I have always wanted a Walther PPK (no I'm not a James Bond fan) and found one at my LGS for $350. It is an Interarms version from the 80's. Anyone know of any problems with these guns? Fit and finish looks good. Only problem is someone put Pach's on the gun.

I know this is not the forum for Walther but I respect and value the knowledge to be found here.

The Interarms imports are much better than a lot of the recent production. If the gun was in good shape, I'd go $350. I spent $400 in a cash deal on one here locally a few years back. Mine liked the 90 grain Hydra-Shoks.


Bullseye

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Five screws and 3-1/2 inches.

Sorry - I forgot to mention it is the stainless model, not the blue. Also does anyone know of a source for PPK/S grips?

Yep. Walther Pistol Grips


Bullseye

P.S.: If this gun is new to you, I would test it for reliability with the carry load and all of the magazines I intend to use. People differ on how many rounds that should be, but I'd say at least 250. These are great little guns, although I haven't liked the double-action on any that I have handled.

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Five screws and 3-1/2 inches.

PPK/S grips will not fit a PPK, I could be wrong. Check into this some more.

I believe they're noted for hammer bite, the PPK/S

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Sure you did

Dont' get me wrong. I am not looking to CCW this gun. I have always wanted one. I CCW my Kahr PM9 (for real bad neighborhoods) or one of my Colt or S&W snubbies for walking the dog/7-11 etc...

I think PPKs are one of the sexiest guns ever made and would like to have one to take to the range etc...

I also have an Interarms PPK and carry it occasionally when I need something smaller than my K40. It's been a reliable shooter, even with hollow points. My only real complaint with the gun is the difficult to manipulate safety/decocking lever, and the heavy DA trigger pull. But it is a classic and I guess that's the main reason I own one.

My brother owned one briefly, in .380. He bought it new. It bit, but the real problem was reliability. He just couldn't get it to work. He took it back to Academy Sports (?) and they gave him credit toward a CS-9, I believe.

I also always wanted a Walther, but after his experience and being exposed to the Makarov, I much prefer the latter, especially the East German varient, which I find to be every bit as nicely finished as the Walther..

I own only one Walther that I bought new in 1989, the stainless Interarms PPK. I can’t speak for all Interarms Walthers but the machining on mine was poor. The right rail grove looked like it had been cast and the excess metal not removed. The feed ramp was far from smooth. I spent a day milling the rail groove and smoothing and polishing the feed ramp to make it right.

Hey, other than that, its very accurate and fun to shoot. It will bite you if you let your hand slide up too far on the grip. Also, the DA trigger pull is way too stiff for this gun.

I suggest field stripping the gun to see if there are any machining problems.

Find yourself a good P5. Pay a little more than you feel is right, you will not regret it. Even a PPS is a better weapon than a PPK.

I just traded for a PPK/s in West bend on Saturday, I pick it up tomorrow it is a blued interarms looks quite new. I will shoot it and if I fell it is ok i will carry it. I have owned several walthers PPK PPK/s and PPs and P5 and p1s all worked well. I never owned a TPH but was always told they were problem guns.

One I keep near me in the house is a PP.32 surplus gun never failed me yet.

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Stan

If the PPK/S was made by S&W, they had a recall on all of theirs that were made for about a 7 year span. Need to check their web site for details. I had both a PPK and PPk/S made by them. Both had to go back for repairs.

Carried an Interarms PPK/S for years with no issues, fed everything. Around 2K rounds it turned into a jamomatic even after the mother of all cleanings. I figure a weak spring or something but I now carry a Ruger SP 101 357. I just can't trust the PPK/S anymore.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

Go for it, I've never had any problem with my PPKS. It's a classic design, a nice size and fairly thin to carry. It's also quite accurate for it's size. As a blow-back, racking the slide takes a little more effort and the recoil is snappy.

I recently took a stainless PPK .380 in trade. It was made in the USA by Interarms. I have shot about 25 rounds of various ammo through it and it seems like it is going to be a good one.

It is my understanding that the PPK could not be imported after 1968 which is the reason they are now made in the USA (first by Interarms - now by S&W). In '68 or '69 Walther introduced the PPK/S for the American market which combined the larger PP frame with the smaller PPK slide and barrel which was enough to get ATF approval.

