This was sort of a nostalgia acquisition for me. When I was a young teenager (late 50s) the family physician gave me a WWII-era PPK in 7.65mm with leather holster that came back with him as a war trophy. It even had a trophy letter signed by, as I recall, General Everett C. Pearlman.
I foolishly let that one get away about 30 years ago, but I always liked the way it felt in my hand. So when I was browsing a couple of weeks ago and spotted the modern PPK and PPK/S that my dealer had under the glass, I spent some time with them and put down the money for the slightly larger one. I didn't think I needed the extra round in the magazine -- the gun just filled my old hand a little better. I opted for .380 because the .32 round just always seemed really light to me.
The shape still feels good, and I'm glad to have a relative of my old friend back. Fit and finish are not what they were on the old one, but I didn't expect an identical gun. There are some rub areas where the slide and frame/barrel block could have used some more attention, and the decocker is pretty stiff. There are LOTS of sharp edges on this thing. But a few hours with polish and mild abrasives will clean it up and smooth it out nicely. As others have noted, the DA trigger pull feels a little stiff and heavy, but I don't mind that. SA pull is great.
I always like the loaded chamber indicator on the old one I had; you could read it with your thumb in the dark. I gather that was omitted from some late-war and post-war versions of the gun. It's good to see it on this one.
This is probably going to replace the 649 in my desktop vault as the primary home defense gun. Or maybe it will just join it -- there's room for both in there.
But man, that is one ugly way to put a serial number into a frame. Call me a traditionalist, but I like to see numbers incised or pressed into in my steel, not left in high relief after you burn away the surrounding metal.
David W.
I foolishly let that one get away about 30 years ago, but I always liked the way it felt in my hand. So when I was browsing a couple of weeks ago and spotted the modern PPK and PPK/S that my dealer had under the glass, I spent some time with them and put down the money for the slightly larger one. I didn't think I needed the extra round in the magazine -- the gun just filled my old hand a little better. I opted for .380 because the .32 round just always seemed really light to me.
The shape still feels good, and I'm glad to have a relative of my old friend back. Fit and finish are not what they were on the old one, but I didn't expect an identical gun. There are some rub areas where the slide and frame/barrel block could have used some more attention, and the decocker is pretty stiff. There are LOTS of sharp edges on this thing. But a few hours with polish and mild abrasives will clean it up and smooth it out nicely. As others have noted, the DA trigger pull feels a little stiff and heavy, but I don't mind that. SA pull is great.
I always like the loaded chamber indicator on the old one I had; you could read it with your thumb in the dark. I gather that was omitted from some late-war and post-war versions of the gun. It's good to see it on this one.
This is probably going to replace the 649 in my desktop vault as the primary home defense gun. Or maybe it will just join it -- there's room for both in there.
But man, that is one ugly way to put a serial number into a frame. Call me a traditionalist, but I like to see numbers incised or pressed into in my steel, not left in high relief after you burn away the surrounding metal.
David W.
