What do you load your PPK with for carry?

[aliasneo07]

Title says it.

I'm not entirely sold on 380s stopping power, so extra power would help. Could my s&w ppks handle 380 +P? What bullet weight?

I'm pretty sold on jhps just don't know whether to go +p, what weight, etc.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Billy Shears]

I don't own a PPK, but I load my Remington Model 51 and Colt Model 1908 with 90gr. Federal Hydra Shoks. They have a good reputation as an effective load in this caliber. Surprisingly enough, given their vintage, both of these guns feed this round without a hitch. I've fired several hundred through each of them to be sure. I once did own an Interarms PPK, which occasionally jammed even on ball. I never ceased to marvel at that either: I own two guns made in the 1920s, which despite being made decades before the advent of hollow points, feed them with no problem, while a gun manufactured in the 1980s -- well after JHPs became widely available -- never managed to feed them, and would occasionally choke even on the FMJ ammo the gun was originally designed for.

 

[aliasneo07]

I was under the impression that s&w improved jhp feeding with an improved feed ramp

 

[Billy Shears]

Perhaps they have; I wouldn't know. S&W autos and I do not have a happy acquaintance. I have yet to see one I liked, and in consequence, I've never been tempted to buy one of the S&W made PPKs. I would like to obtain a pre-68 Walther PPK or a Walther PP, purely as a plinker (if I'm going to carry a .380, I'll stick with the Remington, which has yet to be bettered in that caliber, as far as I'm concerned), but since the gun would be only for plinking, it wouldn't matter to me whether or not it could feed hollow points. And I suspect a German made PPK or PP would feed ball better than the interarms PPK did. Our gang squad not long ago arrested a drug dealer and confiscated all his guns. One of them was a very, very rough late WWII PP in .32 caliber (god knows where he got it). Despite being a rough wartime gun, it had a far better trigger than the interarms PPK I had owned, and also far better than a recently made stainless S&W PPK I handled at the local gun shop. If they could make a gun under those harsh wartime conditions, and yet still devote enough attention to the product to keep the manufacturing tight where it really counted, I suspect that not only the triggers, but the feed reliability was superior on those older guns.

 

[GRIZ22]

I'm not entirely sold on 380s stopping power, so extra power would help. Could my s&w ppks handle 380 +P? What bullet weight?


I usually load 95 fmj in a 380. I feel better about getting more penetration.

The 380 is light on the power scale. If you think you need a +P 380 get a sub compact 9mm parabellum.

 

[jackstinson]

My old Interarms PPK/s cycles 100% any .380acp that I've put in the magazine. It's never had a glitch due to ammo. Actually, it's never had a glitch of any kind.
I normally load it with Remington JHP's.

 

[KAB55]

My Interarms PPK feeds anything I've fed it as well. If I carry it, it's with 90gr Hydra-shoks.

 

[m2steven]

My ppk/s from S&W cycles every type of ammo I put into it. I use standard load FMJ it in when I carry it. The manual does not recommend +p. However, I believe shooting +p to determine if the type of ammo will cycle will probably not hurt the pistol. There is a brand of ammo which imparts 220 ft.lbs of energy to the bullet. This is about the same as 38 special. I believe it's Corbon. If yours will feed Corbon or Federal Hydra Shock you should be good to carry with it. Same with PowerBall. Mine loves Powerball.

Still, I believe that a couple of FMJ's to the chest or belly area of a perpetrator from a 380 will do the job generally.
The great thing about the Walther is that you'll probably hit what you point at. Same with a Sig 232 380. It also points and aims really well. Very important not to miss your second shot. 380 in some guns excels in that. 380 in other guns does not.

Whatever your walther shoots well, that's what you should carry with a 380. I don't consider a 380 to be underarmed by any means if you just hit your target.

I also have a Bersa 380. It's a great pistol for follow up shots too.

 

[denfoote]

90gr Hornady XTP hollowpoint.

Muzzle velocity= 1000 fps

Muzzle energy= 200 Ft-lbs

https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_se...&category_id=d74d77c83cf2981df88ee671b099b343

 

[Steve C]

My Interarms PPK feeds anything I've fed it as well. If I carry it, it's with 90gr Hydra-shoks.

+ 1 here.

 

[searcher451]

Both my S&W-made and Interarms/Ranger-made PPK/S models are 100% reliable and eat doggone near anything I put down 'em, including Hydra-Shok, CorBon, and Speer Gold Dots. I carry the PPK/S daily and am fully confident in both the gun and the round.

 

[EHL]

My S&W PPK/s will eat anything I feed it. I carry her daily and she has yet to disappoint me on any one occasion firing the several different brands of JHP's that I have tried out. (Corbon JHP, Corbon DPX, Golden Saber, Ranger T's, Hydra Shok, and Gold Dots)

 

[makarovnik]

Corbon JHP in the chamber, S&B FMJ in the mag.