I went to a gun show in Lexington last month, and came home with a box of parts. It was most of an old Walther PPK .32. The fellow that had it was trying to trade it off, and the best offer he'd gotten at any of the tables was $80. My dad has a Walther PP that he's had most of his life, so I'm familiar enough with them to tell that it was mostly all there. But, according to him, he'd dropped it. The grips looked like they were made of vulcanite or something similar, and had shattered like glass, all the way up to the screw hole, and a big chunk was missing from the grip, exposing the spring. The magazine was in pieces, because it's floor piece was made of the same stuff, and it was broken as well. Last but not least, the lanyard loop on the bottom of the spring seat was bent. We haggled between $200 and "take it off your hands" for a bit, and settled on $150. I thought I could take a chance and maybe get most of that back selling it as parts if I couldn't get it to work, or if it was damaged worse than it seemed.
When I started looking online for parts, the very first thing that happened was I went into shock when I found out how much original replacement grips for these things costs.
So then I tried Vintage gun grips, and apparently they were no longer in business. But, I found out a few days later they were still producing and selling their grips through Triple-K. Checking over their website, I decided that instead of replicating the original look, I'd go with one of the very pretty walnut grips they make for the old Walthers. And a company called Mec-Gar still makes magazines for the .32, and at a pretty darned good price, so I ordered 4.
Then, I messed up. When I tried to straighten the bent lanyard loop, it cracked. So, I cut it down, then used a polishing wheel and dremel to smooth it out really nice and touched it with a cold blue pen. I actually kind of like the smooth bottom look better, but I still ordered a new spring seat from Numrich just to put up and have one. Then to finish things up, I gave her a through and through Wolff Spring treatment.
So, if it had any collector value, I probably did that in with the changes. But, it went to the range this morning, and she's a shootin' little cuss. So, all told, for about $260 I gained a nice little shooter that's more fun than bear wrestlin'.
When I started looking online for parts, the very first thing that happened was I went into shock when I found out how much original replacement grips for these things costs.
So then I tried Vintage gun grips, and apparently they were no longer in business. But, I found out a few days later they were still producing and selling their grips through Triple-K. Checking over their website, I decided that instead of replicating the original look, I'd go with one of the very pretty walnut grips they make for the old Walthers. And a company called Mec-Gar still makes magazines for the .32, and at a pretty darned good price, so I ordered 4.Then, I messed up. When I tried to straighten the bent lanyard loop, it cracked. So, I cut it down, then used a polishing wheel and dremel to smooth it out really nice and touched it with a cold blue pen. I actually kind of like the smooth bottom look better, but I still ordered a new spring seat from Numrich just to put up and have one. Then to finish things up, I gave her a through and through Wolff Spring treatment.
So, if it had any collector value, I probably did that in with the changes. But, it went to the range this morning, and she's a shootin' little cuss. So, all told, for about $260 I gained a nice little shooter that's more fun than bear wrestlin'.
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