This Gun Is Making a Comeback: Walther PPK Is One Again in Production

[AHM]

This Gun Is Making a Comeback: Walther PPK Is One Again in Production

Pistole, Polizei-Kriminale​

Ike warned us about the Military-Industrial Complex,
but does that really mean, "Pistol for police and criminals"?

 

[Thirwell1216]

I have the PPK/S by S&W..Super finiky on ammo. Runs well on plain Winchester white box. Haven't had much luck with anything else. Forget about any modern defense loads. If you are buying because you always wanted one, fine. But if you want it as a cary gun, there are much better options now.

 

[DarrenL]

I would love one in stainless 32, because women love a stainless ppks in 32, but like others have said, the 380 version is not that fun to shoot, has a 1500lb DA pull, and there are many lighter, smaller options in 380 and 9mm that are less expensive and equal or higher capacity.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Back many moons ago, I picked up a Makarov. A similar-blowback designed pistol. First time I shot it was early December late in the day. Bam. OUCH! Bam. OUCH!!!! Bam. OUUUUCCCHH!!!!

I was pissed. Was it the gun? Was there a problem? WTF???

Thin wool gloves. Took them off, and amazingly the gun stayed well in my hands and no more pain. Learned my lesson that day.

 

[LLF]

PPK stands for Polizei Pistole Kriminale. The PPK was introduced as a concealable version of the PP (Polizei Pistole) for use by plain-clothes detectives ("criminal police"). The PP was primarily carried in an external holster by "Ordnung Polizei" (uniformed patrol officers).
In 1968 the Federal Government changed the rules governing imported "vest pocket" pistols. The PPK was too small and too light under the new US laws. Walther redesigned the PPK making it longer and heavier for the US market and designated it the PPK/S.
The PPs and PPKs from the 1930s and 1940s are far superior in design and function than the modern PPK/S. I have several in my collection, including a PP and a PPK that I shoot from time to time. The guns function very well with no jams or FTEs using Remington .32 ACP ammo. The worst feature are the sights, which are tiny and non-adjustable.

My "shooters". The grips on the PPK are non-original. Also, notice the Walther banner is missing on the PP. This is common with late-war pistols as the Germans started using alphabetical codes instead of the name of the manufacturer in an attempt to confuse the allies.


This is an "Ehrenwaffe fur Politische Leiter" or "honor pistol" that was given to Nazi party officials on special occasions. It is essentially a PPK with special grips.


Walther PPK with the RZM ("Reichs Zeug Meisterei") or Reich Supply Office logo on the slide. This pistol could be purchased by Nazi party members with permits to own firearms.

 

[Knob Creek]

Back when Bond still used one:

 

[wiryone1]

I will never carry one, but I just love the lines! Will always be an elegant looking gun to me. It is a gun I just admire for its looks and interesting history... and James Bond.

 

[45collector]

I had a stainless Interarms PPK/s for many years and just recently sold it last year, or the year before I don't recall. But it was my summer carry gun for at least 6 or 7 summers until I found the Makarov, (which has since been retired as the summer gun in favor of the Sig P938).
They are a beautifully designed gun, the PP series but have always been plagued with troubles in the .380 variety. Someone else mentioned a true PPK is in .32, and that's the original chambering for the design. Mine gave me random troubles over the years until I started replacing parts, putting different weight springs in it and lightly polishing internals where needed. Once I got the gun to be reliable enough to trust my life with it, I sent it over to Greg Derr to have some minor custom work done. Stippled the front and back straps, smoothed down some sharp external edges, and bead blasted the brushed stainless finish. It was finally a nice carry gun, but by that point I was already overly impressed with the better reliability, simplicity, capacity and ballistics of the Makarov 9x18.
So do I miss that PPK/s I spent all that time, money and effort on? Not really. It was a learning experience and like lots of other guns bought, sold, and traded over the years, I now know that particular classic pistol inside and out.

 

[citoriguy]

Sexy in SS...

I’d consider leaving my wife for that!

 

[Daddy Mac]

Picked up a stainless PPK/S around 2007. Ran well on just about any FMJ I fed it. S&W had a recall on the hammer block and I just got around to sending it back a few weeks ago. The gun went back to S&W but I wonder who will do the fix. The original return label from long ago would have returned it to Houlton, ME where it was made, but the new return label shipped it off to S&W in Springfield, MA. A fun little gun, too many sharp edges, looks nice with a set of Hogue wood grips.

