No not at all......just sayin'

The Walther PPK has great lines, classic styling like a 1950's Mercedes, but its ergonomics leave much to be desired. A pistol to own because YOU like it, but as a protection piece there are so many, better, lighter, easier to shoot, easier to rack and more reliable guns available these days.

I purchased a genuine PPK in .380 approx 20 yrs ago. It was the WORST semi-auto that I have ever owned. Atrocious trigger, terrible accuracy, sharp edges cut the web of the hand, frequent jams, marginal SD caliber, BUT it looked cool. I traded it quickly. I DOUBT that a new S&W will be any better, other than the frame mod to eliminate the damage to the web of the hand. I would steer clear of the PPK......

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

It's all been said. I owned a wartime PPK in .32 which I should have never gotten rid of, but that's water under the bridge. I own two of the S&W's,both .380's, one of the engraved PPK's Anniversary Model I've never fired, and the PPK/S in stainless which I have shot a little. Very disappointed in the way it shot. Had to send both back for the recall work. I can't believe that every PPK & PPK/S S&W ever made had to go back for the work. Wished they had been German made, but that's water under the bridge, too. I've just put them on the shelf. Maybe one day I'll get them out and shoot them again, maybe not.

A good friend of mine calls the ppk in 380 an "expert's gun." It is hard to shoot well due to stiff recoil, a heavy trigger and a tendency to score the hand if not held correctly. On top of that, the caliber is marginal and the sights are vestigal. And that's the German version. The S&W product adds a whole dimension of quality control issues.

I have shot them in 380 and 32. The 32 is a lot better to plink with, but is even less of a carry gun than the 380. Given the better choices available these days (the new Sig 338 comes to mind if one has to consider a 380), it is best left to James Bond wannabes and collectors.

WOW! I have had nothing but great service from my PPK/S that I purchased 4 years ago......NEVER a misfire, feeding issue.
Then I get the recall notice, send it off to S&W, STILL fires perfectly!

I read about issues with some owners....NEVER had a problem, absolutely LOVE this gun!
Fired probably 1,000 rounds, NEVER had any issue of any type!

I have nothing but good things to say about this gun!

I bought one of the french manhurin ppk's in 32 auto. Took it out to our range and proceeded to shoot the snot out of it. Out of one 50 round box of federal I had exactly no, nada,zip malfunctions of any kind. Two different shooters. And best of all no railroad tracks on the web of the shooting hand. Next time will try out some fiocchi 32 auto and see what happens.Frank

I bought a new blued S&W PPK a month ago, took it to the range and put 30 rounds of Femington FMJ through it without problems. So far, so good.

I have a stainless Interarms .380. I like it. Shoots well for me. Sure, it's not a German gun, but it's not bad.

And yes, I had a real Walther PP in .22LR, so I do know what the German guns are like.

The Walther PPK was designed in the 1920s or 30s, and is outdated and obsolete by any standard, having been surpassed by smaller, lighter and softer shooting pistols using the Browning tilting barrel recoil system instead of the straight blow back system of the PPK and other "pocket pistols" of the time. It does not seem to matter who makes the pistols, there are always reliability issues. When the West Germans had their trials in the 1970s to replace the Walther PPs then in use, the articles discussed the fact that the Walther-made pistols would not fire a full box of 50 rounds without malfunction. While that standard might have been fine then, it certainly does not measure up to today's standards.

That said, the allure of the PPK continues, I think, mostly in part due to the fact that everyone wants the "James Bond PPK."

The best way to get a Walther is to get one of the really nice engraved ones Smith and Wesson is selling now. Show it to all of your friends and keep it in its case. If you want to carry a light .380, get a Ruger LCP or, if S&W ever manages to get its act together, then the new .380 Bodyguard, but only after the considerable bugs are worked out. Once S&W gets the bugs worked out, one without the integral laser seems like a good idea.

An even better idea seems to be the new crop of mini-9mm pistols, such as the new Ruger LC9 or the Walther PPS.

I had a 1979 and 1982 German (or Manhurin) made PP and PPK/S. These are fun Bond collectibles but by no means a modern EDC like the P365XL that I like.

Like other have said: These German collectors shot well w/o FTF using win 380 target white box. But the PPK/S gave significant bite not from the hammer but the very sharp rear frame corners, I mean bad. The PPK/S slide is difficult to rack and if you dont carry with round in the chamber, racking it quickly is not an option. The sights are puny on them all and not usable. If you have Blaufeldt standing 5 yards in front of you maybe that is useful but in a real home invasion, forgot it, get Sig X-ray sights. The PP shoots way better, easier to handle/rack, less bit, also still quite small but impossible to find anymore. The PP was used in Dr. No, not PPK. Anyway, movie memorabilia but NOT a useful gun in the 21st century. Bond...you are a relic...talk about yourself Mallory...whatever.

I have a PPS (not a PPK/S) in .40 and it's a great CCW pistol. Very easy to carry and ergonomic. I put Trijicon HD sights on it. Not my go to for the range with lots of mag changes but It's nicely made. But I wouldn't mind a James Bond gun.

Aha! I have some experience to share here.

I've owned SEVERAL Walthers of varying pedigree and quality at this point in my short life- as a summation, I would only carry one of them after proving it out- the Walther PPK/S .22LR currently offered for sale by Walther Arms, made by Umarex. See below, I'll get there.

I started off with a stainless Interarms PPK/S in .380ACP, made under license by Interarms- but not a Ranger Manufacturing gun. I got the gun right as it came in the door of a local shop, and paid a decent price for it several years ago- $450 with box, papers, and a pair of mags. No test target.

