Post by XavierBreath on Mar 30, 2004 14:25:30 GMT -5
One pistol that gets asked about a lot is the Walther PPK/S, whether by Interarms, or more recently Smith & Wesson.
When my wife finally made up her mind to carry a gun, we went shopping for just the right one. She fell in love with a Walther/Smith & Wesson PPK/S right off the bat, and had to have the gun. I did not want to dampen her enthusiasm for CCW, and there were no rentals available, so I bought her the pistol against my better judgement. I paid $500 out the door.
The Walther PP and PPK (Polizei Pistole Kurz - Short Police Pistol) are blowback operated DA/SA handguns. The Smith & Wesson version is stainless steel in .380ACP. It has a chamber loaded indicator, external hammer, manual safety and out of battery safety. The pistols are well crafted in general, with smallish sights. The blowback action gives them an inherent accuracy. The Smith & Wesson version is a finely crafted piece deserving of the Walther name on it's slide. My only criticism of the craftsmanship is the laser etching of that name instead of a proper rollmark. All other craftsmanship was flawless.
We tried hard to like this gun, but my wife had problems with it right out of the gate. The first problem was loading a magazine. The rounds were small enough, and the mag spring heavy enough that she relied on me to load her magazines.
Next, the blowback design required a strong hand to overcome the recoil spring tension and chamber a round. Changing to a lighter recoil spring would have beat the gun to death. As it was, the front of the trigger guard, where the slide impacts it got peened enough to require a bit of file work to prevent burring. My wife almost developed a complex because of the difficulty she had chambering a round.
The trigger pull was smooth but heavy. It had considerable stacking in DA. We replaced the hammer spring with a 16 pound spring from Wolff and polished up the action. This helped a lot. The pistol was reliable. Our total round count was around a thousand. The pistol had a few failures to feed on the first fifty rounds, but after it got over it's initial teething pains, it never failed to feed or fire. If I could hold the sights on target through the long heavy trigger pull, it was very accurate. I would feed HydraShoks as well as ball ammo.
The famous Walther bite was still in this pistol, despite Smith & Wesson's attempt to get rid of it with a longer grip tang. I radiused both the underside of the slide and the rear of the frame, and still it would bite occasionally. The recoil from the pistol was significant, as was the muzzle flash. I tried a set of Pachmayr Signature grips, but the rear rubber portion would not fit. The front of the grips wallowed around with the single screw to hold them.
The plastic grips were cracked NIB. The wife wanted something pretty anyway, so I placed an order for buffalo horn grips. I was surprised when sambar stag (the real deal) grips arrived instead. I fitted them, and they added enough width to the frame to keep the slide serrations away from my thumb. No more Walther bite. Stag just looked odd on this pistol though.
As time passed, I bought myself a nickel Kahr K40, and my wife quickly took it away to use as her CCW. The Walther became my pistol. I carried it as a hot weather gun in a IWB holster for one Summer, but it was a relatively heavy pistol considering it's light caliber. It was eventually replaced with a similar sized pistol in .45ACP.
The day finally came that I found a one of a kind Colt that I had to have, but I did not have the cash. Every pistol I owned was at stake. The little Walther was the first out of the safe, along with another pistol. The Walther left my stable so a Gold Cup could enter. My trade in value was $300 on this pistol. I had no regrets. Since it was my only .380, and a problem child at that, I hardly ever shot it. My interests were elsewhere. Well, I now regret that I did not save the Walther case to house my P1 later, but that is the only regret.
Today, I see the Walther PP/PPK as an elegant, but obsolete pistol. There are just to many alternatives today in a similarly sized carry pistol in a more effective defensive caliber. If a person wants the "James Bond gun" then a real Walther PP in .32 ACP is the ticket, and can often be found for $300 less than a new PPK/S. Centerfire Systems has the Walther PP, Manurhin Mfg., with brown grips for $215 at present. www.centerfiresystems.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CSI&Product_Code=WALGUNPP-10&Category_Code=HG
When my wife finally made up her mind to carry a gun, we went shopping for just the right one. She fell in love with a Walther/Smith & Wesson PPK/S right off the bat, and had to have the gun. I did not want to dampen her enthusiasm for CCW, and there were no rentals available, so I bought her the pistol against my better judgement. I paid $500 out the door.
The Walther PP and PPK (Polizei Pistole Kurz - Short Police Pistol) are blowback operated DA/SA handguns. The Smith & Wesson version is stainless steel in .380ACP. It has a chamber loaded indicator, external hammer, manual safety and out of battery safety. The pistols are well crafted in general, with smallish sights. The blowback action gives them an inherent accuracy. The Smith & Wesson version is a finely crafted piece deserving of the Walther name on it's slide. My only criticism of the craftsmanship is the laser etching of that name instead of a proper rollmark. All other craftsmanship was flawless.
We tried hard to like this gun, but my wife had problems with it right out of the gate. The first problem was loading a magazine. The rounds were small enough, and the mag spring heavy enough that she relied on me to load her magazines.
Next, the blowback design required a strong hand to overcome the recoil spring tension and chamber a round. Changing to a lighter recoil spring would have beat the gun to death. As it was, the front of the trigger guard, where the slide impacts it got peened enough to require a bit of file work to prevent burring. My wife almost developed a complex because of the difficulty she had chambering a round.
The trigger pull was smooth but heavy. It had considerable stacking in DA. We replaced the hammer spring with a 16 pound spring from Wolff and polished up the action. This helped a lot. The pistol was reliable. Our total round count was around a thousand. The pistol had a few failures to feed on the first fifty rounds, but after it got over it's initial teething pains, it never failed to feed or fire. If I could hold the sights on target through the long heavy trigger pull, it was very accurate. I would feed HydraShoks as well as ball ammo.
The famous Walther bite was still in this pistol, despite Smith & Wesson's attempt to get rid of it with a longer grip tang. I radiused both the underside of the slide and the rear of the frame, and still it would bite occasionally. The recoil from the pistol was significant, as was the muzzle flash. I tried a set of Pachmayr Signature grips, but the rear rubber portion would not fit. The front of the grips wallowed around with the single screw to hold them.
The plastic grips were cracked NIB. The wife wanted something pretty anyway, so I placed an order for buffalo horn grips. I was surprised when sambar stag (the real deal) grips arrived instead. I fitted them, and they added enough width to the frame to keep the slide serrations away from my thumb. No more Walther bite. Stag just looked odd on this pistol though.
As time passed, I bought myself a nickel Kahr K40, and my wife quickly took it away to use as her CCW. The Walther became my pistol. I carried it as a hot weather gun in a IWB holster for one Summer, but it was a relatively heavy pistol considering it's light caliber. It was eventually replaced with a similar sized pistol in .45ACP.
The day finally came that I found a one of a kind Colt that I had to have, but I did not have the cash. Every pistol I owned was at stake. The little Walther was the first out of the safe, along with another pistol. The Walther left my stable so a Gold Cup could enter. My trade in value was $300 on this pistol. I had no regrets. Since it was my only .380, and a problem child at that, I hardly ever shot it. My interests were elsewhere. Well, I now regret that I did not save the Walther case to house my P1 later, but that is the only regret.
Today, I see the Walther PP/PPK as an elegant, but obsolete pistol. There are just to many alternatives today in a similarly sized carry pistol in a more effective defensive caliber. If a person wants the "James Bond gun" then a real Walther PP in .32 ACP is the ticket, and can often be found for $300 less than a new PPK/S. Centerfire Systems has the Walther PP, Manurhin Mfg., with brown grips for $215 at present. www.centerfiresystems.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CSI&Product_Code=WALGUNPP-10&Category_Code=HG
