Linstrum
12-20-2008, 05:08 AM
Three years ago I bought an arsenal refurbished West German Police Walther P1 9mm pistol. It has all new upper slide parts and a re-lined barrel. It operates like a Walther should - no jams or mis-feeds, and it digests everything I have reloaded for it. Mechanically it is a real dream to shoot.
Now for the nightmare. It shoots 48-inches low (yep, a full FOUR FEET low) at 25 yards and it patterns like a shotgun, making a 14-inch pattern at 25 yards with most bullets key-holing.
When I first got it and discovered its ills, I slugged the barrel, measured the sights, and basically gave it a good inspection to see what all was wrong. I compared its dimensions and appearance to another refurbished P1 purchased at the same time and there is no difference between the two pistols except the other one shoots 2-inch groups at 25 yards without being low or key-holing, and mine doesn't.
The barrel slugs at 0.358" and since it will chamber cartridges loaded with 0.358" copper jacketed bullets I tried those, without it changing anything. I also tried 0.359" 115-grain cast boolits with no improvement. I tried Unique, Green Dot, and Blue Dot powder loads all the way down to where it wouldn't cycle the action. I also crowned the muzzle, I chucked the barrel up in my lathe and re-cut the crown along with putting in a slight 60° inside bevel. NOTHING changes the abysmal performance.
The one thing I did that corrected the four-foot low shot placement was to machine and install a new rear sight that is a full quarter of an inch higher than the original. But of course that did nothing for the key-holing and 14-inch diameter shot spread on the target.
One of our resident 9mm Luger cartridge gurus is 9.3X62AL and back three years ago the two of us quite thoroughly and systematically went over everything that could be causing the troubles and we basically came to the conclusion that whatever is causing the problem with my particular Walther P1 is NOT within the realm of the commonplace things that affect the already notoriously cranky 9mm Luger cartridge. I also have a CZ85-B 9mm that is a darned good shooter, so I already have experience with what works for a correctly-functioning 9x19mm pistol.
At this point I am not especially interested in any further trouble-shooting of this P1 since I have already covered it as thoroughly as is possible without changing the barrel. But what I am interested in at this point is if anyone else has had similar bizarre woes with a rebuilt Walther P38 or P1. From the evidence of the shot placement being so radically low along with key-holing, it is my educated guess that the barrel liner has a longitudinal split that extends to the muzzle and opens up under pressure when fired. Unfortunately because the barrel liner is silver-brazed inside the old barrel assembly and consequently covered up by it, if there is indeed a split, it is hidden from view.
Any other similar tales of woe with the Walther P38 or P1?
rl504
Now for the nightmare. It shoots 48-inches low (yep, a full FOUR FEET low) at 25 yards and it patterns like a shotgun, making a 14-inch pattern at 25 yards with most bullets key-holing.
When I first got it and discovered its ills, I slugged the barrel, measured the sights, and basically gave it a good inspection to see what all was wrong. I compared its dimensions and appearance to another refurbished P1 purchased at the same time and there is no difference between the two pistols except the other one shoots 2-inch groups at 25 yards without being low or key-holing, and mine doesn't.
The barrel slugs at 0.358" and since it will chamber cartridges loaded with 0.358" copper jacketed bullets I tried those, without it changing anything. I also tried 0.359" 115-grain cast boolits with no improvement. I tried Unique, Green Dot, and Blue Dot powder loads all the way down to where it wouldn't cycle the action. I also crowned the muzzle, I chucked the barrel up in my lathe and re-cut the crown along with putting in a slight 60° inside bevel. NOTHING changes the abysmal performance.
The one thing I did that corrected the four-foot low shot placement was to machine and install a new rear sight that is a full quarter of an inch higher than the original. But of course that did nothing for the key-holing and 14-inch diameter shot spread on the target.
One of our resident 9mm Luger cartridge gurus is 9.3X62AL and back three years ago the two of us quite thoroughly and systematically went over everything that could be causing the troubles and we basically came to the conclusion that whatever is causing the problem with my particular Walther P1 is NOT within the realm of the commonplace things that affect the already notoriously cranky 9mm Luger cartridge. I also have a CZ85-B 9mm that is a darned good shooter, so I already have experience with what works for a correctly-functioning 9x19mm pistol.
At this point I am not especially interested in any further trouble-shooting of this P1 since I have already covered it as thoroughly as is possible without changing the barrel. But what I am interested in at this point is if anyone else has had similar bizarre woes with a rebuilt Walther P38 or P1. From the evidence of the shot placement being so radically low along with key-holing, it is my educated guess that the barrel liner has a longitudinal split that extends to the muzzle and opens up under pressure when fired. Unfortunately because the barrel liner is silver-brazed inside the old barrel assembly and consequently covered up by it, if there is indeed a split, it is hidden from view.
Any other similar tales of woe with the Walther P38 or P1?
rl504