[Woody_in_MN]

I happened to see a used Walther PPk .380 in a local gun shop. I'm not a big fan of the .380 ammo, but they had $180 marked on the gun. I'd have to take a closer look, but it looked like the gun was about 80%.

Is this a fabulous deal that I can not turn down?

- w

[SouthpawShootr]

So low I'd expect something serious to be wrong with it. Blued or stainless? Make sure it's actually a Walther. Field strip it. Check the barrel for bulges. Make sure the safety works. Look it over real good. Maybe it had a bad refinish, but that's still way low. A few years back, I picked up a pre-war PPK .32 for $200 solely b/c it had been refinished. I couldn't find anything mechanically wrong with it, so I went ahead. It's an outstanding shooter, eating everything I've put in the mag and puts my Interarms PPK/s to shame.

[Jim Watson]

Are you sure it is a Walther?
There are several Hungarian knockoffs in that price range.

[Woody_in_MN]

I just glanced at it while I was picking up another gun. But it was marked Walther PPK - and these guys know their stuff. I don't beleive they are shisters (can I say that?). Anyway, I'll inspect closer. I just say in the glass case - did not bring it out. Recently someone posted how to inspect a piece in this forum. I'll look that over, and take a closer look.

- w

[AirPower]

if these guys know their stuff like you said, then they would know a nice working PPK should worth twice what they marked. gun shop owners know their stuff, and there's usually something wrong if they label something so obviously below price. on the other hand, could be they really wanted to sell it.

[albanian]

It may be a consigment gun and that is why the price is low. I have walked in to my fav gunshop and seen some guns that looked way under priced and almost didn't buy them for that reason. :D After finding out it was a consigment gun and the seller only wanted a certain price I went ahead.

I give a quick example. I saw a nice, almost new SS Kahr K-9 marked $350 in the case. I asked what was wrong with it since all the other used Kahrs that were in the case were marked well over $400 and close to $500. The gunshop owner told me that it was a consigment gun from a customer he knows that just sold a bunch of his guns at the same time. I guess he needed money and wanted the guns to sell and not just sit in the case. The K-9 was like new and it is a great shooter. Accurate and shoots to POA and 100% reliable. I didn't even have any break in problems. I doubt the previous owner shot the 200 rds need to break in a Kahr because it looked so good.

My point is, go back and give it a good looking over and if you don't see anything wrong, buy it. If you take it home and it doesn't work at all because some part is missing or broke, the gunshop will probably at least let you exchange it if not give you your money back. I can promise you one thing, if you wait too long, you decision will be made for you because someone else will buy it. For $180 you can't go wrong because you can part it out for that if you need it.

[MICHAEL T]

I would have left the shop with it of course it would have cost me a extra 30 bucks. That what my bank charges for covering a ISF check. But would have still be a great buy.My PPK/s is next to me right now.

[dogngun]

If it looked all right on close inspection, I'd buy it in a minute. I'm looking at the .32's that AIM Surplus is selling for $260 and I think they are a good deal.

Mark

[Father Knows Best]

So are "Walther" PPK's all made by Walther? I ask because I took a PPK/s in trade without knowing anything about them, and I'm now not sure who made it. It is marked Walther on the grips and elsewhere, but it also has "INTERARMS" on it in big letters. I also read somewhere recently that Smith & Wesson or some other big company was actually making them under license.

So who made my INTERARMS "Walther" PPK/s? It's stainless and in excellent condition. Any idea what it's worth?

[Woody_in_MN]

Well I got you guys all worked up for nothing. I called the shop today. They had 3 PPK/PPKS's - the cheapest was like $300 something. I must have been delusional.

- w

[wally]

I called the shop today. Yhey had 3 PPK/PPKS's - the cheapest was like $300 something. I must have been delusional.

Maybe the shop owner has seen this thread and raised the price :)

Interarms was the importer of Walthers for quite some time, but they also assembled some under license here. I'm not expert enough on their history to say much more. I think S&W has a deal to make them now to get around the GCA '68 import restrictions on the more desirable variations (which may not be so desirable once they are widely available).

--wally.

[MICHAEL T]

I have a SS Interarms and mine has been flawless in performace. Around here they sell for around 400 for SS and blue depends on condition but 350 to 400 range,

[geekWithA.45]

So who made my INTERARMS "Walther" PPK/s?

It was made by Interarms, based out of VA. That company, now defunct, imported a lot of guns and parts in the 50's and 60's, and obtained the license to manufacture Walther designs at some point in the late 60's or early 70's. The company went under when its founder died.

Licensing designs and manufacturing them domestically is fairly common, especially for handguns that don't have enough ATF "points" to be imported legally, like my Interarms built Walther TPH.

Subsequently, S&W picked up the licenses and setup their own deal with Walther. I've heard rumors that S&W will do warranty/repair work on Interarms products, but I haven't verified that myself.

[Father Knows Best]

Thanks, guys. One more question. My Interarms stainless PPK/s is in excellent condition, and has been reliable and acceptably accurate punching paper at short range. The DA trigger pull, however, is horrible. I've never shot any other DA/SA auto, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I think my wife would have trouble even getting a shot off with it. It's got to be in the 25+ pound range. My digital trigger pull gauge tops out at 12 pounds and that's nowhere near enough to even begin the trigger movement. Is that typical or is something wrong with this example? Is there any way to lighten up the DA trigger pull, even a little?

[jaybar]

Your double action pull is probably in the 16-19 pound range which is typical for the PP family of guns. Look at it as a safety feature - you sure as heck aren't going to have an accidental double action dischage with the little rascal.

[SouthpawShootr]

Not much you can do for it, unfortunately. You probably can get reduced power mainsprings and can lighten up the pull by cutting the mainspring. Trade off is that you are sacrificing reliability when you do this. So, I would leave it alone and work on mastering the trigger as it is. A good gunsmith can smooth out the trigger mechanism decreasing the percieved pull and take a pound or two off the pull, but that's about as good as it gets.

[Father Knows Best]

Thanks, all. I think a better solution would be to sell the durn thing and buy a better gun.

[Skyviking]

The PPK is a dandy little pistola. My next-door neighbor just bought an Interarms-mfg. s/s one from a co-worker. He replaced the mainspring with a lighter one from Wolff. The difference is amazing.

He also replaced the recoil spring with a lighter one to make it easier to rack. I have misgivings about that, since it is a blow-back action and the recoil spring is the only thing locking it up. He says it works fine w/Federal JHPs and W-W STHPs.

I didn't buy the s/s one because I had just acquired a pre-'68 W. German mfg. one with no import markings for $275. Finish on one side was almost worn from being carried. Someone had screwed around with it, too, since it wouldn't feed STHPs reliably and after the first DA shot, the trigger would occassionally go back to DA instead of remaining in SA mode. I traded it straight across at a local gun show for a stainless J-frame .22lr Kit Gun that was about like new. I then went to the guy's shop on Monday and bought the matching revolver in .22WMR for $365.00. Sometimes, life is good, but I really liked that little PPK. I just didn't want to dump a bunch of money into it to see if it could be made right.

[BluesBear]

If you check the website for Cylinder & Slide you'll find they have several neat little packages for the PPK/s.

They can turn your stiff monster into a sweet shooter.