Gun ran well with most ball loads, especially Winchester's 95 grain flat point oddly enough. Hollow points, steel case, and anything that wasn't FMJ was exceptionally unreliable. The gun itself worked well when meticulously cleaned, for about 250-300 rounds. Then, it became VERY unreliable. There were feeding issues, Failures to extract, and then a new issue reared it's ugly head. The points on the detents that ride on the safety drum had become worn down, and the safety was not staying engaged, leading to the gun becoming DAO or being on safe unexpectedly. I disassembled the gun and remedied the issue with some stiffer springs from Wolff, but while the safety was staying in place another issue cropped up. The hammer began following the slide. I was stumped, but had heard that Walther Arms would perform work on older guns if they had the parts, so I shot over a friendly email to them, requesting an evaluation and a quote to fix the firearm, as I did indeed like it a LOT. They responded amicably, and sent me a shipping label which I assumed would be included in the final quote. Walther had the gun for about a week, and to my surprise not only had they repaired the issues I'd described, but replaced my aging grips that were cracked. Walther did not quote me a dime for all this labor, parts, and shipping. I was ASTOUNDED. The gun, after being cleaned and lubed, was unfortunately still not reliable but I felt okay sending it down the road as it had been repaired. I cannot say enough good things about Walther Arms. They took in and fixed a gun on good faith that was made under license. Talk about standing behind your product!


I had at this point acquired a MINTY West German Walther PPK with box, papers, tools and target from an estate my LGS was handling. This was a blued 7.65mm pistol, and it has functioned flawlessly with the magazines it came with. I feel the gun is too nice to abuse overmuch, but I did fire it at a few IDPA matches just to evaluate it. It's one of the last handguns I'd sell.

I ended up trading the Interarms and a spare shotgun to a dealer for a H&K P30LS and a Walther Arms PPK/S .22LR

The fine folks over at the Walther Forum informed me that the PPK/S .22 that's made by Umarex would function best with Remington Thunderbolts and Remington Golden Bullets -This was exactly the results I got when trying CCI, Federal, and Winchester ammuniton- no dice. It didn't matter what I did, with anything but Thunderbolts it was a jam fest. ( I don't generally keep Golden Bullet around) That said, with Thunderbolts the gun ran FLAWLESSLY in regards to feeding and extracting- an occasional dud isn't something I'll hold against a rimfire. I've shot about 6500 rounds of Thunderbolts through this handgun, and it has now broken in to where I can fire Armscor, CCI, and other "HV" ammunition through it without issue. The only problems I ran into aside from ammunition is with operator error. I am a bit harsher on semi-auto pistols than I am my beloved revolvers, and don't clean them as much as I perhaps should especially with .22s. I had a failure to feed with some Thunderbolts that was caused by an excessively dirty gun. I sprayed some ballistol on the slide rails, and kept going, only to have it happen again. This time, I failed to notice the slide hadn't gone into full lockup, and upon firing the gun fired out of battery and blew the extractor out of the gun.

I ended up contacting Walther again with hat in hand, and they graciously repeated their outstanding service at no cost to me. They replaced the top end and sent it back, and the gun has been just as excellent as before.


I wouldn't carry a PPK in today's age- the atrociously heavy DA press is hard even for someone dedicated to DA/SA bottom feeders and DAO revolvers as me. The guns can be unreliable, the calibers are marginal. They're heavy guns, and with the exception of the .22, they're expensive.


If I HAD to pick one to carry, it'd be the .22LR. It's relatively reliable, the ammunition is cheap, and the gun is stupidly accurate. I have 4 spare magazines and they're all vetted in my pistol.


All that said, I'm still going to take a J or a 3" K frame over the PP and PPK series myself. NYS makes life both difficult, and easy in certain aspects.


EDIT:I spent a rather silly amount of time typing this up, and I now see this is a Zombie thread. DAMMIT. Oh well, I hope someone gets a kick out of reading this.

I collect Walther pistols after seeing Bond. I have a couple of PPK, a PPK/S, and a TPH. I like the way they look and feel. I carry a CS 45 which I have shot a lot, and feel quite comfortable with. The Walther pistols are just to look at and feel.

I have a PPK manufactured by Manurhin in the late 50´s, in 32 acp.....never had any malfunction with it, works flawlessly with Aguila Ammunition.

The other one is a PPK in 380, made in 1965. It also works great with any FMJ ammo .

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"lets be careful out there"

Hey, the OP is still around (online today), and I like the PP/PPK series myself. Well written.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Haha now that this necrothread is revived I can show my pair of 1939 made PPK, 7.65 mm Browning (.32 ACP) and .22 lr

I’ve shot the .32 quite a bit, never had any reliability issues. I carried it once in an IWB holster with silvertips while picking up $ 150’000 in cash at the bank for my employer. Didn’t feel there was a big risk here in Switzerland, but also felt that I’d be hard pressed to explain it to my boss if was mugged by two kids with blades.







They are both very accurate (25 m)

I'll help with the resuscitation of this thread. Although I've owned a number of PPK and PPK/S pistols, including Walther, Interarms, Ranger, and Smith & Wesson, all I own now are three: a 1935 Walther PPK in 7.65 Browning (.32 ACP), a Umarex .22LR PPK/S, and a current manufacture (bought about 4 years ago) Fort Smith stainless .380 PPK.
The .32 PPK has never given me a problem and the only thing I've ever had to replace were the recoil spring and the grips. It's not a collector piece, but it doesn't get carried or shot much.
The .22 PPK/S is a plinker; keep it clean and it's never had a problem (Note: I only shoot CCI Stingers in it).
I modified the tang on the .380 PPK to make it smaller and more comfortable. Again, I've never had any problems and carry Hornady Critical Defense ammo. I actually prefer DA pistols so it gets carried often in an IWB holster.

Attached Images

1935 Walther PPK.jpg (98.9 KB, 3 views)