Carl Walther GmbH: Difference between revisions

Carl Walther GmbH
Company type	Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH)
Industry	Defense
Founded	Founded 1886 in Zella-Mehlis; Factory destroyed in World War II; New corporation founded in 1953 in Ulm
Headquarters	Ulm and Arnsberg
Key people	Carl Walther, Fritz Walther
Products	Firearms, weapons
Website	www.carl-walther.de

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Revision as of 13:43, 28 June 2012

Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen or Walther is a German arms manufacturer. For more than 100 years, Walther made major breakthroughs in the development of pistols. Some are legendary, like the PPK and the P99 – both pistols carried by the fictional character James Bond – and the P38, the standard-issue sidearm of the German military in World War II.

Pronunciation of the name Walther

In German, w sounds like /v/ and th sounds like /t/. However, it is common for English speakers not familiar with German phonology to pronounce the w and th in the usual English manner. (As for the -er ending, both German and English have several typical variations, depending on the speaker's regional accent.) Pronounce Walther: 'Vull' as in "hull" - then 'ter' as in Walter.

History

The firm was founded in 1886 by Carl Walther in Zella-Mehlis, in what was then Hesse but is today Thuringia. The company originally manufactured hunting and target rifles. It was not until 1908 that, under the initiative of Fritz Walther, the oldest son of Carl Walther, they began to make pistols. Models 1 through 5 and 7 through 9 were in calibers 6.35 and 7.65. The Model 6 was Walther's first attempt at a 9mm Luger pistol. It used blowback rather than a locked breech and proved unsuccessful, with only around 1,000 made. Its rarity has made it highly sought after on the collectors market. In 1929 they began to make the popular "police pistols" or PP models. This was followed in 1931 by the first of the PPKs (Polizeipistole, Kriminalmodell). Both PP and PPK's were manufactured in .22 Long Rifle, .32 ACP (the most common caliber), .380 ACP and a very small amount in .25 ACP. The PP models were the first mass produced pistols with stamped parts, but the high quality of production made them a favorite to replace the P-08 Luger. In 1938 the German Reich awarded the contract for that replacement to Walther for the 9mm P38 with a weight of 960 g.

From 1942 until 1945, the company used slave labour at the Neuengamme concentration camp, and operated its own factory at the camp.^[1]

After World War II, Walther was reduced to just a collection of designs and patents. But Fritz Walther started anew and began manufacturing in Ulm in southern Germany. The company resumed production of the P38 (renamed as the P1) in 1957 in order to equip the new West German Army, the Bundeswehr, with sidearms. When Fritz Walther died in December 1966, his son, Karl-Heinz, took over the company, which then concentrated on the sports sector and the introduction of new technologies. In 1993 the Walther firm was acquired by Umarex of Arnsberg, who continued to manufacture under the Walther name in Ulm and Arnsberg.

Products

Handguns

File:Walter HP Speerwerke 1428.jpg

Walther P38

Submachine guns

Rifles

Knives

Walther makes a long line of tactical knives.

References

^ KZ-Zwangsarbeit Rüstungsproduktion (in German), KZ Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, retrieved 2009-10-13, Seit diesem Zeitpunkt stellten Häftlinge [...] Pistolen und Karabiner (Metallwerke Neuengamme, Zweigbetrieb des thüringischen Waffenherstellers Carl Walther. [Transl.: Since this the prisoners built pistols and rifles (Metal Works Neuengamme, a branch of the Thuringian arms manufacturer Carl Walther.]

External links

Carl Walther, official German brand website.
Walther U.S., official U.S. brand website.

[1] KZ-Zwangsarbeit Rüstungsproduktion (in German), KZ Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, retrieved 2009-10-13, Seit diesem Zeitpunkt stellten Häftlinge [...] Pistolen und Karabiner (Metallwerke Neuengamme, Zweigbetrieb des thüringischen Waffenherstellers Carl Walther. [Transl.: Since this the prisoners built pistols and rifles (Metal Works Neuengamme, a branch of the Thuringian arms manufacturer Carl Walther.]

[1]

@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 * [[Walther PP]]
 * [[Walther P38]]
-** [[Walther P38K]]
-** [[Walther P38 HP]]
 * [[Walther TPH]]
 * [[Walther P1]]
@@ Line 52: / Line 50: @@
 * [[Walther PP Super]]
 * [[Walther P5]]
-** [[Walther P5|Walther P5/Compact]]
 * [[Walther P88|Walther P88/Compact]]
 * [[Walther P99]]
-** [[Walther P99C]]
-** [[Walther P99AS]]
-** [[Walther P99QA]]
-** [[Walther P99 40 S&W]]
 * [[Walther PPK]]
-** [[Walther PPK/S-1]]
-** [[Walther PPKS]]
-** [[Walther PPK .380 SS]]
 * [[Walther P22]]
-** [[Walther P22Q]]
-** [[Walther PP2 Target]]
-** [[Walther PP2 Nickle Target]]
 * [[Walther PPS]]
 * [[Walther PK380]]
 * [[Walther PPQ]]
-** [[Walther PPQ 40 S&W]]
+* [[M1911 pistol|Umarex Colt 1911]]
-* [[Umarex Colt 1911]]
 * [[Smith and Wesson Military and Police M&P22]]
 * [[Walther KSP 200]]

