Has S&W Tarnished The Walther Name (PPK?S)?

[Rule3]

Great. I just bought a Walther P22 for my wife and now you guys are saying it's ****! To make matters worse Ruger is now selling their copy of the P-22, the SR22. Dang it!
The Walther P-22 has shot 200 rounds with no failures.

I had the Walther P22 and fluffed and buffed it as detailed in the P22 "Bible" (see rimfirecentral)

The P22 is a gun with a cool fun factor and has a very good trigger. It is just not very accurate which I can not figure out why. It has a blowback fixed Walther barrel. After completely taking it apart the fit and finish is very poor.

That being said it never jammed, trigger was great would fire as fast as you can pull the trigger and I tuned it to fire any ammo. Just do not expect nice tight groups. I wouldn't want to drop it either.

http://www.freespeech.com/1917-1911M_P22_bible.pdf

Lots of pieces.

 

[Out West]

Well said Chief38!! My LT had a S&W PPK. He sent it back twice for recall work and then dumped it at a gunshow.

Please remind me of this the next time, while at a gun show, a private seller offers me a great "deal" on his PPK/PPKS.

Out
West

 

[loknload]

I have one of the recent Smith PPK's, Have had no problems with and it puts'em where I want'em.
Never sent it back for the recall either. Didn't really care what I was hearing about the recall failures back then.
But I like mine, I did have an older version of the Bersa and it was a good gun as well and a lot cheaper than the PPK.

 

[Bond James]

My new S&W PPK/S vs My Interarms PPK/S

This is my first post so bear with me. I've had an Interarms .380 PPK/S since I bought it new in 1983. It's always been a good little pistol and has been reliable and accurate. I decided I wanted to add a new Smith & Wesson stainless .380 PPK/S and since this is a bunch of gun enthusiasts, I don't need to explain why I "needed" it. AFTER I took delivery of the new S&W stainless, I read a lot of negative commentary about S&W and their stainless PPK so I was pretty worried. In fact, it was so stiff and tight, I couldn't get it to "work" with Snap-Caps which I like to practice my trigger technique with. I called S&W, having never fired it and the guy said, you can send it back and we'll rectify whatever needs rectification but have you shot it yet? No, I said. He said, I'll send you a return shipping label but you might want to try it at the range first. So I read some more online stuff, got alternately more worried then reassured and finally decided to have a little faith in S&W and took it to the range this morning. Two hundred rounds. Two jams. I asked the range officer for his candid opinion. He said he's pretty sure it was limp-wristing on my part and I think he's right because after the two jams (which happened early on) I was more conscientious about my grip, etc. and the gun worked flawlessly (and this is with cheap range ammo). The gun was also very accurate. At 7 and 15 yards I was pretty consistently banging an 8" circular target and my groups were pretty good. Even the range officer was impressed with my shooting and my groups. No, I'm never gonna be shooting single holes or 2.5" groups but I was very pleased with everything about the gun. It just feels like such a quality piece. At the end of the day, I'm feeling more comfortable with the advice of some internet posters who said things along the lines of "Smith & Wesson is a very good company. Take the dang thang to the range and shoot it. It'll be fine." They're right. I am going to take both PPK/Ss to the range in the next two weeks to do a side-by-side comparison and will update at that time. In the interim, I am very pleased with my new stainless S&W PPK/S.

 

[kraigwy]

I bought my wife a S&W PPK several years ago. We haven't had a lick of problems with it.

We did send it back to Smith on the recall, but thats it. We shoot all sorts of ammo and it hasn't so much as hic-upped.

We might loose it, my Granddaughter has taken a like to it and claims it as hers now.

Guess we got a good one.

 

[Cyrano]

I don't have a S&W PP or PPK so I can't comment on that. I have three S&Ws that I bought new: a 317, a 638 and a 625 Mountain Gun in 45 Colt. All showed good workmanship, locked up tight, had good trigger pulls and were very accurate. They get shot a lot and the center fire pistols are without any bore leading from my cast bullet loads. I'm very satisfied. I sorta gilded the lily by putting Woolf rebound springs in them, but the triggers were sure OK without them. I put Spegel grips on them, too, because I like wood instead of rubber. I don't like the lock either, but if I had a niche that could be filled by S&W, I'd sure buy another one of their handguns in a heartbeat.

 

[safearm]

I had a stainless Interarms/Ranger PPK. While it looked good, it would only feed rounds with a very pointed profile, such as Hornady Critical Defense or Corbon PowrBall. Any of the blunt 95 grain FMJ rounds from any manufacturer would always jam. It was accurate enough for its intended purpose, but for its size and weight, it was too heavy and too big compared to the Kel-Tec P3AT. It was definitely a holster gun, not a pocket carry gun. I sold it to a co-worker, who sold it to a collector. Everybody was happy. Moral of the story: It's not just the new S&W PPK's that have problems.

