For $400 bucks, if it's in decent condition, isn't a bad price. They're kind of interesting. It's the first pistol design which was DA/SA, meaning it could be fired in either double action of single action mode.
It was also the first widely manufactured semi-auto design to have a decocking mechanism which meant you could carry it safely with a round in the chamber and the hammer down.
To fire the user simply had to draw and pull the trigger just like a double action revolver. They're chambered for the 9MM cartridge.
Why are you considering the purchase of this particular weapon?
I don't know that I am, at least not seriously. I happened to see it scrolling through a site I look at and was intrigued. Just wanted to know some more before I decided if I was even interested or not.
Nope. That was the earlier Walther PP of circa 1929, thepoliezipistole, usually found chambered in the 7,65mm Browning/.32 auto cartridge, though .380 and .22LR versions are pretty common.
The P.38 was indeed the first 9mm Parabellum double-action handgun to be adopted for military service. And a surprising number still soldier on here and there in odd corners of the world.