v t e Knives and daggers
List of daggers List of blade materials
Kitchen and table knives	Boning Boti Bread knife Butcher knife Butter knife Caidao Cheese knife Chef's knife Cleaver Electric knife Fillet knife Grapefruit knife Lame Mezzaluna Parmesan knife Pizza cutter Splayd Steak knife Tomato knife Japanese kitchen knives Deba bōchō Maguro bōchō Nakiri bōchō Santoku Sashimi bōchō Udon kiri Unagisaki hōchō Usuba bōchō Yanagi ba
Other knives	Aircrew Survival Egress Knife Athame Balisong/Butterfly Ballistic Ballpoint pen knife Bayonet Boline Bolo Boot knife Bowie Cane knife Ceramic knife Clip point Combat knife Commander Corvo CQC-6 Deba bōchō Diving knife Drop point Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife Gerber Mark II Ginsu Golok Gravity knife Guna Hacking knife Higonokami Hunting knife Husa knife Ivan's Knife Jacob's ladder Karambit Kard Kirpan Kitchen knife Kukri Laguiole knife Machete Mandau Marking knife Misericorde Mora knife Multi-tool Navaja Neck knife Nontron knife Opinel knife Palette knife Pantographic knife Parang Penknife Penny knife Pesh-kabz Pirah Pocketknife Phurba Putty knife Puukko Rampuri Resolza Sabatier Sami knife SARK Scalpel Seax Sgian dubh Sharpfinger Sheath knife Shiv Sliding knife Smatchet SOG Knife Straight razor Strider SMF Survival knife Swiss Army knife Switchblade Taping knife Throwing knife Trench knife Tumi Ulu Utility knife Verlängerungsmesser Warrior knife Wedung X-Acto Yarara Parachute Knife Yatagan
Daggers	Anelace Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife Arkansas toothpick BC-41 Bagh nakh Balarao Baselard Bichuwa Bollock dagger Cinquedea Dha Dirk Ear dagger Emeici Facón French Nail Gunong Hunting dagger Jambiya Jile Kabutowari Kaiken Kalis Katar Khanjali Khanjar Kris Kunai Liaoning dagger Mark I trench knife Microtech Jagdkommando Parrying dagger Poignard Pugio Push dagger Rondel dagger Seme Shobo Sica Stiletto Tantō U.S. Marine Raider stiletto V-42 Yoroi-dōshi
Manufacturers	Aitor Knife Company Al Mar Knives American Tomahawk Company Aritsugu Benchmade Böker Buck Knives Camillus Cutlery Company Cattaraugus Cutlery Company Chris Reeve Knives Chroma Cnife Clauss Cutlery Company Cobray Company Cold Steel Columbia River Knife & Tool Cuisinart Cutco Dalian Hanwei Metal Dexter-Russell Ek Commando Knife Co. EKA Emerson Knives F. Dick Fällkniven FAMAE Fiskars Gerber Legendary Blades Füritechnics Glock Ges.m.b.H. Imperial Schrade Ivan's Ka-Bar Kershaw Knives KitchenAid Korin Japanese Trading Company Kyocera Leatherman Mad Dog Knives Marble Arms Medford Knife and Tool Microtech Knives Morseth Muela Murphy Knives OLFA Ontario Knife Company Opinel Randall Made Knives Ranz Cuchillos Rösle Sabatier Shun Cutlery Slice, Inc. SOG Specialty Knives Spyderco STI Knives Strider Knives Thiers Issard TOPS Knives Tramontina Victorinox W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Carl Walther GmbH Wenger Western Knife Company Wilkinson Sword Wüsthof Yoshida Metal Industry Global Zero Tolerance Knives Zwilling J. A. Henckels
Knifemakers	Rex Applegate James Black Tom Brown Jr. Blackie Collins John Nelson Cooper Jack W. Crain Ernest Emerson Jerry Fisk Bill Harsey Jr. Phill Hartsfield Gil Hibben Jimmy Lile Bob Loveless William F. Moran Ken Onion Ralph Osterhout Bo Randall Chris Reeve A. G. Russell Jody Samson William Scagel Mike Snody Robert Terzuola Michael Walker Buster Warenski Daniel Winkler
Associations	American Bladesmith Society Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association Knifemakers' Guild
Category:Knives / Daggers