the form of a metal rod that protrudes from the rear of the slide when a round is chambered. The moving-barrel mechanism is actuated by a wedge-shaped hinged locking piece underneath the breech. When the pistol is fired, the barrel and slide recoil together, until the hinged locking piece drives down, disengaging the slide and arresting further rearward movement of the barrel. The slide continues its rearward movement on the frame, ejecting the spent case and cocking the hammer before reaching the end of travel. Unlike most autopistols which eject empty cases to the right, the Walther P38 ejects empty cases to the left. Two recoil springs on either side of the frame and below the slide, having been compressed by the slide's rearward movement, drive the slide forward, stripping a new round from the magazine, driving it into the breech and re-engaging the barrel; ending its return travel with a fresh round chambered, hammer cocked and ready to repeat the process. The hinged locking piece assisted breechblock design provides good accuracy due to the in-line travel of the barrel and slide. Initial production P38 pistols were fitted with walnut grips, but these were later supplanted by Bakelite grips. Sheet metal grips were used for a time on pistols produced in France after the war, being called "Gray Ghosts" by collectors on the account of their distinctive parkerizing and sheet metal grips. Post war P1 grips were made of black colored plastic. Variants The Walther P.38 was in production from 1939 to 1945. Initial development of the pistol took place 1937-1939, culminating in the first model, designated Model HP or Heerespistole ("army pistol"), which had several variants as engineering changes were made. Early production included a Swedish contract. The designation P.38 indicates Wehrmacht adoption in 1938, although the exact date is unknown. The transition from HP to the mechanically-identical P.38-marked pistols took place 1939-1940. Sweden bought the P38 in 1939. During WWII, the P.38 was produced by three separate manufacturers: Walther, Mauser, and Spreewerk. To conceal manufacturer identities, each wartime manufacturer used a letter code: ac (Walther); byf (Mauser), and cyq (Spreewerk), followed by the date (e.g.: ac44: Walther 1944 production). Spreewerk did not mark production dates. Pistols were produced in blocks of 10,000 consecutively numbered pistols, with each block having a consecutive letter suffix, to conceal production volume. 1,277,680 P.38s were produced during WWII: 617,585 by Walther in Zella-Mehlis;