Custom 1932 Longslide Walther PP For Swiss Target Shooting

In 1932, Walther made 10 custom long-barreled PP pistols for the Swiss target shooting community, sold through Glaser in Switzerland. These pistols had 127mm (5 inch) barrels chambered for .32 ACP, a fine satin “Verchromt” finish, extra checkering on the front and back straps, and a gold-plated trigger. Very fancy!

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23 Comments

  1. Why do I get the idea that the only way to make this even fancier is to Damascene the gun and have it held by 007? Just kidding!

  2. Anyone have any insight as to how difficult it was to make the frame longer? The bbl, not so much, the slide, ooof.

    • Longer barrel needs bigger slide mass…. For 2 milimeters unsupported initial blowback for 10 centimeters barrel needs some 270 grams of slide weight and 12,5 centimeter barrel needs approx. 360 grams… IMHO…

  3. Those scratches above the trigger on the left side looks very much as though someone tried to put their name there. I would like to have a Walther with the same barrel lenght as this, only in 9mm P.

    • Joke content: “The name is Walther. Carl Walther.”

      Silliness aside, it appears that Walther understood that one needed to compete in order to develop and grow. Good products are seldom, if ever, produced in complete isolation.

  4. Today, even with CNC machines and 3d CAD and CAM systems you could never get a major manufacturer to do that. Can you imagine how much effort that took in the age of forged components and machining done on long lines of manual machinery?

  5. Today, with CNC machines and 3D CAD and CAM systems, you can do the same thing, but twice, if not five, better. Although it may be more expensive.
    But Walther prefers to use all these technologies to make everything cheaper, forgetting about quality and reliability.
    As if they do not understand that they are physically incapable of competing in quality and price, for example with the Turks.

  6. This is not the first I have heard of competition target guns in 7.65/.32. Ortgies pistols, of all things, for awhile took some championships. It might be interesting to know more about the interwar rise and fall of this cartridge in target competition — I have read that it is inherently accurate, and the semi-rim seems not to give trouble even in the full-auto Vz.62. .22 is cheaper of course, but a little less reliable. Perhaps here is a niche for a .32 revival?

    • “(…)Vz.62(…)”
      What do you mean under that?

      “(…)Perhaps here is a niche for a .32 revival?”
      Are there any shooting competitions with rules, which does promoted this cartridge?

    • In interwar Germany, all handgun calibers 8 mm and above were considered military by the International Military Control Commission, as well as handguns with a barrel length of 100 mm or longer. As such they were illegal.
      At the same time “gebrauchsmäßiges” (meaning use-oriented for self-defence) shooting became very popular in the volatile overall situation. This included rapid fire stages.
      Therefore, the caliber choice for a civilian was very limited and 7.65/.32 nearly the only option. Even 9 short/.380 counted as military and was illegal. Revolvers were not very popular, the U.S. models also extremely expensive.
      With regard to rapid fire stages, the 6.35/.25 Walther Model 8 was very popular for these and this use is also the reason why 6.35 Walther PP exist. As always in sports, the original aim of self-defence was sacrified for a few points more.

      The rise of Smallbore was also a result of the political situation. But while rifles were soon offered, pistols came rahter late. I think the Stock was the first. Heinrich Hax at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles won his Olympic Rapid Fire silver medal with a loaned Colt Woodsman.

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