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

[Wyatt Burp]

I've been wanting a Walther PPK/S .380 for a while and looked specifically for an Interarms gun and found one. I felt a German gun would cost too much and I wouldn't get near a S&W version after all the bad news and fixes that don't seem to always work for people. My gun shoots great and I love it. No jams or anything. But has the S&W situation put a cloud over these guns in general or are the troubles exagerated? It's hard to believe they could mess up such a long proven design. Does anyone here have a S&W PPK/S and like it?

 

[rimfired]

O P'shaw. Indeed, every S&W clone (I've handled/shot) was inferior to my German Ulm original. Just one mans experience.

 

[Rule3]

My stainless SW PPK worked fine before the recall, After they "fixed it" it had problems. I sent it back 3 more times and it works fine now.

As for the other "Walthers" like the P22 or P380 you couldn't give me one of those. Walther should be embarrassed to have their name on those pieces of pot metal.

 

[A10]

I was looking at getting a PPK last year. My previous experience had been with a PP war souvenir in .32, and that was a fine piece of craftsmanship. I looked at one of the new PPK/S's and was incredibly disappointed. Rough machining, poor fit, tool marks, sharp edges. The Bersa in the case looked better. Sad, really.

 

[Jeb21]

My experience with the Smith ppk was very poor. Straight from the factory it was a jammamatic. I literally could not go through a magazine without it jamming at least once. 300 rounds later, same frequent jamming, I sent it back for repairs. It worked reasonable well but still jammed ever 50 rounds or so. So I sold with a warning.

I had a Bersa 380 that was far superior to the Smith in every regard.

 

[Wyo]

I have a stainless PPK that I bought about 3 years ago. It worked fine. I sent it in when they did the recall, and after it came back - it worked fine. I've fired hundreds, maybe getting near 3000 rounds, of ball and hollowpoints of almost every brand and don't recall ever having a malfunction. It hits where it looks. I must be the odd guy out here, but I have been nothing but satisfied with my PPK and have never felt the need to replace it with a German gun (not that it wouldn't be nice just as an example of good workmanship) or an Interarms gun.

 

[DCWilson]

I bought a .380 PPK/S just before the recall was announced and sent it in for the work before I had even had a chance to fire it. After it came back, it was cleaner than it had been when delivered, and it worked fine. So whatever they did failed to make the gun worse and may have corrected a problem that I never had a chance to encounter. I like it.

I think model-specific complaints always tend to be exaggerated whether you are talking about guns, cars, motorcycles, cell phones, whatever. After the fix is determined and applied, the complaints live on. I understand that the current PPK/S is not the same gun as the one made in the 1930s, but so what? The modern 627 is not the same gun as a Registered Magnum, either.

The PPK/S has gone through different life cycles under different flags of ownership. Some defective units have always turned up. Somebody is always going to end up owning one of the duds.

Are there things about it I don't like? Yeah, the classic original lines are distorted a little by that extended shelf, so the current design looks a little malproportioned. And the safety/decocker lever is WAY too stiff. But I've been working on it, and I'll get it loosened up.

It also seems to me that if a classic design in steel can still be commercially viable in an era of synthetic frames, the market is not convinced that the S&W version of this model is not reliable. S&W is so fast to dump an underperforming line that this gun's continuing existence in the catalog testifies to established public acceptance.

 

[chief38]

It truly pains me to say this, but I think S&W has tarnished not only the Walther Brand, but their own Brand as well.

I have not bought a Smith made after 1994, because most of what I have seen, shot and handled has not been up to the standards of the older S&W products. I have even seen Performance Shop guns that I would be embarrassed to ship out if the Company were mine. When a customer pays BIG BUCKS for a gun that is supposed to be the best they offer and it looks and handles like a clunker - it upsets me greatly! One of my friends just sent TWO guns from the Performance Center back to Smith for repair work, and he has over $3,000 bucks into those two PC guns - pathetic to say the least!

The triggers and actions on new production has been fair to poor, ergonomics have declined, fit, finish and QC has fallen. I won't even get into the I/L here.

They have become a shadow of their former selves IMHO. What they need is new leadership from someone who will restore the Company to its former glory.

It is a real shame too, because they do have a modernized beautiful Factory and they do have the S&W name. I truly hope they get back on track before they slide too far.