 

[sipowicz]

My 66 PPK was a jammomaic with anything I fed it...so I can't imagine the smith being much worse.

 

[Zebra War Wagon]

I realize that this an old thread but I am considering the S&W manufactured PPK/s. This is a used LNIB model manufactured in 2010 and supposedly only had 50 rounds through it. Since I may carry it on occasion, I am soliciting opinions as to its reliability based on personal experience with 2010 models. My gut tells me to move on but I have always had a weak spot for the PPK/s. Thanks in advance.

 

[williamlayton]

I wonder what my unfired German PPK is worth ?
Blessings

 

[msinc]

I realize that this an old thread but I am considering the S&W manufactured PPK/s. This is a used LNIB model manufactured in 2010 and supposedly only had 50 rounds through it. Since I may carry it on occasion, I am soliciting opinions as to its reliability based on personal experience with 2010 models. My gut tells me to move on but I have always had a weak spot for the PPK/s. Thanks in advance.

I actually have two...the first one is the one I bought for myself and I really like it. Zero problems and it is very accurate. It has never jammed yet and I got it the first year they came out. The second, not so lucky, a buddy shot mine and had to have one. He got it and couldn't get it to not malfunction. First day at the range he was unable to get a single clip of ammo through the gun. He sold it to me that day for almost half of what he just paid. I didn't need it but I couldn't pass either. I get the thing home and find that the chamber is so chattered that the gun can't extract. S&W offered to fix it but I just honed the chamber and it has ran right as rain ever since. I am impressed with the accuracy of these guns. Fit and finish, besides the chamber on the one, is excellent. Maybe see if you can slip the slide off and take a good look at the chamber before you buy...or even better see if the seller has some fired brass you can look at. This one was really marking the brass cases. If it's there you will have no trouble seeing it.

 

[Aticus]

I realize that this an old thread but I am considering the S&W manufactured PPK/s. This is a used LNIB model manufactured in 2010 and supposedly only had 50 rounds through it. Since I may carry it on occasion, I am soliciting opinions as to its reliability based on personal experience with 2010 models. My gut tells me to move on but I have always had a weak spot for the PPK/s. Thanks in advance.

I've had mine for about three years zero problems. I have enough confidence in it that I carry it occasionally.

 

[jakebrake]

could General Motors tarnish the name of Yugo?

 

[OMCHamlin]

could General Motors tarnish the name of Yugo?

Hmm, I don't get the analogy? At all.

However, S&W did not tarnish the Walther name, but by golly, Umarex is doing a heck of a job of it. I'm not sure that you could GIVE me a current production Walther these days. Actually, you could, PM me for my shipping info, but I'll just carry it to the next gun show to flog it to someone and go buy some overpriced M855...

My 1974 vintage 22 lr PP is, however, going nowhere. That is an old school Walther and a fine little plinker.

 

[SC_Mike]

I had a S&W version for about six months. It broke twice then there was a recall on the safety-decocker. I let them fix it and sold it.

 

[federali]

Not what they used to be

I had problems with both a W. German and a pre-S&W American made PPK/S. It should be noted that Europeans load their ammo a bit hotter than our domestic stuff and the Walthers were designed and built for European ammo. I feel that failures to cleanly eject are the result of springs too strong for domestic ammo but it's only a theory.

I suspected that the chambered-round indicator was pushing the shell casing off the bolt face before it reached the ejector. If so, then it was largely an ammo problem.

 

[GaryS]

I've had a P22 for 5-6 years now and have never had a problem with it. It is what it is. Which is a 22LR plinking pistol. The only problem I had was one of the front sight inserts launched itself into orbit and I had to buy another one from Walther.

Other than that, I've never had a jam as long as I was using decent ammunition.

Great. I just bought a Walther P22 for my wife and now you guys are saying it's ****! To make matters worse Ruger is now selling their copy of the P-22, the SR22. Dang it!
The Walther P-22 has shot 200 rounds with no failures.

 

[unclebob]

Chief38
This is one of the best post about S&W quality control I have read, very well done!!
I used to be a brand name snob when it came to firearms. because S&W is all I own in handguns, but I believe Smith could care less about it's reputation compared to making money,they should use their historian and look into other companies that had to change their qc to become solvent again.
Check Harley Davidson just a few years ago.

 

[howiema]

Well seeing that Walther was sold off A year or more ago we are all still awaiting their PPK/S, They are now in Fort Smith Arkansas. They have also inherited the repairs and parts from S&W also.

Pete

 

[loknload]

I have a S&W born PPK/S and I've had no issues with it !