Yesterday I was going somewhere that I knew would not be gun friendly...... so decided to leave the 3913/6906 at home ...... dug out my old "suit gun" a Interarms Walther .380 PPK with Hogue checkered wood grips and it's Sparks Summer Special holster.

carrying it and a spare 7rd mag w/ an " X-grip' adapter was like carrying nothing at all.

While inches and ounces matter in concealed carry ...... I think we sometimes go beyond what is needed .....simply because we can.

Think I'll put it back into the hot summer days concealed carry/errand running roll for my quiet "Burb of the Burgh"

Sorry no pics...... House rule...... teenagers and the internet..... maybe in 12 months when the youngest graduates ......

I've got three...

mid-80s PPK .380 stainless.... with the Hogue Grips and custom beavertail ( no bites for me ) in .380 it was my suit/Tux gun until I got my first S&W 3913.

A Blue .380 Interarms PPK still in the box I found in a LGS at <$500 a few years back.....could not resist at that price

And a .32 PPK/s stainless I found in a LGS for <$400 with 4 mags....... again could not resist!!!!!!!


Not my first choice for EDC these days........but will do the job ...... if deployed as designed ...... close range self defense!!!!!

Yours came with holsters...... carry it ........ at least to the next Bond movie!!!!!

I really enjoy the Walther PP family of pistols. I have been dhoting them for 20 or 30 years now.

I have several 380s and I just bought another German 22 PPK/s that I have to go pick up from the dealer. It is not a pretty one, but the price was too good to pass up

This first one is a pristine German 9MM Kurz PPK
The next bonus check is going to have one or two of the German 22s ghost threaded for a suppressor

None of my others are photographed

One of the things that I like about the ones built by Smith and Wesson is that they extended the tang and now those of us with some flesh between our thumb and fore finger are safe from Walther Bite

I wish the Germans would have done that 90 years ago

Awesome ! Have a soft spot for the old PPK.
That's OK about no photo's.....I'm so computer illiterate I can't post photo's so I don't complain about the lack of photo's by other's .
This computer business is hard on us who grew up with radio and black and white TV....just so much I can't grasp.
Gary

The Walther PPK/S is my all-time favorite semiautomatic pistol. I own two of them, one of which is my EDC, a Stainless S&W PPK/S .380 ACP, and the other my range plinker, a matte black German (2013) PPK/S in .22LR.



One of these days, (whenever Walther Arms gets them on the market) I would like to get my hands on one of the new Fort Smith AR manufactured PPK/S with a Melonite finish.

I almost never shoot mine any more. Darn thing bites me every time I shoot it. If you have fat hands it is not a user friendly weapon.

I have found that quite a few people at gun shows do not Know what the Initials PP and PPK stand for.
PP is pistole polizi, and PPK is pistole polizi kriminal.
The PP is the larger size carried in a flap-over holster on his uniform.
The PPK is for the plain-clothed Detective and carried in their coat pocket.

Well, BAM-BAM, I guess I'll have to bring out my PPK collection of two!!!

Here is my first one, a .380, bought around 1979-80 on a LE exemption to the 68 prohibtion on import:



I still have the original box, docs, and extra magazine. I used to carry this when I was working undercover, but never abused...

Here is my other PPK, a .32, made around 1940 (IIRC), and in less than pristine condition. Great shooter, crack in the right hand Grip, as you can see.



Best Regards, Les

__________________
SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Sweeet guns....... Bond aside they were "the coool small gun" from 1963 until the ASP came out ........by the late 80s the 3913 hit the market and replaced them both.

But by then the world had something new in the Glock 26/27s ..... not really better IMHO... too thick & blocky for my taste...... just newer!!!!! Thou 10 9mms were nice..........had and sold two in the late 80s with the picky extension on the magazine and rounding the trigger guard ..... the 26 was OK...... a bit better than the 669............ but when the 3913 and 6906s hit the marked ....it was..... good-by to the Glocks

There's a specific way you can grip a PPK(/S) to help mitigate slide bite by placing your thumb over the space were your middle finger meets your ring finger. It feels a bit awkward, but you'll get used to it, and it doesn't throw off your aim either, or at least not as much as having a slide slice into the back of your hand anyway.

Personally, that's one reason why I like the extended beavertail on Smith & Wesson models.

I just have slim hands, lucky me!