Chief38

 

[lawandorder]

Guess I am old fashioned and a bit weird but if I am going to buy a certain gun I want to buy one from the original manufacturer.
Looking for a 1911, it would be a Colt, a PPK ,an original Walther, and if Ruger suddenly makes a clone of a model 10 I would still buy a Smith version.

 

[Maximumbob54]

We crow and clap over CAD and CNC and yet it's the guns that were built with files and a pair of scarred hands that seem to be lasting the longest. But we keep making everything "better".

I can't say much. When I went to go buy a PPK or a P230/P232, I bought a Bersa Thunder and it hasn't given me problem one.

 

[wbraswell]

The Bersa .380s may be bargain of all .380s. I've never handled the newer PPK/S, but I have a German Interarms, and have always been impressed with it. But, I could part with it for certain revolvers with 5 screws.....hint, hint, hint.

 

[BearBio]

I've only looked at and handles the newer ones. My wife just switched to a Ulm-made PP. She also looked at several "Walthers" and small pistols. The PP is much better. She chose a Bersa in 22 for practice.

The PP has it all over the newer ones.

 

[18DAI]

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.

I can't understand why Walther doesn't find another partner here in the US. The Walther PPQ would slay the S&W plastic guns if it got a little bit of advertising push and more exposure.

The Walther PPQ is a much better pistol than the M&P. The Walther PPQ is a polymer, striker fired gun with a REAL trigger - right out of the box. No additional purchase of aftermarket parts needed. Unlike the M&P with its lousy lawyer trigger. Regards 18DAI

 

[mooney1el]

With the exception of not liking Speer Lawman ammo (maybe I got a bad box?), my S&W PPK/s has performed flawlessly.

 

[NKJ nut]

It truly pains me to say this, but I think S&W has tarnished not only the Walther Brand, but their own Brand as well.

Agreed. It used to be if you owned a S&W or a Walther you had something special. Something that was made by true craftsmen and it showed. Now S&W and Walther are just brand names. Nothing special at all. At best you could get a gun that serves the intended purpose.

For my own use I wouldn't trade an older S&W or Walther for three of the new ones.

 

[Rule3]

The Walther PPQ is a much better pistol than the M&P. The Walther PPQ is a polymer, striker fired gun with a REAL trigger - right out of the box. No additional purchase of aftermarket parts needed. Unlike the M&P with its lousy lawyer trigger. Regards 18DAI

I agree on the trigger of the MP, I really really tried to like my MP full sized 45. It was a fine functioning gun, but accuracy was terrible. Send it back twice, they even replaced the barrel. Then all my research suggested trigger work. Forget it, not spending the money for that, might as well buy a Glock not that I like their triggers but they are a cheap easy fix.

All my plastic guns will soon be gone and stick with hammer fired Sigs and CZ's

 

[1 old 0311]

4-5 years ago I bought a the 'Tiger Edition' engraved, gold inlay. After the break in it was FLAWLESS.

 

[Will Carry]

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.

 

[kraigwy]

I bought one for my wife and the first thing I did was to shoot the **** out of it to see that it was realiable. It functioned perfectly.

When S&W had the recall (hammer was suppose to drop when it wasn't suppose to, forget the exact problem). I tried everything possible to get the gun to malfunction the way Smith thought it would. I couldn't. Again I had no problems.

I did send it back to S&W for the repairs and when I got it back I went through the same progress, Shot the **** out of it to see if it would jam.

Nope: I have no problems what so ever with the gun. I've seen German PPks that scewed up, and I've seen German PPKs that were perfect. Maybe Smith's are the same, regardless I got a perfect one.

To be honest, I don't carry it, I like 38s so I carry a 642. However if I decided to go to a 380, I'd have no problem carrying my wife's S&W PPK............that is if my wife let me.

 

[Maximumbob54]

Wow. I must need to check my used M&P40c's guts for aftermarket parts. The trigger in mine feels just fine. But I'm not above doing some polishing on a few key parts either. I may try that in mine. Other than that, I feel like it has just about the same "snapping green twig" feel that my Glock 17 has. I will admit that I have only held a PPQ in my hand but have not shot one. It gave me the feeling of "this is what a Glock 19 should feel like" when I held it.