Buying a Walther PK380 for the wife

[RandomPerson]

Last week the wife and I hit up our local range and rented the Walther PK380. She cuts the center out of her target while using it and seems to like it overall. I used it and think I might need to take a class or something. I'm not yet a good shot.

Has anyone bought/used one of these and had a really good or bad experience with it?

For those who liked it, what other accessories did you buy for yours?

For those who did not like it, what specifically did you not like?

I'm guessing it'll run me somewhere about $350-$400 for the gun and about $33 for 100 rounds based on my quick search of all the local stores selling .380 AUTO.

We're going to rent it a second time soon to see if she still likes it after thinking about it.

 

[xr1200]

if you buy a new SW ppk make sure its a late production , with in the last 90 days, you can tell by the date on the shell casing, there have been a lot of recalls with the SW ppk. You don't want to buy a recalled one.
I bought an interarms ppk that was almost never fired , its very accurate and reliable, try for a excellent used interarms ppk

 

[2WheelsGood]

Though I haven't shot one, I have thought about one for my wife as well. Small like a P22, and much easier to rack the slide than something of higher caliber. I already have a Walther P22, P99, and a PPS, so it would fit right in.

Oh, and for what it's worth I also have a Ruger LCP (also a .380), but my wife doesn't like shooting it at all. That's why we started looking at the PK380.

 

[Ledgehammer]

I had a pk380. I loved shooting it and my wife liked it too. It's a real soft shooter. Just felt a little cheap to me. The finish on it wasn't that great and the barrel looked like I shot 5,000 rounds through it after only 50.

It's kind of known for the barrel peening. Also I didn't like the fact that you have to use a tool to break it down. It has a little switch you turn with a tool to break it down. Also be careful because with the one I had the switch would turn on it's own and the slide would come off.

 

[harmon rabb]

I have one for my wife. Super easy to rack the slide, very soft shooting, decent trigger, feels great in the hand. I love it as a plinker, actually. Mine has never failed.

It does feel kind of cheap, but considering that it's only chambered in 380 and is a locked breech design, I'm not too worried about it wearing out. And, hell, it IS cheap. I paid like $270 for it.

My only complaints are that you need a tool to field strip it, the fact it only comes with one mag, and the way in which you decock it (put it on safe then pull the trigger).

In the interest of full disclosure, I recommended one to a friend for his woman, and they had a horrible experience. The gun jammed constantly. They sent it to S&W, and when they got it back, it still jammed constantly. S&W did end up refunding their entire purchase price though, so I guess the experience wasn't THAT bad.

If you pay over $300, you're getting ripped off, btw.

 

[RandomPerson]

Thanks for the great input everyone.

How much should I pay if $300 is too much and what places can I find one for that price? I live in the general Northern Virginia area.

 

[[email protected]]

I went to the gunblast sight and read the review of that new Walther .380 and am impressed. What you should be proud of RandomPerson is that you are allowing your wife to choose what she likes with out trying to push her toward something... that's what most of us guys do. Bottom line is if she likes that PK380 and can shoot it well and it functions well... buy the damn thing for her or let her buy it and stay out of the way!

I took a female friend to my range a month or so back and she could not easily pull the slide back on any of my semi-auto pistols. I had never thought about this being difficult for a woman to do... but then I work with my hands all day long. It sounds like this Walther is easy to rack the slide on and that may be a big issue with many women.

You should not have any problem finding a gun dealer willing to sell you one of these in Northern VA. I would think the place you are renting this pistol from would be the first and best choice though.

 

[harmon rabb]

I took a female friend to my range a month or so back and she could not easily pull the slide back on any of my semi-auto pistols. I had never thought about this being difficult for a woman to do... but then I work with my hands all day long. It sounds like this Walther is easy to rack the slide on and that may be a big issue with many women.

The slide is laughably easy to rack on the PK380. Honestly, it probably takes 1/4th the effort of other semi-autos. If someone lacks the hand strength to rack the slide of a PK380, they probably lack the hand strength to pull a trigger. Or brush their teeth.

Btw, I firmly believe that anyone can rack any slide if they just use the proper method. Yeah, your average woman will not be able to slingshot a gun with a heavy recoil spring. So what? Grip the slide with the left hand, arm bent at 90 degrees or so. Grip the grip in the right hand. At the same time, push the slide back with the left hand while pushing the gun forward with the right hand. Piece of cake. Hell, I can barely slingshot my XD45, so I rack the slide on it this way.