Walther p38

1938

When German emperor Wilhelm ii authorised use of the P08 luger in 1913, it became the world’s first successful semi-automatic pistol and an ever-present sight during

World War i. But the pistol was expensive to make and it frequently clogged, so when the German arms manufacturer Carl Walther produced the Walther P38 — noted for being the first locked-breech pistol to use a double-action trigger — the Wehrmacht snapped it up. the pistols were produced en masse from the mid-1940s yet demand was so high that rival weapons manufacturers spreewerk and Mauser were drafted in to help. A staggering 1.2 million were made.

The guns continued to be popular and were snapped up by civilians and police forces all over the US

A decocker safety lever meant soldiers could carry the gun with a full chamber without fearing it accidentally going off