 

[rep308]

Anyone else know someone who ripped apart the webbing between the thumb and index finger by gripping the PPK to high and the slide causing major damage? Quite the scar from the fat big guy at my club

 

[Koolmoose]

I have an Interarms PPK/S stainless. It is my summer carry gun. I cannot recall ever having a feeding issue with it. Nevertheless, the criticisms stated above around recoil and sharpness are accurate. A range day with it always results in bites, blood and bandaids.

It shoots all brands of hollow point self defense rounds with no problems. I’ve been thinking about a compact 9MM. We’ll see.

 

[seanc]

IMO the PPK was a great gun for it’s time. But that time has passed and there are a ton of offering that are smaller, lighter and all around better . For 32 seecamp and NAA. For 380s millions of offerings. It is just too big and too heavy for that caliber by today’s standards.

That said.. it is possibly one of the sexiest guns ever with a 007 connection that will never go away.

if it were me, I’d do some sort of redesign to offer the same size package in some sort of new caliber. Maybe a hybrid 380, necked down to a 32.or some sort of 32ppk magnum that all previous PPKs could be up revved to.

 

[Coyote33]

I think I read that Sig fairly recently just stopped making (or selling?) their 232, which is basically a PPK clone. I wonder if they started selling these again to fill in the gap that was left.

 

[Coyote33]

IMO the PPK was a great gun for it’s time. But that time has passed and there are a ton of offering that are smaller, lighter and all around better . For 32 seecamp and NAA. For 380s millions of offerings. It is just too big and too heavy for that caliber by today’s standards.

That said.. it is possibly one of the sexiest guns ever with a 007 connection that will never go away.

if it were me, I’d do some sort of redesign to offer the same size package in some sort of new caliber. Maybe a hybrid 380, necked down to a 32.or some sort of 32ppk magnum that all previous PPKs could be up revved to.

Good idea. Here you go:

.32 NAA

How about they take the PPK and use some super light alloy like "Scandium", and then further smooth it down for easier carry?

 

[ISOTOX]

Honestly one of the best feeling guns to hold...very comfortable in all Variants.
Very snappy and can bite you. You will figure it out after your first or second time getting bit. No longer my everyday carry. Everyone likes shooting it so it gets plenty of range time.

 

[MuzzleDiscipline]

One issue the basic design suffers is DA trigger pull. Even meticulously tuned the trigger pull is heavy and not smooth. The linkage lengths in the small gun work against it. Training can overcome it to a degree and adrenalin injection does a great deal to mitigate obstacles to getting off a first shot but there are better solutions with more modern pistols and one gets to move up to 9x19mm. The styling has never been matched.

 

[Nick Fury]

I have two of these. I had a 32acp itch and thanks to Gunbroker I was able to scratch it hard. The cool part is both are dual toned but one was reversed. So I did a slide swap and now have a full nickel and full black one. Bersa is highly underrated and often stupid cheap...

 

[seanc]

Good idea. Here you go:

.32 NAA

How about they take the PPK and use some super light alloy like "Scandium", and then further smooth it down for easier carry?

Agreed. Cor bon, 32mag. 7.62x 25 would be a great idea. or if they were to come up with something they could call 35PPK or something to build and market around. Something they could use existing mags with a drop in type barrel capable of dealing with a blow back. They have a huge installed base that they could pull from. And create a ton of marketing buzz.

 

[Coyote33]

@NickLeduc here's another good idea for you: 32NAA barrels for PPK.

;-)

One issue the basic design suffers is DA trigger pull. Even meticulously tuned the trigger pull is heavy and not smooth. The linkage lengths in the small gun work against it. Training can overcome it to a degree and adrenalin injection does a great deal to mitigate obstacles to getting off a first shot but there are better solutions with more modern pistols and one gets to move up to 9x19mm. The styling has never been matched.

Why are so many modern guns so ugly? The closest to nice looking are the Kahr MK9 and the S&W 3919 (or is it 3913?). Just take any of the working guns now, and make them somewhat ATTRACTIVE and you'd have a winner. Do away with the big sights, rails, square trigger guards, and stupid angles/lines, and make a rounded, flowing design; with all the proper working internals, and you'll have a winner. This is why I wanted the Remington R51 to succeed so bad.

It is even harder to understand, considering all the flexibility the plastics give you nowadays, but they still manage to make them so ugly.

 

[seanc]

@NickLeduc
Why are so many modern guns so ugly? The closest to nice looking are the Kahr MK9 and the S&W 3919 (or is it 3913?). Just take any of the working guns now, and make them somewhat ATTRACTIVE and you'd have a winner. Do away with the big sights, rails, square trigger guards, and stupid angles/lines, and make a rounded, flowing design; with all the proper working internals, and you'll have a winner. This is why I wanted the Remington R51 to succeed so bad.

