Most variants were chambered for the .22 Long Rifle but the Schnellfeuer version used the .22 short, produced to equip the German team for the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936 for the rapid fire events.
[2] The Olympia pistol is a fixed barrel, internal hammer, open-topped slide design and had a large contoured wooden grip which extended well below the bottom of the butt frame causing the necessity of the magazine bottom plate to be fitted with a wooden block extension.
Once World War II started, the need for weapons quickly shifted from competition and sport to the military, thus Olympia production slowed.
All models have an alignment groove and holes drilled in front of the trigger guard for competition weights.
fits into a groove beneath the barrel and a second weight with rounded corners can be bolted onto the first for additional stability.
The slide is made of steel when chambered for cal.22 long rifle ammunition and aluminum-alloy for cal.22 short.
Some trigger guards were drilled for a set screw to restrict rearward movement, thereby increasing speed in the Rapid Fire events.
(weapon finished by factory) Krone U: Untersuchungsbeschuß, the final stamp, representing the Committee for Inquiry (public information).
After 1939 the frame, barrel and slide were stamped with the Eagle over N. Every frame-barrel connection has a witness mark, a thin punch line verifying the matched alignment.
The standard copper-casing .22 rounds suitable for use in bolt-action rifles were not considered functioning ammunition in the semi-auto Walther Olympias.