CCW: Walther PPS? (.40)

Hello g_one,
My experience with the PPS is that it is just a tad too large and heavy for me to use as a pocket pistol. I carry it in the winter in a belt slide holster and when I dress down for hot weather I pocket carry a Ruger LCR instead. There are several IWB and tuckable holsters made for it, with the six round mag it presents a fairly low profile. The mags are a bit expensive by the way. Check out some of the Walther forums for hints and tips about lubricating, cleaning, known problems etc.

I say that for pocket carry it all depends on the size of your pockets. I wear shorts most all year (I'm in Arizona) but even with jeans if you buy the right one's I can stuff my .45 Kimber Ultra Ten 2 into a side pocket & then stuff my wad of cash (mostly $1 & $5 dollar bills) down in front of the gun to further conceal it. I think the Walther PPS might be a bit long, but that depends on the clothes you wear. You can certainly conceal it in a belly band and an ankle holster should work as well, you could also buy the magical T-shirts w/ the underarm pocket, I'm sure that would work fine. I have often seen my gunsmith friend conceal his Desert Eagle 44 Mag with an IWB holster down the front of his pants while eating several to many platefuls of chinese buffet food, but his comfort level may exceed most peoples'...

When ones sees used PPS or compact polymer framed Kahr for sale it's almost always in .40. That should speak volumes to prospective gun buyer though I admit to blue collared fella with calloused hands this should not pose any concerns or problems.

I have no personal experience with the gun. I believe I recall reading a thread or two (perhaps at arfcom?) that indicated problems with the .40 version of the PPS that did not manifest in the 9mm version. DO NOT make a decision based on my vague recollection of that, but you may want to see if you can pick up that trail. Maybe those issues were resolved or overstated.

As a PPS owner, I would say they are just a bit large to be a comfortable pocket carry gun. That's coming from a guy with who's 5' 10", 170 lbs and a fairly athletic build. The PPS is well-suited for IWB carry in my opinion.

I'm not terribly recoil-sensitive so .40 caliber polymer-frame sub-compacts have never bothered me.

Have you experimented with the magazine release on the PPS?

i've got one in 40. had a couple failures in the break in for the first box through it. been perfect ever since. i carry it iwb. its a little snappy but nothing i cant handle. pretty accurate for a little gun. too big for a pocket gun. i just grab my snubby when i just want something in my pocket

ive got 2 buddies who also bought one in 40 after playing with mine. neither of them have had problems either

no 40 sw but have the 9mm, great pistola, ..good for carry and reliability. accuracy is right where you want it ....MOA. i'd buy a second but im favorable toward walthers

I have the 9mm and it is the softest shooting little thing that I would trade it for the 40 if I didn't mind having to manage another caliber bullet. (I'm settled on 9mm and 45 acp in autoloaders, 38 spl in my revolvers).

You can definitely pocket it, but in regular fitting jeans, the outline is pretty prominent and it fills the pocket. You've got some poundage on me so your pockets might swallow it.

As for IWB, it is teeny tiny. And I far prefer the trigger to any of the Kahr, Keltec or Ruger mini pistols. It's a very easy gun to shoot well. It's my first Walther other than an old P38

The PPS is probably the all-around best carry pistol ever made. I used to pocket-carry one, but it really is pushing the limits. It's doable, though.

As a gun that will be IWB most of the time, and pocketed sometimes, it's fantastic.

I love my PPS, but the only pockets I carry it in are cargo pockets in shorts and the big front pockets on my rain shell, it wouldn't work in khakis for me.

g_one said:

Thanks for the replies.



Although I've never had an issue or problem using polymer framed guns (so far all of mine have been), I definitely appreciate and prefer an all-steel frame, especially in the smaller sizes.

Does a quality, steel-framed, subcompact .40 exist out there?

Click to expand...

Kahr Mk40

I recommend a Crossbreed Supertuck.