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6/23/2022

I have a stainless PPK and a blued PPK/s, both in .380. They are fine and reliable pistols and I've CCW'd both of them. Just be careful where you place your hand while shooting. Never had slide bite with mine though.

Charlie

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SWCA # 2294

I own several Walther PPK pistols. The PPK has wrap around plastic grips that cover the back of the pistol. The backstrap is cut away and the plastic grip actually forms the backstrap. The .380 magazine capacity for the PPK is 6 rounds.

The PP and PPK/S have a heavier steel backstrap and two piece grip panels. The PP and PPK/S have a 7 shot magazine capacity in .380 caliber.

The PPK/S is a Walther PP frame with a PPK slide/barrel. The slide/barrel of the PP (Police Pistol) is longer than that of the PPK (Police Pistol Kriminal - like the terminology of Detective Special here in the US).

Here is my pre-WWII Walther PPK .32:



Here is my 1968 Walther PPK .380:



Here is my 1988 Walther PPK .380 made in the USA at the Ranger, Alabama plant and distributed by Interarms:



I carried my Interarms PPK for 20 years. I qualified with it every year and shot it for fun with thousands of rounds. It has served me reliably and never jammed. Full metal jacket rounds, Winchester Silvertips, and the new Hornady Critical Defense ammo have all functioned perfectly in the gun.

When I bought a Ruger LCP, I retired my PPK and had it engraved with 75% coverage American Scroll by Michael Gouse. I absolutely love my Interarms PPK. I have since sold my LCP and I now carry the S&W Bodyguard .380 pistol as it has the same capacity as the PPK, but is obviously thinner, lighter, smaller, and has a laser. My Bodyguard is now 100% reliable with fmj and Critical Defense ammo after 400+ rounds fired.

But I still love my PPK for the same reasons you do.

I think the price you're looking at is a very good deal. The Interarms guns are very desirable due to the problems the current S&W production guns have experienced.

I have a German made Interarms PPK/S, probably made around 1980, and it seems very well made. I've only put about 2 boxes of ammo through it, and it went bang every time. It does have a stiff double action, but then that's just the first shot. I think the PP and the PPK/S should use the same grip.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

mm6mm6: I have a Camilus heat like yours. It is "the sharpest knife in the world" Every time I touch it it cut's me. I'm trying to sell it and took it out Monday to take pics of it. Sure enough the thing got me again.

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SOS USA

I've got four of them and I carry one all the time. It has yet to nick me though. I did show it to my brother-in-law when I got my first one. This is a true story. He had just cracked open a can of Miller Lite beer and was holding it in his left hand. I brought out the knife and told him to be very careful with it. I said, "Let me explain how it works before you try it."

Of course, he didn't listen (my fault, I should have never even let him get it in his right hand before my warning) and he hit the lever one handed.

It flipped out of his hand and punctured the side of his Lite, which then gently sprayed and then leaked all over him.

I could not stop laughing after I gingerly removed the now open blade from his right hand.

The one in the photo I had engraved to match the Walther since they both look so good next to each other in stainless and black.

MM6MM6,


Those are beautiful pistols, I had a similar pre war years ago I wish i had kept, but I was young and foolish and traded it away. I have always liked Walther pistols along with S&W they are a favorite of mine

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Stan

Yes your guns/knife look great. I like the "assisted" concept. I would probably never use a kniffe in a self defense roll. I like the one hand operation because every once in a while you need it on job. I bought a Kershaw plain assisted blade recently, to fill the bill.

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SOS USA

I owned an Interarms .380ACP PPK/S in stainless steel. Though I have average sized hands (size 7.5 surgical gloves), that sucker bit me every time. Reliability was okay, until it went full auto on me once at the range. The factory fixed it without charge, but they wouldn't tell me what the problem was. I was always hesitant to carry and shoot it after that incident and traded it on a H&K PSP (at the top of my grail gun list).

Regards,

Dave

Here's my PPK/S, made in 1977. Quite reliable and concealable. I do consider any .380 auto as more of a "last ditch" proposition, though. Useful as a deterrent, but I wouldn't want to be in a serious firefight with one.

Only modification to this one was a slight rounding of the lower rear edges of the slide. These things bite if you don't hold them off to the side a bit; not a good practice, but who wants to bleed?

