Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Walther .380

Any opinions on the Walther .380? Today my wife saw one she liked.

old design, heavy for what it is, known biter of the web between thumb and forefinger.... a Kahr PM9 is a better choice or the new Kahr 380.

I love the PPK/s. However, I have to agree that you could find a better option for defense (more powerful cartridge in same size/weight, or more compact/lighter .380)
As always, IMHO.

Agreed and they are ammo fussy and have been known to jam with no particular reason. I would have to pass, in fact if given one I would sell or trade it ASAP.

My wifes little pink P22 has the backaswards safety which is confusing because it opposite her Beretta. FWIW

I like my stainless PPK.....they take a while to break in and loosen up, and have a lot of sharp edges, but it will go in the pocket of my shorts easily, and it's easy to hit with for a pocket pistol.

it is a little old fashioned and retro....you can get a plastic nine that's no bigger.

Owned a PP for many years. Never jammed, very accurate, good ergonomics. Double action trigger pull too heavy.

Dan

I've had a stainless Interarms Walther PPK in .380 for about 25years. The little gun has worked like a champ and would be one of the last guns to go if I had to sell out.

Carried it for many years in an ankle holster while on duty and iwb off duty at times and killed quite a few ground hogs, copperheads, skunks etc with it as it is suprisingly accurate.

Now with that being said I've heard of many not being totally reliable and there are probably better options out there today.
The Sig 239 in 9mm is just slightly larger, holds two more rounds in a better caliber and won't bite your hand and have sharp edges.

For all the downsides to the PPK, its still a PPK and is worth buying for that alone! Got to be a real German one though and not a "clone"....

The Walther PK?

Love it!
Bought one for my wife for her birthday
Several reasons I chose it, over others.
Weight, poly frame makes it light
sights, real adjustable sights ( not deep conceal friendly but not bad and she will pack it in a custom handbag )

cocking ease, several 380s she could hardly rack the slide.

shooting! It hits everything.
Never been ammo critical. We've shot it weekly ( at least ) since April. And it digests anything. And hits with it

I can hold 2 " groups at 25' all day
she at 18-20 and getting better

Cons:
safety. It has a non -decocking , real safety
Not a bad thing as long as you train to sweep it off!

to lock back the side when empty, one must drop the mag before it will stay open.
It stays after the last ( of eight ) shots.

Barrel wear, the outside of the tube is wearing. But we are shootin the thing a LOT!

Maybe Santa will bring her a new pipe.

The PPK series is a bit heavy due to all steel construction. They tend to point well and are comfortable in a smaller hand. As stated above, they are notorious for hammer bite. When I had one, I shed more blood when shooting it than anything I hit with it ever did. As a blowback design, the recoil spring is heavy and it takes some muscle to rack the slide fully. Also, the DA trigger pull is very heavy and the recoil is rather snappy (again due to the blowback design)..

Our department issued the PPK/S to investigators for awhile back in the late 80's and about 10% of our guns had functioning problems. This was before S&W was involved in their manufacture, so I don't know how the latest guns are. Ours worked better, on average, with hardball than the HP's available at the time (we issued Win Silvertip 85 gr. HP's as I recall).

My opinion is that your wife will like it less after she shoots it than she does looking at it in the gun store.

She will like it less when she tries to rack the slide. Most woman can't do it at all. As stated by others, there are lots of immensly better options out there these days. Too big and heavy for the minimal power offered and the two I have had would only feed FMJ round nosed bullets.

I think the Mauser Hsc is very similar in design to the PPK. I had one many years ago, and it ran fine, but I had no real use for it. The German guns, the Hsc and PP variants are cool, but generally not trouble free.

The Kahrs have pretty good buzz going for them. There are plastic framed .380's, also compact 9mm's in both stainless and plastic frame.

Don't forget the 1911 platform. Colt now has a 9mm in the Defender, if a .45 is too intimidating for her.

Lots of places have guns to rent, and a test run is wise with something intended for serious social purposes.

On autos where women have trouble racking the slides, teach them to keep both arms straight and turn their shoulders to pull the slide back. This trick has proven helpful, with the 3 women I have taught to shoot.

+1

If she or ANYONE either fairly weak or who has arthiritus in their hands tries to rack the slide on a Walther .380 (mine was a PPK/S)......well, it likely just won't happen.

Sold mine many years ago as I had jammin' problems as well. One of the very few sales that I've never regretted and perhaps at the top of that short list.

Try a new PK,
problem solved.

Thanks for the nudge, but I won't go there again.....

Whether 100% reliable and smooth as butter, I've moved on and I don't often look back. Perhaps my loss, but the "old dog, new tricks" thing applies here...with me anyway.

Enjoy yours, however. So many choices and for our own reasons is indeed a privilege.

Best to you.............

Read that as - you can get a plastic .380 that is smaller, lighter, doesn't kick as much, and is far more reliable (K-T P3AT).

If you like .380s, try finding a Remington 51.

Had 10-15 women try my PPK/S I think one actually managed to rack the slide! The rest are too weak in the hands.

Mike

You boys are not being nice. I will check to see if Sue can work it.