Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Opinions on the Walther PPK/S

Same bullet diameter, but not the same chambering.

9mm is short for 9mm Parabellum, and .380 is short for .380 ACP.

I have considered one many times with the thought of Jim Stroh for his magic. Ended up with a Kahr CW9 that just runs.

Yep. My Kahr P9 is my daily CCW.

Had that Walther and it definitely had the "wow" factor back when.......back when that was what mattered more to me than reliability.............decades ago.

My wife couldn't charge it to save her behind, the most innacurate handgun I've ever shot and as has been stated already, my particular Walther PPK/S would only digest FMJ's and then function reliably only 80% of the time (and this was after having the ramp smoothed out by a very competent gunsmith friend).

The least amount of sleep lost or remorse that I've ever felt in regards to the sale of any firearm I've owned would be this pistol........YMMV.

I thought you said you carry a steel 1911 24/7/365?

Well, I'm some what encouraged. I took the PPK/s to the range today and put fifty rounds through it without a hiccup. Never once pinched me, no failures, shot real nice 7 yard groups. There is hope.

I asked the older dude behind the counter his opinion of the pistol and its reputation, his opinion was that one must shoot the hell out of these pistols to break them in, before forming an opinion. Tight machining that needs to be broke in. He said my barrel still looked real good, no telling how many rounds have been through her, but it hasn't been a lot.

I was shooting ball ammo, but still, better results than expected, I look forward to continued testing..she does weigh more than the average pocket pistol, but sure is a good fit to my hand.

I having a hard time understand how for some, this pistol was mashing skin, how is skin ending up high enough to get caught by the slide? Mostly big handed shooters?

On the big handed shooters Barkoff most likely.

As to a lot of rounds to break in the pistol, that doesn't surprise me. Wilson Combat 1911's are so tight that it takes a good 500 to 1,000 rounds to break them in, or so Wilson says. The tighter the pistol the longer it takes to break in.

Is your Walther a "real" Walther, i.e made by Walther or one of the Interarms or S&W Walthers. I can't remember what you said it was.

I wouldn't let my opinion of the walther, ppk, or the pp be defined by the interams, or S&W versions.
I have a number of them, german marked from WWII. They are fine.
I also have a manuhrin/french produced, when the germans were on the boo boo list for having loosing. I have shot a lot of stuff through it with no pinching, jams or anything, and this including 125 round nose cast bullets. Nice little pistol.
It is heavier that the current whizzbangs but it doesn't take away from it being a nice pistol.
For how many years have they been made in one form or another?
course i also like things like a savage 12 shot .32acp too.
It's "antiquated" too

I thought that was the 1911 he vacuum sealed for when he's in the shower.

But I don't know how many 1911s he has.

Made in Germany, imported by Interarms.

If I get three or four hundred rounds through it with the same results as with the first 50, I'd consider carrying it CCW with FMJ

Well that should be a good PPK. I would imagine but don't know for sure ,the German Walthers are pretty tight.

I wonder how well made the S&W Walther PPK/S are? Anybody got one or shot one?

As usual with my firearms I am totally lucky. I have been shooting PPK's, that's ('s) meaning many, not PPK/S's for well over 60 years with absolutely none of the attendent failures reported on here. I currently have a SS PPK and a SS TPH and both have impeccable manners and function reliably enough that I carry them as protection.

Do what you wish but be advised, FMJ with anything is inferior. With the 45 auto it is mucho inferior to better JHP loads, but the .45 still punches a big hole. With say, 38 Super, it is still inferior but has a lot of penetration for a lot of velocity, which can be good. With it in a .380, you haven't got anything to make up for the FMJ. Some calibers really need help. IMO the .380 is one of them.

The PPK/S was a hybrid of the PP/PPK (the latter being the smaller detective-series) to satisfy GCA 68, as the PPK did not fit ATFs "sporting arm" criteria for import, so they put the PPK slide/barrel on the PP frame.

Interarms imported them from Germany, then started building them in the U.S. under license from Walther about 1982 (to reduce price IIRC by avoiding import tariffs, IIRC.) I have what must be one of the last German-made models imported by Interarms I bought in November, 1981. The dealer sold it to me for the same price as the new domestic model, which was significantly less than the German-made guns were going for at the time.

Yes, there are probably much better carry guns. Mines a fun plinker.

A stainless PPK/S was my carry gun for a time in the late 90's. It functioned reliably with a variety of ammo and was easy to hit with; I liked it as a shooter.

The problem was carrying the darned thing. I came to conclude it was too big for standard pants pocket, and for a holster gun I was better served with a LW Commander or Glock 23. Good guns but "neither fish nor foul" for my needs.

YMMV

That is conventional wisdom until it comes to the .380. In my reading I'm finding a lot opt for FMJ or solids for more penetration in a weak round. I'm thinking I'll give the Buffalo Bore flat nose a try and see if she chokes.

http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=128

If Buffalo Bore works it should be a good round.