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

I have owned about 4 PPK's and 3 PP's over the years. I kept the PP's and sold the PPK's because I have yet to find a reliable PPK. They constantly jam, each and every one I have owned. I think the problem is that they were originally designed for the .32 acp cartridge and somewhere along the way they started chambering them for .380. I have never had a jamming problem with my PP's in .32. If you can find a PPK in .32 acp, grab it!

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Steve

Stainless for that price-I'd buy it in a heartbeat-although it is a bit HEAVY for pocket carry compared with the current offerings.

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Forum consigliere

I have a stainless Interarms PPK in .380. Except for the external polishing job and new grips, nothing else has been done to it. It reliably feeds FMJ and PowrBall, but balks at JHP. It is heavier than the LCP I carry in my pocket, but with 6+1, it does carry very well in a belt holster, much better than a 5 shot J frame.

I would love to have one of the German made PPK's but have never been willing to pony up the money for one. I do have a stainless version of the current S&W/Walther pistols and, contrary to the experience of some, have been very pleased with it. It eats everything I feed it including hardball, JHP's, Power Ball, Hornady PD, etc., and is accurate enough to 25 yds. I carry it nearly every day. Can't ask for much more than that.

Sorry for the late reply but I can tell you right now from experience the safety broke and stuck the firing pin in the firing position when you dropped the slide, had the same thing happen to my beat to hell ww2 walther P38 after I stupidly dropped the thing at home and then took it to the range a few weeks latter.

ending up with the thing firing all 3 rounds I had in the magazine in a burst, thank god I had it pointed down range.

hell the damn thing was stuck at the gunsmith while he tried to figure out what caused it for 6 months, till he just touched the safety and found that the safety had cracked right through the middle perfectly without any real sign it was broken.

although in your case it could have been old fashioned stainless steel gailing, the reason why I got rid of my stainless interarms PPK as it looked like it was doing just that after a month or two of ownership and shoot on the slide rails.

and I swear the guy next to me on my last range trip had my gun as I had accidentally put a scrape on the steel on the right side over the A of interarms and this one had it in the same spot and it jammed on him atleast twice during the range session so I probably made a good call on that one.

basically I think when it comes to the PP/PPK design lineage i'll be sticking to only normal blued steel from now on just for those reasons.

I've one of the french made manhurin walther licensed ppk in 32 auto. I've tried this with federal hardball, fiochi, wolf, and at least one other brand. Both hardball and hollow point fed just fine and no function problems. And mine does not bite. Stuck it in the right hand pocket of my jeans and never gave it a second thought about it's being there. Frank

I, too had always wanted a ppk. I had seen one in .32,stainless,nib. I had gone in to buy a compact 9mm for a range toy and ended with the smith/walther instead. I have had no issues with the pistol 500 rounds later, shoots point of aim,and the best part is no "slide bite" due to the frame being reshaped.I did change the grips(eBay) but other than that its been good to go.

I'm starting to think that if anyone goes for a PPK it should be in this caliber as .32 is probably what the PPK was designed for and the PP was far better suited for .380 as its got a 4 inch barrel

and its been noted for awhile that with anything less that a 3.75 inch barrel .380's can have feeding trouble, atleast the old steel ones can because of the angle of feeding ramp and the fact that they had a the locked in place barrel while modern guns like the glock have a tip up barrel that angles the barrel more in line with the cartridges when the slide racks back to load another one after the first one is shot and even after that you have to have just the right power springs to get it to work properly.

mind you I am using 1911 logic here but it seems to fit in with the PPK design perfectly and explains why they have such a checkered reputation with .380

plus the london police were using PP's in .380 in 62' as that's what bond was actually using in the first film as that's all they could get their hands on at the time and that's where the production studio was located.

which could mean that the one that that bodyguard was using to guard princess ann was also in .380 however from the sound of it he might have been carrying it without one in the chamber and it jammed when he tried to rack the slide because someone bumped into him as he was noted as not blaming the gun for the incident.

and also just as a sidenote Bond in the books was given a smith centenal for long distance work in addtion to the PPK in Dr. No.

so he was to have two guns, the .32 acp PPK as his everyday carry piece and a .38 special J frame probably as his replacement for the .45 revolver he had in the previous books in addtion to the beretta .25 that the PPK replaced although it was lost on the island and never replaced in the books and there was never a note of what happened to the the .45 that I presumed was a .45 New Serivce Revolver in the books past that either.


anyways Frank46 what did you pay for the Manhurin PPK there and when was it made? I've been thinking of getting one as there regarded as being on par with the walther made walthers unlike the interarms and smith ones and it might be possibile to bring one into MA under the C and R laws.

and it wont cost me an arm and a leg like the geniune walthers do.

