My New Walther PPS vs My Trusty Kahr PM9

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ctiger

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May 16, 2004
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I am a new Walther PPS 9mm owner. After field stripping the gun and applying some lubricant I had my first range session today. I experienced a few issues early on with the Walther and would like some help in getting them resolved

My Issues:
1). FTF. Slide failed to fully chamber the round. In my first 50 rounds this occurred 8 times. The slide action seemed slow and delayed and stopped about 1/4 inch short of fully seating the round. I tapped the back of the slide forward, seating the round and was able to fire at that point.
2). Trigger Reset. I was experimenting to see where trigger reset occurred and working on my trigger control and the trigger failed to reset twice. It actually felt like it was stuck .Again, this occurred in the first 50 rounds. I was a bir frustrated and stopped focusing on the reset at that point and didn’t experience any more sticks. I racked the slide and the trigger reset properly and I was able to fire at that point.

The first 50 rounds I fired were Mectech hollow point 115gr. All of the failures occurred with these rounds. The next 100 rounds I fired were with 115 gr Blazer Brass FMJs. I didn’t experience any failures with those rounds but I still don’t trust the Walther yet. Do I need to relax and continue breaking the gun in? Is it an ammunition issue? Should I consider sending the gun back for some tuning.? I hope some seasoned PPS veterans can give some guidance.

Later in the session I wanted to test the Walther against my other single stack 9mm – a Kahr PM9. I’ve been carrying the Kahr IWB on my lighter carry days. I wanted to see if I should consider replacing it with the Walther. I had a shootout between the two guns. I used the 7 round mags in each so that my pinky could help grip the gun. I placed Champion 100yd small bore rifle targets over silhouettes 25 feet down range. I performed a series of drills ranging from slow, deliberate fire, to the Bill Drill, to Double Taps, and Draws. I fired 6 mags worth through each gun (42 rounds) and kept score using the ring on the target to assign points to each shot. Here are my results.

WALTHER PPS
Bullseye (11 pts) - 5 Hits
10 Point Ring - 10 Hits
9 Point Ring 9 Hits
8 Point Ring 8 Hits
7 Point Ring 5 Hits
6 Point Ring 4 Hits
STRAYS (0 pts) 1
TOTAL POINTS 357
AVG SCORE/SHOT 8.5

KAHR PM9
Bullseye (11 pts) – 3 Hits
10 Point Ring - 4 Hits
9 Point Ring 11 Hits
8 Point Ring 12 Hits
7 Point Ring 3 Hits
6 Point Ring 1 Hit
STRAYS (0 pts) 8
TOTAL POINTS 295
AVG SCORE/SHOT 7.02

The Walther clearly held the advantage for me. My times were also slightly better with the Walther. The sights work more naturally for me then the Kahr’s However the Kahr is what I am still carrying. It has NEVER experienced a failure and I can’t say the same about the Walther. I hope someone can help me resolve the issues with the Walther so I can carry the gun that I perform better with.
 
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Give the Walther a chance to wear in a bit, and experiment with different HP loads.
A few issues with one brand of HP isn't the gun's fault ... particularly if the issues are a failure to feed and return to battery!

Get in there and clean up your feed ramp (both segments, I have a PPS, and the ramp is both the frame and attached to the barrel, clean them both up and apply a light lube.
I recently began greasing the rails on mine, I haven't had any issues since, but no real issues before either. At first it didn't eject lacquered steel case ammo properly, but it does so just fine now.

I highly doubt you got a lemon, take it to the range and get used to the trigger, find some HP ammo it likes, and enjoy a fine piece of engineering.
 
the trigger design will enable the walther to make you a better shooter, but IMO the PM9 is a better gun, If ur after bullseye accuracy the walther will win every time. BG don't wear bullseye either, If you can do as good as you did with the PM9 with that scoring, you have done very well IMO. I shoot my G19 10x better than my PM9 but you know what, it won't fit in my pocket. and the PPS won't either, weights 7 ounces more also. very nice gun though. I have over 20,000 rounds in my PM9 and I honestly don't shoot it super great. I have seen some kahr owners who can shoot the eyes out of a target, I never could do that. No doubt in my mind kahrs are harder guns to learn to shoot accurately due to the loooong and totally smooth trigger pull. but they are one hell of a defense gun IMO>

I guess thats why I only do my defense/practice shooting on the FBI "Q" target. If I can keep them all inside that bowling pin silhouette at 10 yards,I feel very good about it. Probably trying to hit beer cans at 10 yards would frustrate me:barf:
 
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ctiger, your experience with the new PPS is exactly what I experienced with mine. I have had mine about 3 months and after I put the first 150 to 200 rounds of 115 gr. and 124 gr. reloads through it, I have not had another problem of any kind. I think the PPS just needs a little break in period. After that they are very reliable.
 
I've had great luck with my PPS. It's a real winner. German engineering and production.

800 flawless rds (fmj and jhp) it without a hiccup.

Very accurate.

If you continue to have problems get in touch with their CS.

Walther has been in business for a very long time.

(Kahr maybe not so long.)

Good luck and let us know how this works out for you.

ETA

JHP's have included Golden Saber, Gold Dot, Hydra-Shok, Hornady TAP.
 
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Mine had some issues with reloads of mine (124gr Dardas bullets) that a CZ75 wouldn't run (but my BHP's will). I had to tap the back of the slide slightly to get the first round to fully chamber, but it ran the whole magazine fine after that. No problems with factory ammo or reloads of known good quantity.
 
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