WE P38k review (picture heavy)

[Safeword]

Hi

 

Thought I write a little review of my WE P38k after I got to play around with it this weekend. As stated in the title, it is picture heavy.

(There is also a rant at the end that has nothing to do with the review but thoughts about this and the RS and what WE did wrong here in my opinion.)

 

 

Buying:

 

I bought it from WGCShop for 110$ and 26,60$ in shipping so in total 136,60$, easy and fast shipping from WGC as always, didn't get stopped or checked in customs. 

 

 

First impression & whats in the box:

 

I picked it out of the box and the first I thought was, damn what a strange shape! Its really short, it feels like a compact gun but the grip is long and big like from any other gun. It is also heavy for its size.

It comes with a inner barrel and a silencer, for those who got the WE Makarov PMM will this feel familiar. Both the inner and outer barrel is threaded to extend the inner barrel and cover it up with the silencer.

 

 

 

 

 

The silencer on this is longer than the one who comes with the Makarov

 

 

 

Something that really hit me when I first picked it up were how terrible the grips are, don't get me wrong, they are good to hold but as you run your finger over, you can feel the cheap plastic and it doesn't take much for it to creak, when tapped on it sounds hollow and plastiky. Thankfully the grips are an exact copy of the Maruzen P38 grips so I will be changing mine out for some bakelite or wood very soon.

 

 

 

Specs, and internals:

 

As mentioned it is heavy for its size, it weigh in at around 700g.

The length is 16,5 cm without silencer and 30,5 cm with silencer.

 

 

The magazine holds 14 BB's, the gas reservoir is not that good (at least not on mine), you get off all shots but it needs gas after each magazine.

The BB follower may sometimes get caught when putting the magazine in the gun cause it sticks out a good bit. 

 

 

The gun uses a "european" magazine release, like a hook under the grip, this is easy to use, maybe, maybe to easy, I have never dropped out the magazine by accident but feel like it could happen cause there's not much resistant to the release hook. My guess its a weak spring.

 

 

The blowback and kick is really nice, it has a recoil spring on each side as the RS.

 

 

 

 

The bolt reminds of a Beretta M9 in a way

 

 

 

The bolt uses a tiny hex to turn the hop, it is located right above the barrel.

 

 

 

Slide internals

 

 

As seen here, there is a part that already have gotten a lot of wear, I do not know what it does and I have no idea if the wear will do anything to the gun yet.

 

 

Problems:

 

I have encountered somewhat of a problem, the safety/de-cocker will sometimes not work, it is really stiff and when pushed hard it makes a strange click sound and it works, and sometimes it is impossible to move at all, I haven't gotten the time to see what makes this problem so of now, its a mystery.

 

 

Shooting:

 

Shooting this is pretty I was outside in 13C so pretty cold, the results is probably way better in warmer weather. The fps I got was about 230-240 and with the extended inner barrel I got 300-310 fps. It shoots pretty accurate for a stock gun, grouping from 10m away was about 4-5 inches. Again, it would probably be better on a warm day but its damn cold in Norway around this time 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion:

 

I think this is a well made replica and WE have really started to sell good products and stepped up their manufacturing recently. The gun is nice and solid, good looking and kicks hard, the extended barrel and silencer is just a plus considering the already low price. All in all, this is a nice gun I would recommend. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mini rant that has nothing to do with the review but the gun and WE:

 

So as a collector I want things to be as close to the RS as possible but with this gun, I have no idea what WE thought, someone there did not do their homework. The K or short version of the Walther P38 was never made during WW2, so why do WE say this is in their "classic lineup"? They said their classic lineup is guns from WW2 or older, this gun was made in limited number in the late 70's. It also came with wood grips and were in fact made on a Walther P4 doh called a P38k, the P4 looks exactly like a P38 but the safety/de-cocker is not a safety at all, only a de-cocker where on this replica it is both. So i'm not sure what gun this is suppose to be, I will be putting wood grips on it and saying its a P38k and hopefullt WE will do a little more research next time on coming models. 

Edited November 11, 2015 by Safeword

[Wingman]

Now I can make my UNCLE P-38..It's not a perfect match but it will do.

 

It will be interesting to see if real-steel grip panels will fit. If they do, it means you should be able to use the replica UNCLE grips they make for real-steel modifications.

 

It's on my list now.

[Safeword]

Well Maruzen made a UNCLE replica a long time ago and seeing their grips will fit this, there is hope 

But I don't know if real steel grips would fit...

[dapprman]

Been waiting for this one for ages - and for some strange reason want that large baffle, also need a communicator pen ...

[Safeword]

Put some wood grips from Altamont on it and it was instant better looking, I went for the military style p38 grips. Not a perfect fit, had to use some sandpaper and remove a lot from were the slide release sit, grip was to thick so the slide wouldn't lock. Also the screw who came with was way to short, I could only find a hex screw but still doesn't look that bad, the screw is a M3x28 for other who want to switch grips.

 

[Wingman]

Is the front sight molded into the slide?