The post war French Manurhin marked Walther PP series pistols are "on Par" with the post war "German" Walther marked PP series pistols because the post war "German" pistols were manufactured in Mulhouse, France by Manurhin. Complete pistols were then shipped just over the border to the Walther facility in Ulm, Germany where they underwent final fit, Ulm proofing and slide legend marking/hardening/bluing...in order to be entitled to the "Made in West (or W) Germany" marking. This is why you'll notice the generally higher polish of the Walther marked slides which don't quite match the frame. Walther did not begin post war series production of their trademark PP series pistols...from scratch, until 1985 and they did so with new serial number ranges of 700,000 and 800,000.

Yours was an interesting post. I exchanged letters with the real Geoffrey Boothroyd, whose book, "The Handgun" is still perhaps the best single primer in its field.

Boothroyd told me that Ian Fleming got the Centennial .38 that he had suggested as Bond's carry gun confused with the S&W M-27 that Geoff suggested to replace the Colt New Service .45 with 5.5-inch barrel that Bond carried in his car. (Fleming was shown in, "Life" pointing this gun,one of his own. His Ruger MK 1 .22 was also pictured in that article.)

Fleming liked small autos, so he armed Bond with the PPK to replace the puny .25 Beretta. I don't know if he ever bought a PPK. He did buy a Centennial on a visit to New York, and some paperback covers showed him with it on the back cover. He had by then, of course, sorted out the S&W models.

The PPK carried by the bodyguard to the Royals who were attacked had a 7.65mm gun. I don't know why it jammed. But a friend of mine who was a college dean once talked with the bodyguard to a Prime Minister giving a speech on his campus in Texas. He was armed with a snub S&W M-36 and standard old RN lead bullets. My pal gave him some lead HP Plus P's (the FBI load then), and the officer seemed very happy to get them.

British general officers and undercover personnel have been issued PP's, I think in part because of the glamor that Fleming's books generated for them. And RAF pilots were issued PPK's in lieu of their Browning 9mm's by the time of the last Gulf War. Many objected, but the PC policy makers insisted. I think other NATO pilots were also issued with PPK's.
Of course, they were very popular with German aircrew in WW II, because they were smaller and handier than the Luger or P-38. And the holster was less likely to hang up on the cockpit. The ME-109, in particular, had a small cockpit.

I read a story in a gun magazine by a German who said that the PP in German police service tended to jam maybe 1 shot in 50. That was one reason why German police agencies went to modern 9mm's. The Walthers seem to vary. Some work fine; others jam more.

well maybe it was a teathing issue with walther getting back on their feet after the war, although looking at the feeding ramp of the walther PPK and looking at that Kimber 3.5 inch that was in a gun article recently (hence the 1911 point) it could just be that some had a better, sharper feeding ramps than others.

and with the model 27 that makes a hell of alot more sense now

I always thought that was really odd, so basically the centenal was to take the place of the beretta and the Model 27 was to take the place of the Colt new serivce and the PPK was to be a possibile backup gun?

and with the PPK being used like that with air crews and the like it makes alot of sense, the smaller the pistol the less likely its going to get hung up on something or lost, I mean that P38 is a big god damn gun and the PPK seemed to be 1/4th of its size when I had one.

I have 2 PPK/S's. I've NEVER been bit by the hammer. People who do aren't holding the pistol properly, IMHO.

I have one of the Interarms stainless models that I bought in the 80's.

I had to polish the feed ramp a bit, then it eats 95gr. FMJ all day long....if you want to shoot it that long. Recoil is surprisingly sharp.

The DA trigger pull on the PPK or PPK/S can ONLY be described as VERY HEAVY. It's hard to get a good shot off with it, though I can hit COM in a silhouette at 7 yards.

Single action it's MUCH easier to shoot. The sights are small, and made of stainless steel. I painted the sights on mine with flat black paint.

If you shoot it, you'll find the reason for the Pachmayr grips: recoil is VERY snappy.

I prefer the PPK/S to the PPK: the grip is longer, you get one extra round, and the grip frame has a solid back strap, making after market grips less costly than for the PPK.

it's a bit harder to conceal, due to it's longer grip.

