PK380?

[Mr_Flintstone]

Anyone have experience with the Walther PK380? From what I can tell, it's one of the few (at least advertised that way) locked breech 380 pistols; at least affordable ones anyway. I've been thinking of buying one, but I'd like some input first.

 

[tommy.duncan]

My wife picked one of these up about a year ago. The pistol shoots well.
The only problem I have with this pistol is it requires a special tool for take down. This is not a problem for a range toy
but for a carry piece it is a bigger issue to me.

 

[badkarmamib]

My wife had one for a few years. Ran flawlessly. She ended up trading it for a 1911, but only because she wanted a .45.

 

[chicharrones]

The Ruger LC380 is also a locked breech single stack pistol, based off the LC9.

 

[zaitcev]

From what I can tell, it's one of the few (at least advertised that way) locked breech 380 pistols; at least affordable ones anyway.

You didn't mention what you wanted to do with the gun. If you plan on carrying it, simply buy Glock 42 or Kahr CW380. But if you want a hobby gun, you may be interested in this thread (updated a couple of weeks ago):
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/380-help.812929/#post-10400145

 

[badkarmamib]

Didn't take long to evolve to "Forget what you want, just buy a Glock"

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

Nope. Not a Glock man. I just like shooting 380s. So far my favorite one is my Bersa Thunder 380. Been thinking about a surplus Beretta 84 too.

 

[browningguy]

Thru PK380 has been a great pistol for my wife, no problems at all with it. Very soft shooting, a reasonably good trigger, and plenty accurate.

 

[Rubber_Duck]

The PK380 is made by Umarex, and not a real Walther.

 

[wally]

The PK380 is made by Umarex, and not a real Walther.

Yes, my friend who is a real Walther snob hates the one he bought for his daughter -- to his mind its horribly inaccurate for a Walter with a lousy trigger.

"Easy to rack" and "Walther" on the slide are what sucked him in, but he regrets not renting one first to shoot before buying.

 

[zaitcev]

I try not to be a Walther snob, but I have to admit that PK380 often looks terrible in person, especially after some use. For some reason the wear does not make it noble at all, just lets you see how cheap its plastic is. IMHO, the long-slide Browning 1911-380 makes for a better range toy in the same class, itself not being a paragon of quality.

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

OK, let's put the PK380 on the back burner for now. What would you guys recommend as a large frame (as close to full size as possible) 380 pistol.

 

[Acera]

OK, let's put the PK380 on the back burner for now. What would you guys recommend as a large frame (as close to full size as possible) 380 pistol.

Browning BDA .380

Beretta Cheetah (Model 83, 84, 85 or 86)

If you like the 1911 style in a bit smaller frame check out the Browning Black Label .380.



.

 

[sgt127]

Though out of production, the All stainless Sig P230-P232 has always been one of my favorites.

Little snappy with the alloy frame.

Fixed barrel leads to phenomenal accuracy though.

 

[gc70]

The SIG P250, which was apparently discontinued this week, is about the size of a Beretta 84, but fires from a locked breech and has 15-round mags. However, be warned - the P250 has a 6-lb. true DAO trigger pull that some people find too long to manage.

 

[Rubber_Duck]

OK, let's put the PK380 on the back burner for now. What would you guys recommend as a large frame (as close to full size as possible) 380 pistol.

I really like the Colt .380 Government, they are just hard to find for sale.

 

[zaitcev]

What would you guys recommend as a large frame (as close to full size as possible) 380 pistol.

Everyone has mentioned it already, but Beretta 84FS is certainly at the top. It's rather expensive, however. I see prices around $700, give or take. Beretta tried to discontinue it a few years back, but then put it back into production this year. It remains popular. It is a blowback action and some people do not like the recoil of it.

The P250 was mentioned. Note, however, that I think SiG only made short barrels and short magazines for it. So, while being a chassis design, a 9mm P250 can be easily made as large as you want, a .380 P250 really can't. You're stuck with a gun that kinda looks like a tadpole.