I've wondered whether if Bond was real, would he have been issued a new PPK, or a wartme captured one? The Brits are pretty tight financially and don't like guns much...

I also think his under the dash gun in the Bentley may have been a prewar Colt .45 auto or even a National Match example with fixed sights sent to the UK about 1940. Fleming just called it a long-barreled .45 Colt.

I have owned several PPK AND PPK/S in .380, .32, and .22. I even carried a TPH .22 for several years. Talk about concealed, the little TPH was great and it beat not having anything by a good measure. I. Eventually abandoned the Walthers for the simplicity of 60s and 42s. I really wish this post had not appeared. I miss the little Walthers.....

Jack

I think I will have to dig out my little PPK and take it to the range next week. Glad I read this post..

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NRA Benefactor

Looks like I opened up a few safes to dig out some other old friends...................

Les Nice little .32 PPK....while most, myself included, would not pick a .32 as my first choice for carry....... that might make a nice suit/tux gun..... 2 to 8 .32s would dissuade most ................ .32 centerfire is more reliable than a .22lr rimfire

X-grip makes a nice little grip extender for the PPK to use PP magazines. I've got one for the extra magazine for my .380 PPK.... giving me 6+1 ; +7.

Here's my PPK/L:

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Always wondered why they didn't make more alloy frame guns.... maybe not in the 30s but in the 50s-80s....... the technology was there?????????

You would not believe how many people get that wrong . There was an article in Handguns Magazine , last year, the writer
thought the K stood for Kurtz.... the magazine editor thought that also but asked if any of the readers knew . I had a book on the PPK which stated the K stood for Kriminal and believed it correct . After a few back and forth Emails I located and sent him some old Walther catalog pages from the 1930's where Walther uses the term Kriminal several times. I think he finally believed me but I never saw anything in the magazine definitely putting the meaning of K as Kriminal.
So if anyone says the K is for Kurtz....it's not ...it stands for Kriminal !
Gary

As a man who has published over 5,000 articles in magazines and newspapers and dealt with a variety of editors, I can assure you, they usually think they're smarter than anyone else.

You are correct: the meaning was Kriminal, not Kurz.

Someone should find and post the photo of Gen. Patton firing a captured PPK. I saw that last week, and was intrigued. I think it's the only picture I've seen of him actually firing a gun.

Les.B mine looks exactly like yours but was issued in the '60s to a police dept(feel too old to go in my shop retrieve the original papers)but yours was during the nazi era;officers were carrying in its .32 acp version in a good many number.You've got a piece of history there:just getting exited here.I know you know that.Please excuse my being carried over!All this to say congrats,you've got something there!

Thanks, Qc, I tried to take a picture of what appears to be a waffenampt, there is one on the slide and this one on the frame:



Also have these proofs:



I posted this gun over at the Walther forum, and our own "Absalom" posted that it dates to 1940.

Best Regards, Les

__________________
SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Just picked up one a couple of weeks ago that dates to 1940. They're great shooters.

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I only have a few Walther's, but they are all appreciated by me.

The funny thing is, I used to actually carry this PPK. I didn't want to, but it was the only small pistol option I had. I was concerned about negatively "de-valueing" it, but I didn't pay that much for it back then. It really held up well. It is a commercial, (pre-war,) 1935. Still smooth as butter. Nothing is made like them today.

Jim

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Two reasons...

1.) Apparently they couldn't make an alloy frame strong enough during the production of the PPK/L to withstand the abuse of .380 ACP, hence why they were only chambered in .32 ACP. (In fact, many PPK/Ls which were frequently shot had a tendency to crack over time.)

2.) The PPK/L didn't sell all that well, presumably because it was unavailable in .380 ACP which was more popular with European Law Enforcement during the PPK/L's production, and couldn't be imported into the United States thanks to the GCA of 1968.

Not to nit-pick too much, but let's switch it around into the correct order:

PP = Polizei-Pistole, and PPK = Polizei-Pistole Kriminal, or Kriminalmodell.

See attached original pre-war Walther advertisement.

We've had long pointless, but fun discussions about this among collectors who know German. Grammatically, it's all bad German; Polizeipistole should be written as a compound, not hyphenated, but Pp would look odd. The PPK is also wrong; good German would be Kriminalpolizeipistole, but Kpp? Nah. And KPP has the problem of sharing the first two letters KP with the Kommunistische Partei, the Communist Party, not good marketing psychologically in 1930s Germany. Thus, the PPK.

