Walther LP53. Mine was made in the 1950s.
This report covers:
- Why so long?
- Stripped?
- BB took great care!
- Ain’t no way!
- He fixed it
- It works
- Summary
Today I report on an airgun that’s been waiting four and one-half years for Part 2—Walther’s LP53.
Why so long?
You may wonder why it has taken this long to get to this report. The answer lies at the end of Part 1 where I said, “The good news is I have already stripped my pistol, so you are going to watch it come apart and go together again — I hope! I have ordered a new piston seal to replace the leather seal that’s in my gun now. It could be reused, but it’s looking tired and as long as I’m inside…”
Stripped?
The LP53 is easy to disassemble. It even seems to help you as the parts come out. For step one—anyone who has seen this pistol will recognize there is an end cap at the bottom of the pistol grip that holds the mainsprings in the grip. Simply unscrew it and the springs pop out.
Just unscrew the end cap at the bottom of the pistol grip and the mainsprings come out. That grease tells us someone has been here before.
There are two springs in the LP53 grip. One is inside the other. You can see from the grease showing in the photo above that someone has been inside this pistol.
BB took great care!
When the springs came out BB took great care to make certain he could compress them and get the end cap back on the pistol. He did it several times before advancing.
After that the next part was easy! All I had to do was remove the remainder of the parts from the pistol. As mentioned, they came out easily! Putting them back inside, though, was a different story.
The designers of this pistol never used one part when five would do. And I took the trigger and sear parts out.
Ain’t no way!
Gentlemen, getting the parts back into a Walther LP 53 air pistol, especially the trigger parts, is about as easy as getting all the champaign back into the bottle after popping the cork or getting the ICBM back in the silo after it’s been launched. In other words—it ain’t a-gonna happen. There are many tales of an LP 53 being disassembled, but far fewer about one being put back together And therein lies part of our story.
When I tried to assemble it I discovered that I needed at least 4 hands. Unfortunately my home has been short by two hands for many years.
So the pistol parts sat in a gun case for several years until I had a bright idea. Let Ian do it! Reader 45Bravo, whose name is Ian McKee, has surprised me many times with the repairs he has been able to make.
He fixed it
And he fixed it! It did take four hands and he did have to learn a couple new tricks but he learned them and the pistol now functions as it should.
How he fixed it and what was involved is a story he will have to tell. But the result is—the pistol now works.
While I was pondering what to do once the pistol was back together I ordered a cocking aid that protects the hand from the front sight when breaking the barrel to cock the gun. It came from John Groenewold and as memory serves me it cost around $29 plus shipping. But when it arrived I set it aside and promptly lost it, which is another story you don’t need to know.
So, after he fixed the pistol Ian had no way to cock it until he 3D-printed a cocking aid. It turns out that so many people need one that someone has created a file for one.
Two LP53 cocking aids. The wooden one on the left came from John Groenewold has a metal rod to connect with the freebore in the Walther barrel. The blue plastic one printed by Ian has none. It fits the outside of the barrel closer.
The Walther barrel is freebored to accept the metal rod from the cocking aid. In the 1950s this was current technology. The rifled portion of the barrel is thus safe from harm.
The wooden cocking aid allows some of the front sight to contact the hand. It can hurt if you’re not careful.
The printed cocking aid covers the front sight completely! It is my preferred cocking aid.
It works
The LP53 does work and in the next report we will test the velocity. I even have a special test from my research on the internet.
Summary
It has been a long time getting here and my advice is—don’t disassemble a Walther LP 53. I have read where people have ways of assembly that don’t require 4 hands, but let’s let Ian tell that story himself!
Tom,
So this is one of those basket cases we hear about from time to time! Thankfully Ian was able to figure out how to reassemble it. Part three to follow soon I suppose.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
Soon.
BB
B.B.
That’s cool that Ian was crafty enough to get her shooting again. 😉
I look forward to seeing what you can wring out of her for velocity and accuracy.
Yet, even if she doesn’t shine performance-wise, she’s still an iconic beauty.
Blessings to you,
dave
I submitted my LP53 blog an hour before this blog became live.
We may see it this week, maybe next.
It depends on what Tom has scheduled.
Now I have to write about a Diana Model 6 GISS pistol that had been languishing on my bench and has been recently resurrected from the dead.
Then a Crosman 600 that’s sitting in its box in a drawer of my bench.
Oh, and a “one year later” report of the UMAREX ZELOS.
Maybe not in that order though.
Happy Monday everyone!
I hope everyone had a safe & enjoyable weekend.
Ian.
That order would be fine with me, Ian. I also have a Winchester 363 (Diana 6) GISS pistol (and a Winchester 333 rifle with the same system) and a couple of 600s awaiting their respective round tuits.