An Erma KGP-68A is not particularly small. However, it can also be expensive, if comes in the original box and with the bluing intact. I saw it selling above $900. An abused example is around $650.

CZ-83 was in service with police. It is about Makarov sized. Also a blowback.

Browning 10/71 is rather large. Blowback again.

Finally, a couple of guns I know nothing about and only seen them in pictures: Bersa BPCC and Girsan MC 14. Either of them are for the police market in the countries that has police still carrying .380s. Both were imported into the U.S., in small quantities.

P.S. I think Llama Especiale is at least BDA sized. However, be careful about not buying one that's too new, e.g. "Max" version. They switched to blowback some time after the III-A version. Up to III-A they had a Browning locked breech.

P.P.S. The Beretta Model 1934 "Corto" was in service with Italian army through the WWII. It is about the size of a Walther, only with a sqared-off grip like on 1914 Berettas. Every time I see one of those, it's in a very poor condition. All of those guns went through a war, so...

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

I've seen some surplus Beretta 84BB and 84F pistols online for around $300 listed as good-very good overall/ very good bore. I don't know what the BB stands for. I see a lot of used/surplus CZ83s for around $250-275 listed in the same condition. I might have to buy one (or maybe both if the price is right).

 

[gc70]

I've seen some surplus Beretta 84BB and 84F pistols online for around $300 listed as good-very good overall/ very good bore. I don't know what the BB stands for.

Beretta Cheetah versions are explained here.

 

[MedWheeler]

Still waiting on the SCCY CPX-III here...

I'm another who really likes the Bersa Thunder..

 

[Zendude]

There is an EAA Witness (CZ platform) model that is a 380. I think it's called the Pavona series.

 

[cc-hangfire]

My wife & I am searching for the right .380 for her (small woman, in her 50's, weak upper body strength, & yes she uses correct technique). From what we've tried, the CZ83 has more recoil than expected with its blowback design, roughly equal to a Walther PPK/S. I am strongly considering getting a PK380 because she really likes the P22, so I'll follow up w more info if we get one soon.

We are mostly looking at single stacks, though. Of those her preferences are SIG P238, Glock 43, Walther PPK/S, & RemIngton RM380, in that order.

 

[C0untZer0]

On the smaller side there's also the locked-breach RM380, it was designed by the Rohrbaugh brothers not by Remington. On the larger side there is The Browning Black Label 380.

 

[redneck]

I bought one when they first came out, thinking that a mid sized locked breech .380 would be good to start new shooters on something bigger than a .22.

The only redeeming quality of the one I bought was that the slide was very easy to rack.

It wouldn't feed anything reliably. My girlfriend couldn't get through a mag without a malfunction, and got very frustrated trying to shoot it. It wouldn't function for me either. Usually 2 or 3 failures to extract in a mag. Sometimes it would switch it up and fail to feed instead. The trigger was pretty crunchy to boot.

The 2nd time we had it out, the extractor fell out. We were at an indoor range and it went somewhere in front of the firing line and I never found it.

I told the guys at the shop where I bought it about the problems I had. They told me they had heard rumors of a recall on the slides and that I should wait to send it in for warranty work until that was confirmed and the new slides were ready. I figured that since it wasn't usable as it was, I'd just mail it in and they would have it when the parts were available, rather than me shoving it to the back of the safe.

I got the gun back 2 weeks later with a letter that a new extractor had been installed. No mention of a recall, no signs that they had done anything because pop an extractor in. I put it on consignment with full disclosure and didn't even bother trying to shoot it again.

I hope they are better now than the one I bought. I don't know if there ever was a recall or not.

 

[browningguy]

My youngest daughter carries the EAA Pavona, she liked the .380 so much she also got one in 9 mm. Nearly full size, 14 shot double stack .380, sized for a womans hand, it seems as accurate as any of the full size Witness pistols, in spite of the metallic colored frames. She used the .380 for her CHL class and two defensive pistol classes and had no problems with it at all.