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I think you mean this one.

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Still have my Manurhin .32 PP in the safe. Nice, easily hidden small pistol.

E/359 for army, the E/N is a commercial proof that came into use in 1940.

Interesting you mention that. I pay close attention to material associated with General Patton (if it appears to have some basis in fact - and believe me, there is a lot that does not) and while I have seen many photos of him with various handguns I too do not recall ever seeing a picture of him firing one. I saved that photo for that reason.

Here are some; a few real Walther's, some Walther marked Manurhin mfg and French proofed, some Manurhin mfg, Walther marked and German proofed and some Manurhin mfg, Manurhin marked and French proofed. Also a PP Super from '78 in 9mm Kurz. There are some Ranger mfg models here as well both stainless and blued.


A 1966 dated PPK in 7.65mm with US Army Provost Marshal paperwork.

A 1967 dated PPK in 9mm Kurz, I also have US Army Provost Marshal paperwork on this one as well.

This rig is a commercial from 1940. It does however have 2 matching numbered magazines and falls into the serial range of the RSHA SS PPK's but is not specifically listed in those records.

PPK was always a favorite of mine. They’re just very cool and I’ve always felt that’s reason enough to own any gun. I have shot two different ones and was surprised by their accuracy. My bro-in-law is selling his and I’m sorry I can’t currently afford what it would bring on GB. (It’s a pristine stainless Interarms PPK/s all original packaging and low round count.)

Most interesting bit of info in this thread?: Dirty Harry’s edc is a .380!?😧

I’m not familiar with the significance and just curious what that practically means. Are those permit papers? Property documents? Import papers?

Guess I've always wondered why Interarms/Ranger didn't make them here......... would have though they would have sold like hotcakes!!!!!!
One would have been on my short list in the 80s.

Always thought the European Police liked/carried the .32s (then stright to 9mm with the P 5,6 and 7s) and the .380s were an american thing?? Learn something new here every day!

I’m not sure where Dirty Harry got his information, but the 9mm kurz (.380) version of the PP and PPK in any variant was never issued to law enforcement in Europe. The 7.65mm (.32) was the universal police round with those countries that didn’t stick with the 9mm Luger after 1945, and except for a brief experiment with the 9mm Ultra (PP Super) in the 1970s in a few states, everybody was back with full-size 9mm pistols by the early 1980s.

European law enforcement post-war did prefer steel frames. The PPK-L was acquired in limited numbers for special applications; for example, the Swiss armed their sky marshals with the PPK-L in .22. The German army issued both the PPK and PPK-L version as the P21 in 7.65mm, the PPK-L mostly being issued to pilots and such where weight was a prime issue.

Hey, try lugging around a Model 29 with 3 speed loaders everyday for over a decade, then tell me how surprising it is.

Because Ranger Manufacturing wasn't set up for aluminum. In fact, all the US Made TPH models have a steel frame whereas those made abroad had aluminum frames.

Oops, my bad, I was actually thinking of the European military, and the PPK/L was still in production after the European military by and large had switched over to 9mm Luger. It was late last night when I posted that.

I don't know all of the ins and outs of the Provost Marshals duties but one of them was to secure personally owned weapons on base(maybe off base as well, I don't know for sure)I'm sure someone here was over in W. Germany during their tour, maybe they can explain. The papers do give the Walthers some provenance though.

As I said I'm adding my PPK back into my summer carry in my Burb of the Burgh.........

So as an FYI to PP and PPK lovers......

I found an interesting little "holster" a couple years ago.... Cook's Holsters "Trigger Guard Carry"...... a minimalist IWB option ...... a kydex trigger cover locks around and covers the trigger guard..... add a belt clip and it's about the minimalist holster you can get for a small auto....

kind of like a clip grip but totally encloses the trigger guard. Only used it a few times as the PPK doesn't get a lot of use ... but I like it.


They also make it for the S&W 39xx guns.

My current Walther family(just love 'em) :

Top left Manurhin proofed .22LR PPK/S, Right-1981 Ulm proofed .380 PPK


PPK 22LR-1967 Ulm proofed


PP Sport 22LR-1968 Ulm proofed

My PP (aka Dr. No). Made in ~1980. Less snappy than the PPK and a real nice smooth shooter.

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