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Title:	PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC -  GERMAN PISTOL WALTHER MODEL 4 7.65MM SN# 92480
Maker/Manufacturer:	WALTHER, CARL
Date of Manufacture:	1910-1917
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 886
Measurements:	OL: 15.2CM 6" BL: 8.6CM 3 7/16" 19.4 oz. unloaded

Object Description:

GERMAN PISTOL WALTHER MODEL 4 7.65MM SN# 92480
Manufactured by Carl Walther, Zella-Mehlis, Germany - German semi-automatic, blowback operated, pistol with 8-round detachable box magazine. Manual thumb safety on left side. Left side ejection port. Blued finish; rubber grips. Weapon weighs approximately 19.4 oz. unloaded.

Markings:
Barrel: Crown/N. Barrel: jacket: 55.
Frame: Crown/N.
Triggerguard: S.R.
Slide: 92480. SELBSTLADE-PISTOL CAL. 7.65. WALTHER'S PATENT/Walther banner. Crown/N, government proofs.
Grips: Script C.W. in oval on top.
Magazine: WALTHER in banner.

Weapon found in one of "29 Boxes of Miscellaneous Foreign Weapons as received from New York Port of Embarkation on 6 March 1946, per SA OOO.4/17 and 28. Note: Itemized list showing quantities and descriptions of individual weapons to be attached and made part of this voucher promptly upon completion of checking in of weapons in Experimental-Laboratory, Building No. 28. Weapon to be retained in Experimental-Laboratory for an indefinite period for examination and study per Mr. P.W. Oliver, 11 March 1946, after which they will be regreased and boxed suitable for storage and place with other Museum Material in Building #19 pending reopening of the Armory Museum."

Notes: Purchased by German government for issue to staff officers and police units.

"MODEL 4 - The Model 4 made company history by receiving the first large-scale German government order when, in May of 1915, the Prussian government ordered 250,000 pistols for its armed forces. During the next three years, the Model 4 became highly popular among soldiers who did not want a full-sized handgun like the Parabellum P.08 ('Luger'). As many as 275,000 Model 4s may have served in the wartime German army, making it a spectacularly successful design and the recipient of many orders. So successful was the Model 4, in fact, that Walther soon outgrew its original factory. Shortly after the war began, the company, sold its original factory - the Venuswerke - and moved up to a new, expanded facility, named the Carl Walther Waffenfabrik, which remained the center of Walther manufacturing until 1945." - Gangarosa

"Essentially a big brother to the Modell 3, this pistol was also introduced in 1910. Instead of a 6-shot magazine, the Model 4 had an 8-shot magazine. The grip portion of the frame was correspondingly longer. This handgun was a very popular side arm with German officers during the First World War. The Model 4 had a 85mm barrel compared with the 67mm barrel of the Modell 3, and the Modell 4 had a longer sleeve-type bushing. Walther received an official German government contract for 250,000 Modell 4 pistols in 1915." - Ezell

"The Model 4 was little more than the Model 3 with a longer barrel, an extended slide, and a butt accepting a larger magazine. The earliest guns had the indicator back sight, but this was changed in 1915 to a simpler fixed pattern." - Zhuk

References:
Ezell, Edward. HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD. Stackpole Books. Harrisburg, Pa. 1981.
Gangarosa, Gene. THE WALTHER HANDGUN STORY. Stoeger Publishing Co. Wayne, N.J. 1999.
Smith, W.H.B. MAUSER, WALTHER & MANNLICHER FIREARMS. Stackpole Books. Harrisburg, Pa. 1971.
Zhuk, A.B. THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HANDGUNS: PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS OF THE WORLD, 1870 TO THE PRESENT. Greenhill Books. London, England. 1995.