It's a bit heavier than the PPK, which helps with the recoil. I can see the attraction of the .32 in these small pistols: recoil with the 32ACP is very mild....but, you give up a substantial amount of muzzle energy.

I'll stick with the 380ACP, myself.

it had to have the feeding ramp polished to take 95 grain FMJ? that seems a little odd

and with the recoil being sharp that's part of the reason behind my 3.7 to 4 inch rule, hell I traded in that interarms PPK with a 3.5 inch barrel for a beretta 85 for a 3.8 with an alloy frame and it doesnt seem that sharp, nor has it required any work to function properly with all ammo although neither did that one PPK and I need to put a new rear sight on the beretta as it shoots very low at 25 yards, about 6 inches

while the pre dash model 49 bodguard with blue finger groved PSG grips I have with its stock unmodified small sights shoots perfectly at that range.

I guess that's the benefit of 20/15 vision

and also the 85 has a longer grip by about 2 rounds, making it hard to fit in a pocket, not to mention the bevertail.


although I've been thinking about getting rid of it since the whole fiasco with the trigger and even now after that spring was replaced the trigger reset doesnt feel right, I guess it needs some break in time or something.

been thinking of replacing it with a PP in .380, a colt 1908 .380, a blued Sig 230 or even a walther PP super in .380 but they seem to be prohibitively expensive and hard to find, only made for 3 years.

and then just for the hell of it a PPK in .32 acp just for the bond thing, plus my dad actually protected one of those lecter like machines that bond was going after in the second film for the americans in 62' with one of them in germany on the radar site he was working on, sadly he sold it to a GI who was bringing them into the us and never saw it again.

hence my interest in this thread.

funny thing is I cant quite find one that lines up with all my critera

I'm looking for a .380 with a proper take down lever, not that hold the trigger guard down bit with the PP series, a safety like on the walther's, 6 shot capacity, steel frame and atleast a 3.7 inch barrel but nothing seems to match that and an american mag release although the heel release is probably a better system for in the pocket carry.

Sorry I just had to post after having a brainstorm after watching this video about this german 1979 PPK/S

Walther PPK/S - YouTube

as he mentioned something I never really noticed about walthers in the video, specifically the feeding ramp at 5:08

the feeding ramp and the barrel are two separate pieces (unlike on a modern firearm like the glock where the feed ramp is part of the barrel and probably the barrel casting in general) something I've never taken note of before and as you can see on this ppk/s his father has had since 1979 and had no real problems with has got an exceptionally flush and well polished feeding ramp


now I just looked at my old WW2 1944 walther P38 that I have that's never given me any sort of feeding problems that I can remember (although I shoot primarily winchester ammo out of it thats usually 115 gr to 124) and it looks nothing like that, it really looks like two separate pieces and the feeding ramp is one big chunky piece with a lip cut into it that lines up with the barrel when the slide pulls back to load another cartridge into it, and hell it looks like if I got one bad follower in the magazine I was using with it (like I had happen with a colt 1911 mag that was supposedly new) it probably wouldnt feed properly, atleast on the last shot.

and I compaired it to my browning .25 acp and its just like his PPK/S there with its feeding ramp, you wouldnt know that its two pieces unless you really looked closely at it.

so maybe that really is the key with the walther PP/PPK and the PPK/S series (or any gun thats based on or around it) to make damn sure its got a good feeding ramp and that its lined up perfectly with the barrel as I would imagine that in some cases the feeding ramp and the barrel as its fixed to the frame on the pp series could possibily be missaligned and maybe the pre 1980 rule that I have with smith and wessons could very well apply to the whole PP series


plus that also explains why the browning and colt 1903 series have such a good reputation as I've never heard of them having any feeding trouble plus the barrel is about between a half an inch and a quarter of an inch longer than the ppk and ppk/s on the latter versions of the colt 1903 and colt 1908's, so that would mean that atleast when it comes to that series the quality of the work on the feeding ramp is better plus its got some extra mass to help put the slide into battery better, atleast when it comes to the PPK and PPK/s as those two both have a 3 and a half inch barrel while the walther PP and the sig 230 have a 4 inch barrel and are actually longer than the colt's and the browning in that regard.

and this would explain why in general guns that are based on the PP series are sometimes hit and miss reliability wise depending on who put them together.