Might consider a German made PP or PPK or an HK4. Be sure to get a GERMAN made Walther, not a S & W! There are lots available on the used market. The HK4 is a sleeper!
Let's clarify and expand on this a bit....
1) There were the Walther made PP series pistols and the quality of the pre war PP (1929-1939) and PPK (1931-1939) are superb. However after WWII, Germany was banned from manufacturing firearms - except under very limited and tightly controlled circumstances. This persisted to around 1960.
2) During this period, Walther exported the tooling for the PP series pistols to France where Manufacture de Machines du Haut-Rhin (Manurhin) made them under license for Walther.
In effect, under this arrangement Walther did the forging of the slides and frames in Germany and shipped them to France for the machining, hardening, polishing, fit and finishing operations by Manurhin.
3) After 1960, this arrangement continued but Manurhin started shipping machined but not yet roll marked or hardened slides to Walther in Germany, along with the completed and finished frames and the rest of the parts. Walther then polished, roll marked, hardened and finished the slides and assembled them to the Manurhin provided frames and parts.
They roll marked these as "Walther" made pistols as under German law it was the roll marking that constituted the manufacture of the pistol.
Given that the frames were polished and blued by Manurhin and the slides were polished and blued by Walther (who also induction hardened them - a faster, cheaper process than used by Manuhrin) it's common to encounter Walther "made" pistols where the blue on the slides and frames doesn't quite match.
Purists/elitists will insist these are "Walther" pistols and are superior to the Manurhin marked pistols, as they were finished and inspected by "Walther". But that's basically bull hocky.
The quality of the Manurhin marked pistols is at least as good as the Walther pistols, and with the exception of the hardening, polishing and finishing of the slide, Manurhin made the Walther pistols anyway. And the bluing matches on the Manurhin made pistols.
4) Walther discontinued this arrangement in 1982 when they finally started making their own PP series pistols from scratch.
Ironically, the quality of these Walther made pistols wasn't on par with the Manurhin made PP series pistols, and that's no surprise given that Manurhin had been making them for over 35 years by that point, while Walther had no recent experience with them.
Interarms imported the Walther made pistols until the early 1990's but was looking around for other options as Walther started making noises about a different US importer. That's when Interarms started importing a very nicely finished version the FEG AP and APK series pistols (PP and PPK/S clones).
5) However during this same period, Ranger started making licensed copies of the PPK and PPK/S pistols in the US and marketed them through Interarms, thus ensuring a steady supply of PP series pistols in the US.
Ranger also started making stainless steel versions, and the Ranger made Walther licensed pistols are highly regarded as well made examples of the PPK and PPK/S.
6) S&W is the entity that started causing issues as they redesigned the pistol, changing many of the dimensions, and adding an extended tang that alleviates slide bite for some folks, but ruins the lines and makes it much less comfortable to carry in an IWB holster.
The S&W made pistols had some issues and a couple recalls and I have generally not been impressed with them. (No offense to the forum intended.)
The rumor for the last couple years has been that there will soon be someone else making them under license to Walther in the US.
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So while I agree with the advice to avoid the S&W made PPK and PPK/S pistols, I disagree that one made in Germany by Walther is preferred.
The Manurhin made PP series pistols are as well made as any of the post war Walther pistols and are better than the post 1982 Walther pistols.
Similarly, the Ranger made pistols are very nicely made and finished - much better IMHO than the S&W made versions.
I've also found that the Manurhin and Ranger made PP and PPK/S pistols that I own are very reliable with both Remington 102 gr Golden Saber and Hornady 90 gr XTP hollow points, and I've found other foreign made hollow points like those made by Magtech also function reliably.
In other words while your mileage may vary, in my experience, the PP series pistols may have been designed in an era of 7.65 Browning (.32 ACP) and 9mm Kurz (.380 ACP) ball ammo, they seem to function just fine with hollow points.
Where the PP series pistols show their 1929-31 design roots is in the angles of the lock work. they tend to have smooth but heavy DA trigger pulls, and given the geometry involved there just isn;t much you can do about it.
On the plus side though, once you master the 12 or so pound DA pull of a PP series pistol you'll be able to shoot pretty much any DA pistol or revolver very well in DA mode.
The exception course is the 1895 Nagant. That revolver has just about the worst DA trigger pull ever, a remarkable combination of extreme weight and grittiness that defies all efforts to make good DA groups.
) but I did hear a sufficient number of negatives about them that I always controlled myself. I still think about it occasionally but now that they've gotten a little bit pricey I don't think about it all that much.