This Walther is certainly one of those bucket list pistols, even if only to borrow it for a while.
It is a very unique experience to shoot.
I’m glad I’ve got the chance to do it and learn about it and actually share information online because there is very little actually online about this assembly that I’ve been able to find.
Video wise people review them But only one person I’ve seen so far has a video of how to take it apart. They got the grips off they got the Spring cap off. They got the base plate off. They did get the barrel detach from the frame, but they could not figure out how to Get the caulking Lever out of the frame and that’s where the video stopped and that was five years ago when that video was published.
I’m working on one now from the footage I used when I resealed it, but there were so many starting stops. I’m having to cut and edit and also sort of things like I’ve never had to do before.
I did see a video where someone actually sacrificed a LP 53 to convert it to CO2.
It works but you have to use 12 g threaded cartridges and you just killed any intrinsic value that that LP 53 actually had.
And it is vastly vastly different than the GISS pistols on the shot cycle.
Ian.
Excited for the Model 6 report. Have my dad’s that I need to work on.
I do wonder how far the previous owner of this gun got into it. Was the pistol butt merely loosened and then had that excess grease applied? Or perhaps he went just enough further to barely get it re-fitted before quickly passing it along to the next curious air-gunsmith. Hummm . . . if BB can’t put it together, then that’s a gun for me to stay away from!. Orv.
That I don’t know Tom probably has pictures from when he took it apart and he would be able to tell you if it was the original factory seal in the gun.
But yes, he could’ve just pulled the springs and replaced it with new ones are just decided to lube them himself
Ian
I was initially confused regarding the James Bond reference because I knew he used a Walther PPK. But reading part one answered my question. Now I need to start looking for one of those early James Bond posters with this pistol in his hand. One of my other hobbies is a home theater and I would love to hang that poster on the wall.
Ian must be a magician. Thanks to both of you for making these reports possible.
B.B.
“The Walther barrel is freebored to accept the metal rod from the cocking aid.”
Huh? Sorry I do not understand? Freebored????
-Yogi
PS nice work Ian!
Yogi,
Freebored is a term meaning the bore has been drilled out, leaving a large unrifled tube. It’s done for reasons like what you see on this pistol—the cocking aid attacjment point.
NN
So it in effect becomes a smooth bore?
-Y
Yogi,
Yes, but only at that point. The rest of the barrel is still rifled nand thje pellet never touches the walls of the freebore.
BB
So no choke?
-Y
Yogi,
I don’t think so but if there is it’s in the rifled section.
BB
Yogi and everyone,
My definition of freebore was incorrect. Freebore means something else and as far as I know there is no name for that the LP53 has.
BB
It’s called counter bored.
It’s actually done on many surplus military rifles to remove damaged or eroded rifling near the muzzle.
By taking a ‘03 Springfield in 30-06 that has a damaged bore or eroded rifling due to corrosive ammo.
Counter boring with an 8mm hole will give a new crown farther back the barrel.
Possibly increasing accuracy over the eroded bore.
Yes, you have a gun that has a 24 inch barrel. (On the outside)
But the rifled section is only 19 inches. (On the inside)
Ian
Ian,
Thank you. Of course! Duh!
BB
Yogi,
Depends on your perspective. I doubt the spinning projectile notices on the WayOut of the rifled part of the barrel.
Perhaps a partially rifled barrel and not a smooth bore in my opinion.
shootski
Yogi, my understanding is that freebore is the part of the bore near the muzzle that is “free” of rifling but larger in diameter than the rifled section of the bore. In other words, the crown of the rifling is way back inside the muzzle end of the barrel. The projectile leaves the rifled part and doesn’t touch any part of the rest of the freebore section of the bore and then it exits the muzzle.
Does that help you visualize it?
A job well done Ian, I will be looking forward to your story regarding reassembly. And thanks to you BB for bringing back to the forefront this iconic pistol. Let’s see how James Bond could have used it to save his skin.
On a serious note, I cannot imagine the horror in the Texas Hill Country, particularly in those camps, when the water started to rise very fast in the wee hours of the fourth. My heart goes out to those who lost someone, with prayers in hope that those still missing are quickly rescued. Also, a big thank you to the first responders and volunteers tirelessly participating in the S&R operations. Let’s hope that they find all the missing persons before more rain makes things worse.
Henry
Amen!
Sadly the cutting of funds for FEMA and NOAA is going to cost many American lives!
-Y
Yogi
I looked for one of the most anti Trump sources for the Texas Hill Country Flash Flooding that i could find: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/7/texas-flooding-what-happened-what-went-wrong-and-whats-the-death-toll
Please take particular note of the series of increasing threat warnings the NWS (NOAA sub agency) issued in the DAYS and hours before the Flash Flood. No staffing shortage seems to be apparent in their functioning on the Hydrology Desk.
