Walther P5 Dutch Police

The Dutch police is using the Walther P5 as fire-arm since the early 80′s. However, at this moment the police is changing over to a newer Walther Model (P99Q-NL) as the old Walthers do not meet up anymore with todays requirements. Around 50,000 P5s have seen service with the Dutch police and they will probably all be the shredded after being replaced by the new pistol.

The Dutch P5s have the serial range 50,000-100,000 and 500,000-504,000. A letter "N" is found on the slide in front of the serial number. The prefix letter “N” is only found on Dutch police pistols and therefore these pistols can be easily recognized by this feature. Only a few Dutch police pistols are in hands of private collectors and that makes this pistol for collectors one of the rarest P5 variations.

Below you can see pictures of two Dutch police pistols (serial number N-075922 and N-059762).

N-075922 is a nice example of a pistol as it was delivered by Walther to the Dutch Police. The pistol was made in 1982 and has the same technical properties as a commercial model from that time. The pistol was delivered as part of a batch of 456 guns to the Dutch Customs on the 22nd of October 1982. Some time later (probably around 1990) the pistol got returned to the logistical Police department (in Dutch: “De Intendance”) for re-distribution to other police department. The pistol was fitted here with the very rare hogue grips that carry the Intendance logo. These grips were only used by the Intendance between 1990 and 1994. After 1994, all departments used the hogue grips with the general police logo.

Dutch police guns were adapted in a few ways to accomodate the Dutch reguirements. First, the dutch LE agencies used Hogue grips. Ordinary hogue grips have an encircled “Hogue” logo. Dutch P5′s have the Dutch police “Flame” logo instead of the hogue logo.

In 1997 the Dutch police started to modify the Dutch police pistols with an “improved” drop safety, which can be recognized by the small hole in front of the rear-sight. Furthermore, other smaller modification were done to police pistols in the 90s. None of these are observed on this gun. This gun is unmodified with and is in the same state as it left the factory. This probably indicates that the pistol was withdrawn from the police inventory during the early 90s. The history from that point onwards is unknown to me.

N-059762 is an example of a pistol that went through all the modification. The modified drop safety can be clearly identified by the small hole that was drilled in the top of the slide. Under this hole is a small spring that presses the firing pin down and thereby preventing that the firingpin can go in firing mode when being dropped. The firing pin is raised when the trigger is pulled. This additional spring increases the trigger pull noticeable. Furthermore, the pistol has the latest hogue grips with the currently used police logo.

The Dutch police used heavy A3 and Action Effect ammunition. Some cracks of the locking block and frame have been observed with different kinds of  ammo.

Many holster have been used by the Dutch police in the last 30 years. Currently, they are using a retention holster from the Safariland company (model 6280-NL-87-Walther-P5-2309). These holsters feature a automatic lock safety (ALS) system that prevents that the pistol can be grapped and drawn by perpetrators. The strap is locked when in position and thereby prevents that the pistol can be drawn. The police officer can easily operate the lock and move the strap down to enable himself to draw the pistol. The safety system does not increase the drawing time significantly.

The yaqui holsters are being used by the Dutch police for concealed carry. These holsters come in two varieties; thin and thick strap. The thin strap is the older model and it is dis-adviced to use it because of some accidental discharges (the strap went inside the triggerguard when the gun was holstered). The newer model with the thick strap is currently used by the Dutch police for concealed carry.