Today on Gus’ Gear I have a Walther Model 4 pistol to examine. Walther was producing small personal pistols before the war. The Model 4 is a scaled up version of the Model 3 to exploit the military market during the war. Walther did not want to invest in new tooling to produce a larger pistol, so they took an interesting path and used an extension on the front of the slide to cover the barrel. This made the pistol very easy to field strip. The German government awarded a contract to Walther for a quarter million pistols. Walther had difficulty in fulfilling its contract and sub contracted to at least seven other manufacturers in Suhl, Germany.
The left view of the Walther Model 4 shows how the slide was extended with the barrel cover, giving the prefered longer barrel. The frame was also increased in size to accomodate a larger magazine which held seven rounds of 7.65mm Browning cartridges. The action is a simple blow back design. The safety lever is at the rear of the frame, forward is fire and to the rear is safe. This pistol has the typical heel latch for the magazine making a quick change of magazines a challenge. This pistol is a late war production and was produced by a subcontrator. It has the letters GR stamped on the front of the trigger guard indicating is was produced by Gebruder Rempt, Suhl. The holster is a standard issue German example for a short small frame pistol. The holster is marked BA XI for the Bekliedugsamp at Kassel, Hesse.
The right view of the pistol shows its sleek design. The Walther Model 4 was well respected by those who used it and this helped Walther become one of the largest arms manufacturers in Germany.
Disassembly of the Model 4 is very easy, normally the grip panel would not be removed for field stripping. To disassemble the weapon, first remove the magazine and clear the chamber. The hammer should be cocked. The slide extention can then be depressed and turned counter clock wise and removed, then the main spring can be removed from the barrel. At this point the slide can be moved to the rear, lifting the front slightly to clear the step above the trigger, and then lift the rear of the slide and move it forward off the barrel. Reassembly is a reverse process.