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Walther LPM 1 - another project

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:27 pm
by Tank
Well, another gun I took no "before" photographs of. This is the famed Walther LPM1 built by Carl Walther as he was so incensed by Feinwerkbau stealing his ideas. When this gun was built we had already moved on to Pre Charged guns so there was no real need to produce a Single Stroke Pneumatic - but Carl Walther did as a matter of principle.
When I took this gun on as a project I was a bit dubious about it, they really are a Marmite gun - you love them or leave them - this one has grown on me. I decided to go the whole way and everything that could be done to this gun has been done, the side plates are still with Colin Malloy being blued as I type.
Again, Garry at GTPistols stood up to the plate and produced a superb Duracoat finish as you can see from the pics. I am looking forward to getting it all back together but I am still waiting on some spares and no firm date for delivery - "soon" is the best I got :think:
This is what I have so far:

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Again, not all of the marks have been removed, I don't want to start remanufacturing the gun! But I think this adds to the gun personally.
The list of repairs to the pistol is quite formidable. Firstly, the threads on the main cylinder that secure it to the breech had stripped so this involved me sending it off to Nick to have a couple of 4mm Helicoils inserted.
The main Crank Arm pivot bolt, which is an offset hardened steel pin was sheared in two so a replacemen had to be sourced and the seals were just mush. The main cylinder to breech seal has proved the most challenging as I was initially told they were NLA from Walther. Something that turned out to be untrue but meanwhile Nick had started to make one from Polyeurathene bar. This is ongoing.
Then the main cocking lever retaining bolt would NOT come out despite all the "tricks" being used so I simply gave up and stuck it in the drill press for some twist drill treatment. Now it needs drilling and tapping which isn't the end of the world.
As I was so deep into the pistol by this time I decided to have the barrel reblued to get rid of the scoring. The next thing is to lightly refurbish the grip to get rid of the shadows caused by all of the stickers the grip has had put on it in the past.

But this is the clue. Someone, in the not so distant past used this pistol in serious interclub competition. This is well evident. If someone thought that highly of it to use against the modern PCP's I am very hopeful of it's performance. I already shoot my FAS 606 with some success so I am looking forward to seeing what this is like.

Re: Walther LPM 1 - another project

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 10:45 pm
by garryt
It will be interesting to watch the build progress on this one.
Nice pistols...

Re: Walther LPM 1 - another project

Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:07 pm
by Tank
Well, we are a bit further forward. I had sent the sidelever plates off to Colin Malloy for re-bluing as they were badly scored, here they are ready to be built into the compression tube:

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The various components assembled together (and yes, for the pedants amongst you the cocking lever is facing the "wrong" way - but that is because I had to place the pins in the locating holes first.

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And this is as far as it goes for now. I am missing some vital components now so the build is on hold for the time being until the parts arrive.

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Re: Walther LPM 1 - another project

Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:29 pm
by garryt
Excellent,

Keep it coming..... :D

Re: Walther LPM 1 - another project

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 5:56 pm
by zooma
Your LPM-1 will be "better than new" when it is finished!

This is another good restoration job from you with excellent attention to detail that will reward you "big-time" when you find out just how nice they are to shoot!

It looks like the Walther bug is biting a little deeper in the Tank armory :think: - but they are nice and they do have a lot of character - every one of them if a little different from its stablemates - even when they are from the same litter :doh:

Re: Walther LPM 1 - another project

Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 11:50 am
by RobinC
Glad to see you have joined the fold of those of us who love Walthers. The LPM-1 was actualy from a sad time in the company's history when it was struggling yet is still a superb pistol. Mine, number 10972 is a lovely example of the model but is totaly different internaly to the later ones! There were many versions of it some in silver, some black, some high gloss blued some matt, internals are also different.
It was also used as the basis for prop guns used in the Starwars films, look carefully and you will see the Troopers using them!
It was from the difficult end/transition period of Walther when it changed from a pure family business to another family business! Many think it was bought by Umarex a big corporation, but in fact Umarex is part of the PW group which is wholly owned by two partners, both long term friends of the Walther family and both true walther enthusiasts, and there is still a Walther on the current board. The old factory in Ulm was a wonderfull old rabbit warren of a building but the new high tech plant is superb, although you can still catch one of the partners having a crafty smoke in the car park as we did on our last visit! We chatted and we can confirm he is a true enthusiast.
The museum at the factory is a a true joy with examples of most of what they have made, not open to the public but can be visited occasionaly by arrangment.
Welcome to the club.
Robin

Re: Walther LPM 1 - another project

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 3:28 pm
by BenHHH
I still love mine.
http://xooit.xooit.com/pub.php?xooimage ... 0_xooimage
I'm trying to shoot better with my Morini Cm162EI but i'm also using my LPM1 only for the pleasure of eyes and sensations !
It is always with me when i'm going in holydays in the french country. I don't need any compressed air or CO2.

Re: Walther LPM 1 - another project

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 6:27 pm
by hundert
hey,

how do I take out the piston from inside the cylinder without scratching it? There is this ring in front that can be squeezed, what tool do I use for that? Thanks