Posted on 03/21/2005 11:51:58 AM PST by Servant of the 9
Walther and Smith & Wesson have been tighter than two fingers in a mitten recently, with Walther \USA (the US branch of the company) sharing the same corporate address as Smith & Wesson in Springfield, and some commingling of personnel and assets. Walther USA has disbanded, and now Smith & Wesson is the US distributor for Walther products, as well as the maker of the current PPK/S. So we're up to date on the who, what, where and why, let's take a look at the gun.
Gun Details
Smith and Wesson and Walther have big plans for the PPK/S-the Walther website catalogs four versions of the pistol, two in stainless (bright & satin), one in blue, and one in a two-tone finish. The bright stainless pistol is listed in both .32ACP and .380ACP, the other three in .380ACP only.
When I first heard that the guns were being resurrected in the U8A again, I asked for an early production sample to test. When it arrived, it looked just like a bright stainless .380 PPK'S with a couple of new touches.
The basic frame on the S&W produced pistol is cast for Walther/S&W by Ruger's Pine Tree casting facility in New Hampshire, with final machining done by Smith & Wesson. The slide and other major components are produced in-house by S&W. My sample PPK'S came with the typical small sights and very heavy double-action trigger pull common to the breed, along with black plastic checkere4 grips and two 7-round magazines, one with finger rest and one without. The pistol features a rounded hammer spur, safety lever on the left rear of the slide, magazine latch button up near the slide behind the triggerguard on the left side of the frame, and the blowback pistol operates the same way as its multinational predecessors. With a loaded magazine and round chambered with the hammer down, the first shot is double-action and all subsequent shots are single-action. The safety lever also works as a de-cocker. Rotate it down and the hammer falls to a safety position with a small bar of steel blocking it from contact with the firing pin. You can carry the pistol with the safety down or up, if it's down the hammer can't be cocked, if it's up the trigger will work the hammer either cocked or uncocked. The safety will NOT lock the cocked hammer, there's no way to safely carry this pistol with the hammer back and a live round in the chamber, unless you have a holster that puts the thumbstrap between the hammer and the firing pin, and I've never seen one for a PPK/S. This pistol's action was revolutionary in 1929, and its whole reason for being was safe carry with the hammer down while being ready for immediate use with that DA trigger. The Walther/S&W PPK/S also retains the loaded chamber indicator ~in in the slide just below the rear sight. One major new feature that anybody who shoots this pistol very much ought to really like is the extended tang that eliminates the hammer bite the little pistol tends to produce. Also, this PPK/S has a brand new second hammer strut inside that Smith & Wesson says is there to help reduce the heavy. DA trigger pull that's built into the design.
I have owned around a dozen Walthers, including SS PPK/s and TPH models. Both were jammers despite looking nice.
I hate to admit it but the post war PP's made by Manurhin in France have uniformly been great.
I might add that I have two Hungarian copies, one in .22 and one in .380, and I think I like them better than most of the real Walthers, and the price can't be beat.
Today, James Bond would carry as his backup gun the Rohrbaugh R-9:
rohrbaughfirearms.com
Smallest, lightest 9mm, and a true pocket gun. Fit and finish of the finest custom gun. A sublime DA trigger. Worth every penny of the $800-900 price.
The one my dad has was made in Germany, cant remember the exact stamp on it but I know it was made in Germany... As for jamming the weapon has not ever been fired much, was bought new and probably has had less that 100 rounds fired through it... Dont believe him saying anything about jamming.
Besides, it's those nasty high speed, stealthy, single action, assault weapons that causes all of the crime, famines, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, thunder storm electrocutions, and volcano eruptions on the planet. /sarcasm
I agree. Gawd, what a beautiful handgun.
I read about this some time ago, apparently they are tackling the issue of the slide biting back, if you've ever fired one (PPK) before sometimes the slide will give you a little "love bite"...
MD
I understand it is considered proper in Europe for guns to be made in France, shipped to Germany, where they check them over, maybe blue them and stamp them as made in Germany.
Your experiences with these firearms exactly match mine.
Well, the nice thing is that just as you can shoot a .38 special from a .357, you can shoot a .45LC through a .454 Casull. Although I'm not 100% sure that's recommended in the Freedom Arms revolvers, due to the extremely tight tolerances (I could be completely wrong, though).
A fun little prank to pull is load up a cylinder of light load .45LC, and then let someone take a few shots... Slip in a full bore .454 Casull with their cylinder! :-)
Mark
Want to replace your Makarov?
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My Dad brought back a Walther PPK from Germany after WWII. It's .22 caliber. Is it rare?
So, like every other semiauto pistol that S&W has copied or made under license lately, will this PPK/s have lousy tolerances and be a jam-o-matic? Or will it simply blow up (like the Smegma)?
The problem with .45 Colt in a .454 Casull FA is that the lead residue that builds up in the chambers from the .45 Colt can create pressure problems unless it is all cleaned out before firing .454. (If you don't believe me, refer all flames to John Taffin.)
Well... Hitler killed himself with the help of a PPK and some lead.
The new range for the End of the Trail is about 4 miles from my house, how cool is that?
Here is a snipped from the website i linked
Although PPK's are banned from importation, I was able to locate this pre-GCA 1968 model manufactured by Walther. This example has the Ulm proofhaus elk antler and the Eagle-over-N Nitro-proof. There are no import marks anywhere on this pistol. It has the lanyard slot on the butt which is specific to the German made Walthers. It is chambered in the not-so-common (for PPK's made in Germany) 9mm Kurz. PPK's chambered in .22 are even less common. Rating would be 99%. Although new, it has suffered some abrasion of the finish from being in the cardboard box for the last thirty years.
Sounds like a 22 is rare...
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