field stripping a Walther PPK

[milktree]

first: I know how to take apart this style of gun: Pull down on the trigger guard, pull the slide all the way to the back, lift the rear, move the slide all the way forward. Same as with a S&W 41, Walther PP, (and I assume PPK/s), VP70 (nearly), HK P7 (nearly) etc. You do a thing that allows the slide to go back farther, then it pops up and out.

This PPK won't go back far enough. It look and feels like the recoil spring is binding, preventing the slide from going back far enough to allow the rear rails to get free. I can see the spring coils binding up in the trigger guard hole.

But if that's the case, I don't understand how it was assembled in the first place.

What the heck is going on here?

 

[Taipan01]

I pull the trigger guard down and move it to the side so it doesn't reengage. It's "wiggly" enough to do so and locks itself there. Then pull the slide all the way back and lift. Once the slide is out of the guides on the receiver I slowly move it forward and off.

 

[milktree]

I pull the trigger guard down and move it to the side so it doesn't reengage. It's "wiggly" enough to do so and locks itself there. Then pull the slide all the way back and lift. Once the slide is out of the guides on the receiver I slowly move it forward and off.

Yea, I know how it's supposed to open; but it doesn't work. The slide won't go back far enough.

I use a piece of cardboard to prevent the trigger from scratching the bottom of the frame or falling back into the notch.

I have a PP also, which field-strips just fine. Its slide actually goes back all the way and clears the frame easily.

 

[Sterg]

One end of the slide spring can be tight. Maybe it inched up a little. Can it cycle a round? I have to screw the spring off the barrel to get it off so I don’t take it off. IIRC when I first bought mine it was hard to get the slide off.

 

[milktree]

One end of the slide spring can be tight. Maybe it inched up a little. Can it cycle a round?

I don’t know, I don’t have any .32ACP ammo to test with. (Yet). But the slide absolutely moves back far enough, the limit is the tang on the trigger guard, (it goes farther back with the guard pulled down)

I have to screw the spring off the barrel to get it off so I don’t take it off. IIRC when I first bought mine it was hard to get the slide off.

I’ve pulled REALLY hard on the slide, there’s no way the spring is stuck forward.

 

[BTSDOG]

Did u take the magazine out.....

 

[Marty McFly]

Stick a credit card between the guard and the frame. That will free up your hands to mess with it. I can't imagine it's a spring issue since that's around the barrel. Some just need some persuasion if that haven't been taken apart in a while

 

[milktree]

Did u take the magazine out.....

Of course. That's step #1 in field stripping anything with a removable magazine.

Stick a credit card between the guard and the frame. That will free up your hands to mess with it. I can't imagine it's a spring issue since that's around the barrel. Some just need some persuasion if that haven't been taken apart in a while

I used cardboard, same effect.

I wouldn't have thought it was a spring issue, either, because that would be bonkers.

I have a PP which is identical in its function, and it comes apart easily. There's plenty of "throw" to get the slide off.

The PPK doesn't have enough "throw", it just wedges up.

 

[Marty McFly]

Of course. That's step #1 in field stripping anything with a removable magazine.



I used cardboard, same effect.

I wouldn't have thought it was a spring issue, either, because that would be bonkers.

I have a PP which is identical in its function, and it comes apart easily. There's plenty of "throw" to get the slide off.

The PPK doesn't have enough "throw", it just wedges up.

I know I had alot of trouble the first few times with my used interarms ppk. Now it's one easy motion. Maybe some solidified grime catching up?

I know you're not a moron so I'm grasping at straws

 

[Pistolay]

Is it possible that the spring was put on backwards the last time it was disassembled?

 

[Fixxah]

Youtube?

 

[milktree]

Is it possible that the spring was put on backwards the last time it was disassembled?

Maybe? If so, I don’t understand how it fit back together.

 

[45collector]

You may have a bulged barrel. Are you able to get the slide to lock back so you can get a light in from the chamber and inspect the bore from the muzzle?

 

[42!]

Sounds like you're doing it right. Could be the spring was replaced at some point and it's not quite right. Or it's on backwards, the back is just a little tighter wind so it "grips" the barrel, and the muzzle a little more open so it will push out on the slide. I've seen replacements that are just straight coils. Sometimes this works, sometime it doesn't.

Not much you can do but keep working it and hope the coils line up to allow it back. They got it on so it's possible. Be patient. Good luck.

 

[milktree]

You may have a bulged barrel. Are you able to get the slide to lock back so you can get a light in from the chamber and inspect the bore from the muzzle?

Absolutely. Comparing it to the PP, the PPK moves back only -->][<-- this much less. Like 1mm / 0.004" / 1/32" less.

Barrel looks perfect. The whole gun overall is in really, really nice shape.

 

[45collector]

Absolutely. Comparing it to the PP, the PPK moves back only -->][<-- this much less. Like 1mm / 0.004" / 1/32" less.

Barrel looks perfect. The whole gun overall is in really, really nice shape.

That is pretty odd. Hopefully you get it off eventually without much trouble. If it just won't budge though, it is likely to be a bulged barrel which aren't always easy to diagnose.

 

[45collector]

So did you get that slide off?

 

[45collector]

C'mon bro don't leave us hanging

 

[milktree]

C'mon bro don't leave us hanging

Sorry man, I should have answered as soon as I figured it out:

I finally got the slide off by pushing REALLY REALLY HARD and wiggling back and forth. Metal on metal. Big dose of "WTF were they thinking!?!" See below.

tl;dr: Gun came with a threaded barrel, and its original barrel. the threaded barrel was NOT a PPK barrel, it's a PP barrel that someone threaded. Why does this matter? because the chamber end of the two barrels are not quite the same. The PPK barrel has more space for the spring. This isn't an issue with the PP, because the PP's slide is way longer. The difference is only 2mm, but clearance is clearance, and "no clearance" isn't good enough.

As I bought it:


Disassembled, with normal barrel:


Closeup of the threaded and normal barrels. Note that the breech ends are lined up.


Closeup of the front edge of the installed threaded barrel:



Threaded barrel "base" length is 28.6mm (ish)


Normal barrel is 26.6mm (ish), 2mm shorter than the threaded one.



That 2mm is more than enough space to prevent the recoil spring from binding.

Some knucklehead "gunsmith" installed the threaded barrel, struggled REALLY HARD to reassemble the gun, and then said, "Meh.. close enough. Ship it."

Now I have to get a definitive answer about weather it matters if the barrel retaining pin should be pushed out left to right, or right to left.

I might put the threaded barrel in a lathe and remove 2mm to provide spring clearance, but probably not. I bought this because I want a classic Bond Walther PPK (not PPK/s!) and the threaded barrel doesn't match that aesthetic.

 

[45collector]

Glad you figured it out! I don't believe it matters which way you drift the barrel pin out.
Regarding the threaded barrel, I bet a suppressed .32 is wicked quiet. Maybe the previous owner had aspirations to be a hit man.

 

[milktree]

If I wasn’t living in Mass. I’d absolutely get a can for it!