a ww2 one from germany back at early 90's to Finland when you still could register guns as a hobbyist shooter in gun-club. Today it's almost impossible. Anyways we shot that pistol almost weekly and it was a great shooter!

[@Dumplingu]

I'm guessing you have one of these too Ian?

[@ForgottenWeapons]

I do; I actually have one of the L-block ones assembled at Chatellerault.

[@michaelhardy9264]

All I could think of when hearing french P38 is Lupin The Third

[@Fightosaurus]

Love it

[@kebabsvein1]

My father used a p-38 in Norway in 1976

[@Emdee5632]

Wasn't this the favorite pistol of French actor Jean-Louis Trintinant in one of his crime movies?

[@WDC-r6z]

Did they take the tooling to make the Manurhin P-38s ?

[@Hervé-v2t]

Bonjour Ian, peut-être ne sais-tu pas que les motocyclistes de la Police Nationale ont été armés de P38 (pour profiter de la double action) assez tardivement, jusqu'à l'adoption du révolver...

[@slcparis2]

Cool

[@roelej]

Can you do the"Silver Ghost" next?

[@TW-SB]

Megatron!!

[@SurfingMammoth]

fun fact: in the zombies mode of call of duty WWII, the p38 counterpart becomes the “gray ghost” when upgraded in the pack a punch machine

[@metalgeardull8279]

Never been this early.

[@_nunyabuisness_]

Yo! Second!

[@beargillium2369]

🙄

[@Crangaso]

New Sat morning cartoons

[@2fwelding842]

Ghost of mauser, ww2 production

[@JohnTBlock]

"Grey Ghost" may also have a connection to the Grey field uniforms of the Weremacht, a ghost out of the past when Interarms was marketing these pistols.... either way, catchy advertising...

[@arthurbretas2003]

Make one on the post war Walter P1, Germans truly make the coolest pistols

[@GigAnonymous]

The P1s were also made by Manurhin, so expect Ian to show up with a FRENCH P1...

[@randynovick7972]

I think I have a P-38 marked by Manurhin. I'll have to go look.

[@GigAnonymous]

Likely a P1 then. Aluminium frame?

[@methodeetrigueur1164]

Manurhin recovered the Walther machines after the war and produced P.38, P.1, PP, PPK and PP sport.

[@bruceinoz8002]

Then,there is the US "conection". In pursuit of a 9mm "service pistol" to supplant the 1911 in the early 1950s, Smith and wesson did a bit of "homework and some idea "mashing. Enter the Model 39. It looks like a "Browning" style gun at firt but it lifted a LOT from the P-38. The Magazine is IDENTICAL in form, apart fron the notch for the magazine catch being cut into the right front, a la Browning. You can run Model 39 mags in a P-38 but P-38 mags fall back out of a Model 39. Decocker? Check Double-Action? Check OK the lock-up is very "Browning" as is the Return spring arrangement. Aluminium ally frame? a "borrow" from later German variants.. S&W went on to bulk up the Model 39 and almost double the magazine capacity with what was probably the first US "wondernine". These initially had "reliability issues". See also the hater"^%(" and variants. That whole S&W story would make for another "Interesting" episode of what is fast becoming a "forgotten" piece of history.. P.S. One of the big reasons for the popularity of the P-38 in TV and movie plots is the relative ease of modification for blank-firing. Remove the locking block. Replace the return springs with lighter ones; the springs from the .22 rimfire P-38 trainers (another trip down another rabbit-hole) are ideal). Thread the interior of the barrel for a "restrictor", chosen so it works with your standard 9mm "theatrical' (extra smoke and flash) blank. Off to the studio, we go. Please only use "bitza" guns for this creative vandalism. .

[@promiscuous675]

Thank you.

[@lllordllloyd]

I'm interested in the French Indochina war, and long ago noticed how most French officers seemed to carry Walther pistols, including the PPK. Does anyone know of PPKs were also produced under occupation?

[@markjmaxwell9819]

It must have been hard to compete with the likes of the FN Hi Power and the M1911 which were designed around the same period as the P38. With the FN credited as the best pistol design in the world around this time period. 😎🇦🇺

[@damirblazevic4823]

Best pistol? SA while P-38 is DA? Yeah, it's the best

[@AshleyPomeroy]

At 4:31, that will be the very last piece of the pistol to rust. That's a lot of grease. But then again it must have worked, the pistol is around eighty years old.

[@debi5292]

We have a Spreework P38 that was assembled form parts for the Czech post war police built by CZ. 5K parts sets were built by CZ in 1946. It has the proper Nazi proof marks but is nicely put together. It has no import markings at all. We would love to have a review done on this variation of the P38.

[@irebell528]

Moje matka je tam ke konci války montovala. Hrádek n/Nisou. Ale říkala vždy jen walther. Pochybuji, že je to Mauser.

[@TorquilBletchleySmythe]

First I heard of the Grey Ghost, he was ending Singh Pirates in Bengali.

[@supaorigamisensei]

Seeing that postal also gives me megatron vibes lol

[@ryanpeck3377]

Megatron Was a P38 (possibly a post war German P1, not up on my Transformers history)

[@fidjeenjanrjsnsfh]

There's a clear cut reason why it was not marketed as "French" and it's not about being "dropped once". It's "it's French, it probably uses 9.1x19.1 mm"