Any S&W Walthers Out There?

[JamesArthur60]

On the other side of my P99 slide it's gold laser engraved Smith & Wesson, Springfield, MA. The frame has the German markings, but I suppose something came from the USA S&W factory. Actually, the S&W engraving looks stupid to me.

 

[jyo]

SW99 in 45 ACP here!

 

[snubbiefan]

I think most of the postings come down on the positive side of the Smith-Walther. I don't have a model of every revolver Smith ever made, but I keep as many as I can. I just felt like I had to add an automatic to the family and the Walther PPK design has been around sine 1931-or-so and thanks to Smith, still going strong (to some degree). I have no idea what possessed Smith to get into the Walther business, but there must be a greater demand out there for them than I had thought. It takes a large investment to start-up a new company and that is what Smith had to do in Houlton.

Maybe many people like me prefer the all-steel weapons with a proven design as opposed to the new polymer and plastic auto's out there on the market. I can't possibly compare the PPK or PPK/S to the 1911 Colt....but in someways you can....it's an old and original design that still works. Once Smith pulled their heads from their back-sides and started building the gun as it was originally designed.....seems this project is working out.

I just had to have one because it had Smith and Wesson on the side of it. I was just curious as to how many of these weapons were being purchased because Smith is the only place you can get a Walther, or because people that desire a Walther can only get a new one from Smith and Wesson.

 

[DCWilson]

.380 PPK/S here. Bought it just days before the recall was announced. Sent it in for the fix and it came back fully and properly functional.

The only thing I don't like is the stiffness of the safety/decocker lever. I have worked it a lot in order to smooth it out, but it is still heavier than it needs to be.

I don't find .380 in a frame this small to be as brutal as some have suggested. It's noisy and abrupt, but not painful or uncontrollable.

I chose the S version because it felt better in my hand in a side-by-side comparison. I think the smaller version is better proportioned, but I didn't buy the thing to look at.

I'm mostly happy with it. Nice piece of machinery. I don't worry about it doing its job.

 

[snubbiefan]

Some say the 32 is more pleasant to shoot, but I really cannot tell too much difference between the 380 and the 32 (I have both). Most of the "snappiness" comes from the blow-back design of the pistol. It's the slide banging back against the receiver that causes any serious 32 recoil just like it does in 380. The spring-rates are different, so I imagine the slide whacks the receiver with about the same inertia in both calibers.

I have a friend that has an Interarms 380 and he said the same thing.....really can't tell a great difference in recoil. The pistol was designed to fire the 32 in the first place and many Walther owners report the gun performs much better in 32.

The good thing about either is the ammo in 32 and 380 is available under just about every bush all over the country. 32 is a little more expensive, but it can also be found at Wally-World.