Is the PPK, PPK's, coming to market?

You mean "again" ...

First I have heard of that possibility.

EDIT:

If it is true, hopefully, something will have been done about the horribly heavy DA pull.

<nodding> Two of the pistols that I was carrying in the 70s were a PP and a PPK/s. It wasn't until the mid 80s that I got my PPK, the only one of the 3 that I still have.

george burns said:

... one of the best looking and feeling guns I have ever had ...

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I certainly agree with that.

Are you referring to the Walther PPK and PPK/S? They were marketed by S&W for a number of years, but that "partnership" ended a few years ago. Walther established its own US subsidiary to handle US distribution and some production.

An American-made PPK/S appears to be in process.

I am a bit of a .380 fanboy. That being said. I would not recommend the PPK/PPKs for most applications.

If your objective is to get a really good looking gun with a lot of heritage, it would be a good choice; but for that I would try to steer the buyer toward a Luger instead. For carry there are many, better, .380 pistols on the market.

I am biased against blow-back pistols. The locking breech designs allow for lighter pistols that produce less felt recoil and are easier to use.

Obviously, is someone just wants a PPK/PPKs, then there is nothing else that will do. Certainly there is nothing at all wrong with just wanting something; but there are much better .380 pistols on the market.

Those are produced out of the Arnsberg plant. I haven’t been impressed with much coming out of the Umerex Arnsberg plant. I would make sure you do your reviews on anything coming out of that plant.

I’ve had great luck with anything coming out of the Ulm plant this plant has always been associated with Walther and the quality shows.

I am a big fan of the PPK platform for defensive carry, especially the 7.65mm (.32 auto) examples. Whether original German, Interarms Ranger or S&W production, they are reliable, accurate and ergonomic. I find the extravagant claims about recoil, even in the .380 versions, to be grossly exhagerated.

Walther claims issues getting the slides export permission from the German government. In Germany the slide is considered the firearm, apparently. The rest of the gun is supposed to be made in the US. Who knows if that is really the holdup?

There have been so many delays with these Fort Smith, AR built PPKs I am doubting that they know what they are doing. If there is some legal problem with exporting slides from Germany then just make that as well in the US. It shouldn't be so difficult.

gc70 said:

Are you referring to the Walther PPK and PPK/S? They were marketed by S&W for a number of years, but that "partnership" ended a few years ago. Walther established its own US subsidiary to handle US distribution and some production.

An American-made PPK/S appears to be in process.

Click to expand...

gc70 said:

Are you referring to the Walther PPK and PPK/S? They were marketed by S&W for a number of years, but that "partnership" ended a few years ago. Walther established its own US subsidiary to handle US distribution and some production.

An American-made PPK/S appears to be in process.

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My wife and I have one of those S&W PPK/S's. I got the fancy one with the engraving on the frame and wood grips. It looks real nice, but it jams quite a bit, unfortunately.

My wife has one of those. It's a very pretty gun and this particular one has had no problems. I've shot it more than she has and it hasn't jammed yet with either factory ammunition or my cast lead handloads.

Equin, id like to see this fancy ppk/s. If you get a chance. I also have a "fancy" one. Its the Royal Scots Guard edition. And its pretty. I know theyve made some different versions with engraving and nice grips.
Id be really interested in seeing yours. This is mine, #268 out of 400 made.

As soon as the Fort Smith PPKs's come out I want one, unless they substitute zinc alloy like the .22's are supposed to be made of. If the only guns available on earth were made of Zamak I'd get into archery or throwing knives or something rather than spend money on that garbage.

I have one of the S&W engraved PPs. Not as pretty as the one above. I believe these PPs & PPKs are ammo sensitive. Been shooting Fiocchi and have had no problems.

I had a W.German Interarms imported Walther PPK/S .380 I used to carry as a backup gun. Very nice, but the only gun I've had that used to leave two parallel cut lines on the web between my thumb and forefinger if I wasn't paying attention to my grip.

Lots of nice features, very well made, no malfunction issues, but not especially light or small. For EDC/ pocket carry I much prefer my LCP.

I occasionally carry an S&W-made PPK. It's a very early one with an AAA serial number, and it has the original, rather short beavertail. I usually carry SilverTips in it and it has never failed with them. Of course it feeds and fires ball and truncated cone FMJs just fine as well. It will not feed the aluminum-cased Blazer stuff, though. Recoil? Honestly I've never noticed, and I am not one of those macho showoffs. I won't shoot a gun that hurts, and my PPK never has.

GBExpat said:

If it is true, hopefully, something will have been done about the horribly heavy DA pull.

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Bingo. I owned a PPK/S many years ago. When I actually got around to shooting it, I was frankly surprised at the horrible trigger pull. I ended up trading it toward an original, unaltered M1894 U.S. Krag (the one with the full-length cleaning rod). Best trade I ever made. The PPK/S looks impressive, but it's extremely difficult to shoot well.

I don't think so.

Too many 380's out there that make more sense and can be made at half the cost.

High quality handguns made of good materials will necessarily be expensive. The plastic guns with internal aluminum frames have made people think guns are only worth $250, so paying for a well made gun seems excessive by comparison. It's the end of an era.

Am I the only guy left who owns many guns for range shooting and the pleasure of ownership?

I see a trend, ever more cheap faddish plastic shapes of all colors made to be traded off in a year or so. I hardly recognize the pistol cases in gun stores anymore, makes me want to puke.

I'll be the lone holdout for well made pistols. A PPKs made of good materials will have to cost around $700, at least (Made without MIM parts probably more than that), but would anyone besides me buy it?

Pelo801 said:

Equin, id like to see this fancy ppk/s. If you get a chance. I also have a "fancy" one. Its the Royal Scots Guard edition. And its pretty. I know theyve made some different versions with engraving and nice grips.
Id be really interested in seeing yours. This is mine, #268 out of 400 made.

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Very nice! Mine looks a lot like that. I’ll have to dig it out of the safe and post a pic for comparison. A shame mine turned out to be so finicky with it’s jamming issues. Also, be careful with the wood grip threads. Mine got stripped when I tried to re-install them after a cleaning.

Speedo66 writes:

I had a W.German Interarms imported Walther PPK/S .380 I used to carry as a backup gun. Very nice, but the only gun I've had that used to leave two parallel cut lines on the web between my thumb and forefinger if I wasn't paying attention to my grip.

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This is me, to the letter. Mine was a BU/OD gun my last year or so on the job, which I left back in 1992. Regrettably, I sold the gun not long afterward. For what they go for now, it was a mistake.

I inherited an Interarms a few years back, choked on anything including ball. also had light firing pin strikes. Replaced it with a Mustang.

cowboy77845 said:

I have one of the S&W engraved PPs. Not as pretty as the one above. I believe these PPs & PPKs are ammo sensitive. Been shooting Fiocchi and have had no problems.

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I’ll have to try Fiochi in mine and see how it likes it.

As my dad took me to all the Bond films (every one) in the 60s and 70s, I became a huge PPK fan -- until I bought my first one (an Interarms PPK/s) as soon as I was of age. Alas, its performance lacked the luster implied in the movies (although it was still a cool as hell looking pistola possessed of that intrinsic CDI factor). Fast forward to me buying my S&W version, which choked on pretty much every major brand of ammo it was fed ... and if you check, you'll find multitudes of reports of just how bad some of the S&W pistols were.

Frankly, with the advent of the SIG P-238, there's no other .380 ACP pistol I'd trust. The 238's trigger, reliability, accuracy and ergonomics render the Walther PPK about as useful these days as a Commodore 64 computer ...