My sister came last week and ask me for one of my older Walther PPK pistols. She will carry the PPK as SD weapon in her purse.
She had for years now a Taurus 9mm slim in her purse and since the weapon performed just fine when we went to the range, I was surprised that she wanna downsize on the SD gun.
She gave me not a lot of explanation why she want to do it, but I have the suspicion that she has became health issues that she is not shearing with me.

I carried for years and decades a PPK as SD weapon. But the times were different back than. Everything was an entire step easier. Lyndon B Johnson was President, Charles De Gaulle was bragging about the France Legion in Africa, the enemy came always from the east, even when the movie was produced in CA. Bad girls get scared off by just drawing a gun, police carried 32 long or 38 special in their S&W or Colt Revolvers. Burglars fleet the scene when they realized the homeowner is present and grannies where just left alone wherever they went.

My sister works in a store often late and has to cross two intersections in a very bad and from the police neglected area. She pays to a group of young man that control the 2 intersections there $ 50 a month that nothing happen to her on her way home (this would be a different story for an other day).
Only one parking garage 2 blocks away from the store are accessible that is highly protected by security forces. To go there at evening or night times is the issue.

Does it make sense to downsize from a 9 mm to a .380, with half the power than before, or would it better to practice with the other (left) hand what ever the health issue may be?

First; remember the Walther is a blow-back design. The recoil spring is pretty heavy making it harder to rack the slide than a similar lock-breech design.

Like you I carried a .380 PPK through the mid-80s and early 90s as my suit gun (switched to a 3913).....about 10 years ago my wife thought it would "be cool" to take my old customized PPK as her purse gun ( vs. her 2" Model 10).........we found that she couldn't quickly and easily work the slide every time. Just didn't have the hand strength to be 100% reliable with the gun.

Back to your original program............

Whichever pistol is easier for her to punch out the x-ring is the winner.

__________________
Because of the metric system?

Bundasheer, I carry a .380 every day. It is easily concealable and uber reliable. I am no expert but I have studied the terminal ballistics of the venerable 9mm Kurtz and a few well placed hits with hollow points will do the job.
There was a thread last week about guys switching to .22WMR JHP's for CC.
The .380 will do fine. Happy shooting my friend.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

+1 for Bam Bam, I sell these in my GS and they are definetly not a big seller with the ladies due to the above issues. My personal experience with them as they are difficult to shoot also. They are a great gun don't get me wrong but I think they are an acquired taste.

Just my opinion

Pete

If she is forced to use the weapon and can put rounds on target (at REAL SD distances) she should be just as safe with the Walther as with the Taurus; in my opinion even moreso, as I consider the walther to be a higher quality, more reliable weapon.

To answer your question directly, it sounds perfectly fine for her to use a PPK in place of her Taurus, if she is comfortable with and able to control it. She would have to train very hard to learn to shoot well with her non-dominant hand.

Now, the rest of the answer - has she fired the PPK and compared it to her 9 mm? She may find the recoil of the blowback .380 more difficult to control (snappy) than a locked breech 9 mm, not less.

__________________
Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Notwithstanding the naysayers and anti-gunners, any gun is better than no gun and, no, she won't get it taken away easily if she's fully prepared to use it, and .380 in modern cartridges works just fine. I carried a .25 ACP for decades and didn't worry much. Okay, I switched to a .38 Special J-frame, but that was solely because I acquired a lightweight one and it was just as easy to carry as my little Beretta.

Plenty of .380s out there doing SD work for boys and girls!

***GRJ***

What, no 500 S&W?

Isn't that the minimum effective caliber?

May be I interpret too much into her PPK request. May she just wanna carry something different? Who knows?

I have to say that I was surprised, but she had never any hiccups with the little Taurus slim and she shoots thousands of rounds trough it. She shoots at least twice a month on the range and shoots at least 100 to 150 rounds every month. I didn’t shoot the slim this much – so-...

My sister is some kind of Girl-Pistolero I tell you. She takes anyone on the range in a target distance up to 25 feet head on. I’m absolutely surprised how fast she pulls her gun out of this purse and manage it to shot at least once on the target in 2 seconds. So be careful

She likes to shoot the PPK. When I take the PPK to the range and she is there, She shoots this thing constantly.

I, me and myself are using a PPK for SD still today sometimes. No -, not all the time anymore, but often. Especially when I am in a suit and tie the PPK just fit fine to the outfit.

I’m just a little concerned, knowing where she runs around (15 years ago this was one of the safe places in town) and knowing how late she may be have to walk to the parking garage. I would not go there later than 8 O’clock at night without a Shield “and” a PPK strapped on my angle. Just saying.

But may you right, with today’s ammo is the .380 cartridge better than 20 years ago.

She could also increase her "protection money" payout as well.

Weeeeeellllll. -
But she will be only protected between her store and the parking garage right
But bad girls are nowadays everywhere. Right?

I'm not a 380 or PPK fan, but if she's good with it, at least she's armed. My experience with the PPK was that it was heavy for its size, stiff trigger, and stiff all over. While she carrys it, suggest she go around and evaluate some of the newer designs like the M&P Bodyguard 380 or a SIG P232.

To answer a question that wasn't asked.
How about a S&W 642?
No worry about hand strength to rack the slide.
No worry about clearing a jam.
And best of all, with a loose jacket it can be in hand while still in the pocket and pushed forward and fired while still in pocket.
Might come handy if she was walking and didn't want anyone to see a gun in her hand.

If she's comfortable with the gun, I would not fret over the caliber.

I had to get to the bottom of that. I just called her and ask
She said she has problems with the left shoulder and is now diagnosed with arthritis.
She said that she is not as fast as usual with the left hand to guide the gun, and has problems to bring the arm up to shoulder height. She is right handed.

She don't has a problem with recoil at all, but realized she shouts all of a sudden down left on the target. She thinks that shooting the PPK only with one hand (right), she would be still better on the target since she is since years very familiar with this gun.

The question what about a 642 revolver is clear. She never shoot a revolver and she would have to start a new target practice.

Thank you for your responses.

Remember, Colonel Claus vonn Staufenberg(Tom Cruise) racked the slide of his PPK one handed on a table in Valkyrie.
Just sayin'

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

Yes, the 9mm is preferable to the .380Auto. When it comes to guns, bigger is always better.

However, and this is more important than caliber, how well does she shoot the gun? You have to be accurate first. So, if she can't shoot the PPK as well, then it's a waste of money and time regardless of caliber.

__________________
Freedom isn't free.

They can do anything in the movies.

__________________
John

A 22 is better than nothing, I have carried a 22 mag revolver in my coat pocket a few times, not the best, but surely not the worst either.

Any gun is better than no gun.

__________________
John

"Any gun is better than no gun."

Now, isn't that the truth!

__________________
Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

My Walther bites me every time I shoot it. So I don't shoot it any more. Its a common problem. She might want to shoot it to see how it fits her. And as far as your basic question, it makes little sense IMHO to downsize if the 9mm works for her and she can handle it.

Even if racking the gun is a pain, she can do it at her leisure BEFORE putting it in her purse. Carrying any semi-auto without a round in the chamber is setting yourself up for problems in an emergency.

A firearm she want's to carry she will carry. Doesn't matter on caliber and any firearm is better then none. If she doesn't want to carry the Taurus then she probably won't.

I know she is probably set in her way but for me it seems the best solution is to move. The area can do nothing but get worse.

__________________
Psalm 23:4