It is even harder to understand, considering all the flexibility the plastics give you nowadays, but they still manage to make them so ugly.

I think there is quite a bit of truth to this. I think for a design aesthetic point. I think that Glock is the best if the bunch as far as a minimalist/ bauhaus type.

Many have tried to go in this direction and largely failed spectacularly. S@w sigma., IMO the shield and XDs fall far short from a design look standpoint as well.

I’d definitely love to see a lot more effort put into the design side of thing as well.

 

[fencer]

Fugg that. I mean, 380 is better than a sharp stick, but I am not so sure about 32. You might be better off with the stick. If you shot me with a 32, and I noticed, I would probably be pissed.

 

[MuzzleDiscipline]

I am convinced the biggest problem with anything below 9mm is penetration or lack. Heavy winter clothing has a way of stopping .32 and below and .380 is borderline.

 

[Deleted member 67409]

I am convinced the biggest problem with anything below 9mm is penetration or lack. Heavy winter clothing has a way of stopping .32 and below and .380 is borderline.

Ok first you've never shot or learned about a 7.62x25, 7.63x25, or 5.7x28.

Second, sub-0.355" calibers can penetrate bone and body parts quite fine and have been doing so since JMB's day. See pages 74-75 (86-87 of the .pdf):

http://www.specops.pl/vortal/download/files/shooting_to_live.pdf

Third, the vast majority of shooting deaths occurs with mousegun calibers like .25ACP, .32ACP, and .380ACP. Criminals who actually kill people don't carry 1911s or HK 45s. Source: pretty much any police report involving a shooting.

 

[Coyote33]

Fugg that. I mean, 380 is better than a sharp stick, but I am not so sure about 32. You might be better off with the stick. If you shot me with a 32, and I noticed, I would probably be pissed.

Some "ammo" (sorry for the pun) for you:


Guardian .32 NAA
"WITH THE ADVANCES IN AMMO, AND THE POTENTIAL OF THE .32 NAA CALIBER, THE GUARDIAN IS A SERIOUS PISTOL WITHIN ITS CLASS."

Tested: North American Arms .32 NAA Guardian


From wikipedia:
Performance
The cartridge delivers in excess of 1,222 ft/s (372 m/s) velocity to a 60 grain (3.9 gram) proprietary bullet from Hornady. This generates 199 ft⋅lbf (270 J) of energy from the 2.5" Guardian barrel (1453 ft/s & 287 ft⋅lbf (389 J) from a 4" test barrel).[2]

According to Phil W. Johnston, the 60 gr Corbon cartridge averaged 1204 fps, with an extreme spread of 69 fps and a standard deviation of 19 fps, for 193.09 ft-lbs of energy. When fired at ballistic gelatin, he obtained 6.25" of penetration, with expansion to 0.528" and 72% weight retention.[3]

Extreme Shock Ammunition offers an "Enhanced Penetration Round" that sends a 60 gr. bullet at 1196 fps for 190 ft lbs of energy.[4]

In fall 2012, Hornady released a .32 NAA Critical Defense load that propels a relatively heavy (thus higher sectional density), 80 grain JHP FTX bullet at 1,000 fps.[5]

 

[Nick Fury]

I am convinced the biggest problem with anything below 9mm is penetration or lack. Heavy winter clothing has a way of stopping .32 and below and .380 is borderline.

Try not to overlook what you just said while swinging your phallus. I have played with the chrono and done penetration tests with the 32acp. Most of the fmj target loads are laughable. I mean rediculous. Like 700 fps out of a 3” barrel. Now some hand loaded 75 grain hard cast moving around 950-1000 will penetrate 16” all day long.

So yeah gorillas like Fencer might laugh at you but he is going to have small holes going completely thru him. And it won’t be funny at all if any of them hit vital organs...

 

[seanc]

I don’t have any statistics. But by my anecdotal observations. I think you’d find that more people are killed with 22lr than any other single caliber. Talking about civilians/ crime.

so while we may view a 32 as completely inferior. By sheer numbers, 22 has a long history as being sufficiently “Killy”

 

[M60]

There's nothing wrong with the PPK, that the beretta 84, and 85 won't fix much better. Feels better, fits better, holds more ammo, never fails and is crazy accurate. Other than that, the PPK is a fine weapon of choice.

 

[mousegunfan]

Is their another source for this? Maybe something from Walther.

 

[MMArtist]

Trying to wrap my head around the multiple posts that are saying a .380 pistol that weighs more than a G26 is "Snappy". Its like shooting a water pistol.

The PPK was a GREAT handgun.. in 1935.