Walther PPK/S Problems (Purchased new April, 2007)

[the.na]

The following is part of an email I sent to Smith&Wesson:

"I purchased my brand-new PPK/S-1 (9 mm short) in April of this year. The gun was manufactured by Smith& Wesson in Houlton, ME. I disassembled the gun, cleaned and lubricated it and the four magazines prior to firing the gun for the first time. I loaded all magazine with seven rounds. When I attempted to chamber the first round, the gun jammed. I cleaned and lubricated the gun and the magazines and tried again—this time, the round chambered on the first attempt, but the gun jammed when I fired the first round. This phenomenon persisted with all four magazines. The chambering problem disappeared and I was able to fire without jamming occurring when I loaded the magazines with only six rounds. The gun jammed again when I attempted to fire using magazines loaded with seven rounds. I believe the problem could be caused by either a materials issue, excessively tight manufacturing tolerances or both. In either case,I find the gun's performance unacceptable and expect it to perform as per specifications.

Needless to say, I am very disappointed with the PPK/S. which you are manufacturing under license. Some years ago, I owned a PPK (7.62 mm) manufactured in Germany, which never malfunctioned. Its magazines held six rounds.

Please advise what what action you will take to correct my problem. My thanks in advance."

 

[The Unknown User]

Sorry to hear about your problems. I haven't been hearing anything good about any of the PPK models made outside of Germany.

 

[Eightball]

Hmm. First I'd heard of anything. Keep us informed of their response.

 

[denfoote]

What kind of jam??
Faiure to eject??
Failure to feed??
Double feed??
What??
Each symptom has a different root cause!!
You do know that guns, especally the small ones need breaking in.
How many rounds have you shot out of it??
Usually, it takes around 200.
For example, Kahr states that their gun needs at least 200 rounds to be reliable!!
You may just have to break the gun in!!
As I recall, it took just about that many to get mine to run right!!

 

[1 old 0311]

I had heard that the PPK/S needs 200 rounds to break in. YES IT DOES. I had to force feed the first four boxes through it. Once I hit 200 it hasn't missed a beat.

 

[shooter503]

The CNC manufacturing process results in tight tolerances and seems to leave many sharp corners on many parts of the pistol. The "break in" period allows these sharp edges to wear in to each other. The pistol operates more smoothly after the "break in" is complete.

My PPK is a stainless steel model. Not having to worry about damaging the blueing I polished all the sharp corners on the parts with a very fine diamond file. This produced an immediate improvement in reliability.

I suppose, in the old days, this polishing would have been done by a gunsmith.

 

[dfariswheel]

Another factor is ammunition.
Simply put, not all guns "like" all ammo.

You need to:
A. Try a different brand/type of ammo.
B. Shoot a few hundred rounds through the gun to break it in.

If the problem doesn't start going away by 100 rounds, and is gone by 200, send it back to S&W. They'll make it right.

 

[Steve C]

From your description it sound like its a magazine spring issue since you can load 6 and not get any problems but have problems when loading 7.

You said you disassembled the magazines, are you sure your reassembled them properly. The springs have a heading side and if you put them in backwards you can occasionally cause the bullet to dive when being stripped from the mag.

It could simply be that the springs are too tight as they're new and haven't had any use. Load your magazines with 7 rounds and leave them loaded from now to your next time you shoot. This should allow them to take the proper set and should reduce the upward pressure a bit. This has worked for me with new 1911 mags that demonstrated the same problems you are having.

 

[cdsdss]

S&W PPKs

I've owned two S&W-licensed PPK/s pistols. The first performed very much like Steve C's, only it was also impossible to take down and reassemble.

My current one hasn't malfunctioned, but did need a couple hundred rounds to break in. Asking around, I've heard that the S&Ws have been hit-and-miss.

 

[denfoote]

Mine must be a hit!!