Original German WWII 1943 Walther P38 Hardshell Holster by Richard Ehrhardt Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice example of a black leather hardshell Walther P38 holster. It is nicely stamped on the reverse bdr 43 which stands for Richard Ehrhardt of Possneck in Thueringen.

The overall condition of the holster is very good, with black dyed leather, heavy white stitching, intact original belt loops, and pistol ejection strap. The original flap securing strap and loop are present and in functional condition.

A really nice holster that will complete any WWII era Walther P38 pistol. Ready to display or use!

The Walther P38 (originally written Walther P.38) is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that was developed by Carl Walther GmbH as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was intended to replace the costly Luger P08, the production of which was scheduled to end in 1942.

The Walther P38 was in production from 1939 to 1945. After the war from 1945-1946, several thousands of pistols were assembled for the French armed forces (frequently dubbed “grey ghosts” because of parkerized finish and grey sheet metal grips). Only after 1957 was the P38 again produced for the German military. Slowly over time, West Germany desired to rebuild its military so that it could shoulder some of the burden for its own defense. Walther retooled for new P38 production since no military firearms production had occurred in West Germany since the end of the war, knowing that the military would again seek Walther firearms. When the Bundeswehr announced it wanted the P38 for its official service pistol, Walther readily resumed P38 production within just two years, using wartime pistols as models and new engineering drawings and machine tools. The first of the new P38s were delivered to the West German military in June 1957, some 17 years and two months after the pistol had initially seen action in World War II, and from 1957 to 1963 the P38 was again the standard sidearm.