Additionally, the higher price put it in disadvantage against less expensive designs and the sales of P5 started to suffer as a result.

The designation “88” was chosen when the civilian marketing began in 1986/1987 in view of the 50th anniversary of the legendary Walther P38.

It was also Walther's contribution to the US Army's Joint Service Small Arms Program (JSSAP XM9) handgun trials.

Also, the P88 failed the dropping tests, with the rear target sights popping off and the pistols frames cracking from 7000 rounds of sustained fire.

The Walther P88 also took part in the 1990 Bundeswehr pistol tests held by WTD91 military technical department.

The production of the P88 Compact - the slightly lighter and smaller, which was also cheaper to manufacture - variant continued up until year 2000.

The standard P88 was heavily criticised for being bulky, heavy and expensive; the Compact solved some of these issues.

The “manual” safety supplemented the force-fit vertical barrier, automatically controlled by the trigger, with longitudinal locking of the firing pin (fuse no.

After the Bundeswehr had initially rejected the Walther P88, the "Compact" was subsequently submitted during the follow-up pistol trials which lasted until 1993.

Compact variant lost to Heckler & Koch's P8, which was a slightly modified USP with regard to barrel bearings, manual safety and magazine design.

[14] For all variants of the Walther P88, the Nill company still produces wooden grips with and without thumb rests.