POTD: Walther Toggle Locked Shotgun – More Than Meets The Eye
Sam.S 10.28.21
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a rare bird by today’s standards. This is the Walther Toggle Locked Shotgun which was produced from 1921 to 1931. Production numbers are estimated at around 5,000 built. These guns as mentioned are toggle locked. This system of lockup is most well known for being present on Luger pistols. Aside from that, it should be mentioned this is a rather unorthodox idea for a lockup system on a semi-auto shotgun, but this is why you have got to love the old stuff because someone out there wanted to see what it would look like and made it happen. The bolt is actuated on the side much like you would rack a Maxim machine gun. The bolt release itself lies under the receiver in between the trigger guard and handguard. On the left side of the receiver, there is a sliding button that releases the handguard and hinges downward for loading. These shotguns had pretty low production numbers for the decade that they were manufactured and back in the day this usually can be chalked up to them just plainly not being favored, popular, or interesting to the average consumer. I have heard that the recoil on them is actually fairly harsh so that does not help its case. Coming from a premium brand they probably also carried a hefty price tag.
Lot 659: Rare Pre-War Walther Semi-Automatic Shotgun. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1022/659/rare-prewar-walther-semiautomatic-shotgun.