I don't pocket carry. Pocket carry prints too bad on me. In looser pants it swings too much which is also another give-away.

take a look at the P99C

Along with the PPS. I have both in 9mm along with a P99AS. My girlfriend also has a PPS in 9mm

My .40 PPS Experience

I bought a new .40 PPS last year and this is what I experienced.

1) I found it too big for pocket carry. It's thin, not small.
2) Reliability in in the .40 caliber is luck of the draw. I rented a PPS .40 before buying and it ran like a clock. The one I bought, however, had FTEs about 10% of the time, regardless of ammo.
3) Prepaid mailers are great, but the customer service is sloooow. I sent it in 3 times and it was always about 6 weeks turnaround. They just kept replacing the extractor and polishing, but never fixed the problem.

If you read the Walther-dedicated boards, you'll find most of the complaints are for the .40 caliber. After my rental experience, I thought the complainers were just limp-wristed recoil sensitive whiners. Or they didn't prep the gun right. Or, if I did have problems, a quick trip back to customer service would fix it. I lost confidence in my particular gun so elected to get rid of it after its last trip back to S&W. I'm sure they would have eventually replaced enough parts to make it run right, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle.

The gun fits great in the hand, is easy to shoot, carries IWB like a dream, but I'd stay clear of the .40 version. However, I've read almost no complaints about the 9mm PPS so you may really want to consider that one instead.

I have arrived at the same line of thinking as PabloJ... Small .40 caliber guns are iffy. Sacrificing reliability for ~.02 of an inch and one fewer round isn't a good trade off in my book. If you're set on .40, think long and hard before you bet your life on anything smaller than a G27 or M&P 40c.

500+ rds thru my Taurus PT740. flawless and just as accurate as my Glock 23. awesome little 40 with an excellent trigger out of the box.

Currently carrying a G30, I'm interested in buying a PPS, but would like to shoot one first -- a "try before I buy" exercise. Anybody here know where I can rent one within a couple hours' drive from Raleigh?

I have a PPS 9mm and IMO

it is not a pocket pistol, just a bit too large from my knot hole. I carry my PPS fairly often, but always in a belt holster or IWB. If you are looking for a true pocket pistol look at the Kahr PM series. that said, the PPS is a fine pistol. I have owned mine for ~4 years and never experienced a failure of any kind.

Plutarch said:

I bought a new .40 PPS last year and this is what I experienced.

1) I found it too big for pocket carry. It's thin, not small.
2) Reliability in in the .40 caliber is luck of the draw. I rented a PPS .40 before buying and it ran like a clock. The one I bought, however, had FTEs about 10% of the time, regardless of ammo.
3) Prepaid mailers are great, but the customer service is sloooow. I sent it in 3 times and it was always about 6 weeks turnaround. They just kept replacing the extractor and polishing, but never fixed the problem.

If you read the Walther-dedicated boards, you'll find most of the complaints are for the .40 caliber. After my rental experience, I thought the complainers were just limp-wristed recoil sensitive whiners. Or they didn't prep the gun right. Or, if I did have problems, a quick trip back to customer service would fix it. I lost confidence in my particular gun so elected to get rid of it after its last trip back to S&W. I'm sure they would have eventually replaced enough parts to make it run right, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle.

The gun fits great in the hand, is easy to shoot, carries IWB like a dream, but I'd stay clear of the .40 version. However, I've read almost no complaints about the 9mm PPS so you may really want to consider that one instead.

I have arrived at the same line of thinking as PabloJ... Small .40 caliber guns are iffy. Sacrificing reliability for ~.02 of an inch and one fewer round isn't a good trade off in my book. If you're set on .40, think long and hard before you bet your life on anything smaller than a G27 or M&P 40c.

Click to expand...

I can only relate the one bad experience I had with the 9mm I took in on trade. Once I got it back to the shop (I traded at the gun show) I found the slide hold-open control had a broken spring & I shipped it back to S&W for repair, now this is the odd part, instead of replacing the spring, they sent me a brand-new PPS in 9mm of course. I have felt this to be rather odd- anyone feel differently?