Volkspistole
- Category
- Pistol
- Barrel
- 128 mm
- Weight, empty
- 1.01 kg
- Introduced
- 1944
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Volkspistole ('people's pistol') was a series of last-ditch German semi-automatic pistols developed in 1944-1945 to arm the Volkssturm militia amid a severe handgun shortage in the final phase of World War II. The best-documented design, by Carl Walther, was built almost entirely from stamped sheet metal joined with rivets and minimal spot-welds, chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum and fed from standard P38 8-round magazines. Intended to drastically cut machining time and raw material compared to the P38, it never reached series production; only a handful of hand-built prototypes survive.
Conceived as Germany collapsed in 1945, the Volkspistole was meant to be a disposable, mass-stampable sidearm for the Volkssturm home guard, reusing existing P38 magazines to leverage wartime stockpiles. The war ended before any production line was established, leaving it an artifact of desperation-driven wartime engineering.
Parallel Volkspistole projects were undertaken by Mauser (some using a falling-barrel or self-cocking design) and Gustloff-Werke (using a gas-delayed blowback action). The Walther variant retained the barrel with a hardened cylindrical plug retracted by a side lever, allowing barrel removal. No examples saw combat use before Germany's surrender in May 1945.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Carl Walther GmbH
- Category
- Pistol
- Country
- Germany
- Status
- Prototype
- Produced
- 1944 to 1945
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 128 mm
- Overall length
- 215 mm
- Height
- 140 mm
- Width
- 30 mm
- Weight, empty
- 1.01 kg
- Weight, loaded
- 1.09 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Blowback
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 8
- Magazine
- Detachable box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Stamped steel
- Slide
- Stamped steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Finish
- Phosphate
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 360 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 481 J
- Effective range
- 25 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Stamped sheet metal construction- Riveted assembly
Removable barrel
P38 magazine compatible
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 560 9x19mm Parabellum pistols | 1.01 kg | 765 g | Heavier than about 80% |
| Overall lengthAmong 559 9x19mm Parabellum pistols | 215 mm | 191 mm | Longer than about 80% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 569 9x19mm Parabellum pistols | 128 mm | 105 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 571 9x19mm Parabellum pistols | 8 | 15 | Holds fewer rounds than about 90% |
Answers
Questions about the Volkspistole
How much does the Volkspistole weigh?
The Volkspistole weighs 1.01 kg (2.22 lb) empty and 1.09 kg (2.40 lb) loaded.
What caliber is the Volkspistole?
The Volkspistole is chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum.
How many rounds does the Volkspistole hold?
The Volkspistole holds 8 rounds, fed from a detachable box magazine.
How long is the Volkspistole?
The Volkspistole is 215 mm (8.46 in) long overall, with a 128 mm (5.04 in) barrel.
Who makes the Volkspistole?
The Volkspistole is made by Carl Walther GmbH (Germany). It was designed by Carl Walther GmbH.
When was the Volkspistole introduced?
The Volkspistole was introduced in 1944 and discontinued in 1945.
How does the Volkspistole operate?
The Volkspistole uses a blowback action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Nazi Germany (Volkssturm, intended)
- Germany
Provenance
Confidence in this record
70%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/volkspistole' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "volkspistole", "name": "Volkspistole", "manufacturer": { "id": "walther", "name": "Carl Walther GmbH", "countryCode": "DE", "foundedYear": 1886, "website": "https://www.carl-walther.de", "logoUrl": null, "description": "German manufacturer of sporting, competition, and defense firearms. Founded in 1886, Carl Walther is known for precision weapons technology.", "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-02-11 23:44:40", "updatedAt": "2026-02-18 03:40:48", "version": "d65d37557d49efec8a72ef6019ef9e5cab9430c505d88b909eaad72b3bf3cfb3" }, "category": { "id": "pistol", "name": "Pistol", "description": "Handguns designed to be fired with one or two hands" }, "country_of_origin": "DE", "year_introduced": 1944, "barrel_length_mm": 128, "weight_empty_g": 1007, "action_type": "blowback"}