FEMA has had Flooding Charts for the area for decades.
I worked at a camp as a lifeguard many decades ago and we had the Staff doing nightly Watch Duty for fire and other threats to camper safety.
Did they?
shootski
Shootski,
Typically the FEMA flood maps are used for planning purposes (establishing building zones and establishing flood insurance rates) they are updated periodically. They are typically not used for rainfall runoff and flow depth estimates. They can be, but are not developed for that.
The NWS for an area with this history normally develops rainfall runoff and flood depth models that can be run in real time based on the results of their doper radar based rainfall prediction model. Did they have folks running these models? I have no idea. If so did they issue emergency warnings based on projected river crest heights? That gets folks attention.
The warnings issued by the NWS did not get to many folks that needed it. I don’t think the warnings went out on all the local tv, radio, and phone alerts. Not many folks monitor the NWS radio band.
For the camps a night watch is practical but for individuals and couples not so much.
From below: I would not call NOAA and NWS nanny state government services.
It is too bad politics has turned many of our government services into a FUBAR mess instead of systematically weeding out the unneeded and improving the rest based science and understanding of its intended purpose.
I’ll get off my soap box now,
Don
Benji-Don,
I can’t argue. “The warnings issued by the NWS did not get to many folks that needed it. I don’t think the warnings went out on all the local tv, radio, and phone alerts. Not many folks monitor the NWS radio band.” I guess as a kayaker that does trips and camping along very remote stretches of water and has SLOT CANYON experience(s) i pay attention to weather and hydrologic forecasts when picking my camp sights. I have climbed out of many a Wadi to find a safer spot to spend the night/storm.
Portions of NOAA and the NWS have been politicized as have unfortunately most government agencies. Even the people doing REAL science have been forced to conform to groupthink pressure.
I fear i smell the rotting stink of the Roman Empire in the last decades gaining on US.
Jumping off of my Soap Box.
shootski
Henry_TX,
I hope and pray the survivors are able to overcome the traumatic experience they experienced and that the families and friends who lost loved ones can deal with their grief.
I will say i believe we need to all take responsibility for our personal and loved ones safety a bit more in these days of increasing Nanny State Dependency. We in the USA (as well as in other countries) are fast becoming ignorant of what is REAL RISK and what is political spin fear mongering by the folks who want us to be docile weakling Subjects.
shootski
Not having a night watch is inexcusable. A total disregard for the campers safety.
I remember standing a 4 hour fire watch at night in boot camp, with a rifle of course … in a concrete building with nothing to burn except the bedding and smoking was not permitted unless it was at a designated time, in a designated area with a fire watch standing there with fire extinguishing equipment. Over kill? sure but safe as can be.
Shootski, I doubt people involved here will ever recover from their loss or traumatic experience. Especially the ones directly involved.
Hardcore veterans will break out in tears just thinking about their experience years later. My shipmate on the USS Forrestal fire event smelled burned dead bodies every time he went on board another ship. It changed him for life. Nightmares and behavior.
I think it’s the brains way of of making sure you avoid situations like it again. Like flashing your whole life before your eyes when death is eminent. I believe it is actually looking for a memory to pull up that will somehow allow you to survive the situation. Happened to me as I was hanging from a roof by my fingertips, and they slipped off.
I have a cased LP53. Bought at auction many years ago. I read about the back story on why they used the LP53 for the photo shoot. As a “airgun” geek it was just to cool to pass up. Not shot it much. It has hair-trigger and I have not attempted to adjust it. I look forward to the reviews and hope to get some information how to adjust the trigger
I have never had the fortune of having a Walther LP53. I have had a Predom Lucznik, which is a very poor Polish copy of a LP53. The trigger was horrible, but the pistol was surprisingly accurate once you learned how the trigger worked. I would really enjoy playing with one for a bit.
This is a picture of the Polish knock off that Tom and Edith gave me as a present many years ago. I used a metal rod to help as a cocking tool. I measured how far it would go into the barrel and then made a “stop“ so it would not go into far. Without the tool, the front sight on the barrel would dig into your hand painfully.
Give that man a long enough lever, and he can lift the world! ;o)
B-I-L
Would you like a cocking knob?
I promise it won’t be blue…..
Ian.
Thank you but the rod gives me a lot of leverage against a very stiff spring. It is a fun airgun to shoot and was a wonderful gift. BTW, I am Edith’s older brother, Tom’s BIL.
Yes,I knew the relationship
That’s one of the reasons I offered..
we have talked before.
You are in my area.
I know you are a regular blog reader, it’s good to see you still around.
Ian.
Here is the auction photos of my LP53.
Oooh! Ahhh! I have airgun envy now. What a beautiful picture!
But how does she shoot?