Well I never thought I would own a .380 handgun when I carry a 9mm that is smaller than some 380's, but the wife picked one up the other day that she really liked. Now she has shot my 9mm Browning Hi Power, didnt like it, my 9mm Para Ordnance Commander and didnt like it either. She really didnt like my PF-9 Keltec or my P-11 for how uncomfortable they are for her to shoot. She shoots her 2" SP-101 all day and is deadly with it, but wants a semi-auto as well. The Walther PK-380 fit her hand perfectly and she loved the trigger as well, especially the single action pull. I picked one up today for her for Christmas and am going to take it home and clean it up and head to the range as soon as the weather let's up.
My first impressions of the gun were actually better than I expected. I have never owned a Walther and have heard great things about the PPK's but this is not a PPK. The fit and finsh were done very well. I might look for a two tone for myself in the future. Everything works but I do not like having to use the key for slide removal. If it gets lost....well it won't be good. Might end up making a spare from aluminum. It disassembled and reassembled without any problems and it was easy to do so. I cleaned off the fired case residue wiped everything down and relubed the gun. The gun only came with one magazine, the one thing I dislike, but I was able to find a dealer with three new mags so I ordered them all. She likes to shoot but hates to load...LOL.
Well I was able to sneak to the range late this afternoon. It was foggy, getting dark, and beginning to actually rain....again. The temp was about 52 and the wind was blowing across from left to right at about 5-10mph. I know not ideal for a test but it's not supposed to get any better for the next couple of days, so here goes.
Since I bought the gun for my wife to qualify for her Texas CHL, I decided to follow the 7, 10 & 15 yard shooting ranges. The gun put 50 rounds downrange, loading 5 at a time as the procedure goes, without one single problem.
The single action pull was around 4lbs according to my tester. Double was around 10lbs. The sights were dead on but the gun shot a little high when aiming dead center the target at 7 yards. 10 and 15 yards is where the little gun was shooting to point of aim. I tried the safety several times and it is a hammer block system that stops the hammer before it makes contact with the firing pin. Works like a charm. One thing is the gun has no slide release button, so you have to perform the slingshot method, and you have to remove the empty mag to release it when empty. The slide locked back on every empty mag......very nice!!
I was using Winchester White Box 90gr FMJ which happend to be a flat point jacketed bullet. I was concerned about feeding but it fed like a charm. It ejected all the brass in a neat little circle just to my right, around 24" in diameter. I like that since I plan to reload them and hunting down brass in the dark is no fun. Recoil was almost non-existant which my wife will love. That is one of the things she hates with the 9's I have, but her SP-101 revolver, shooting 145gr Winchester Silvertips draws no complaints. I was able to keep most of the rounds within a 4" grouping and thats just fine for what it is going to be used for. I am sure under different weather conditions the group would be tightened up substantially, especially with her shooting.
I am really looking forward to seeing her face on Christmas morning when she opens the box with the gun she was really fond of in the gunstore. Here is the target and gun.
Stainless slide, slide lock on the last round, and everything I've read about it from people that bought it is positive.
