Revisiting the Walther PPK

[Newsfeed Hound]

As the story goes, James Bond's Beretta failed to fire during one of his cloak-and-dagger adventures. As a result, he was given a Walther PPK before undertaking his next crusade against a master criminal out to ransom the world. Thanks to the Ian Fleming books, the PPK, along with the vodka martini (shaken, not stirred), attracted a great deal of public interest. This interest was enough to encourage the gun-control wackos to lobby against the PPK's importation.

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[Faulkner]

Interesting article.

I've been carrying a PPK/S for those times when I need something smaller than my Glock 23 for 15 years or so. Mine has proved to be very accurate and very reliable, but I gotta admit, it's not a lot of fun to shoot more than a box of ammo at a time. The blowback operation in .380 is a little snappy, and if I shoot mine more than a couple of magazines I usually wear shooting gloves.

[Tom William]

PPKS safety question: Is it safe to carry my PPKS with a loaded chamber and the hammer down, and the pisto'ls safety off?. I am left handed and the safety is very hard to work left handed. Thanks, Tom

[JGaynor]

As the story goes, James Bond's Beretta failed to fire during one of his cloak-and-dagger adventures. As a result, he was given a Walther PPK before undertaking his next crusade against a master criminal out to ransom the world. Thanks to the Ian Fleming books, the PPK, along with the vodka martini (shaken, not stirred), attracted a great deal of public interest. This interest was enough to encourage the gun-control wackos to lobby against the PPK's importation.

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Baloney! The PPK was caught up in the 68 gun law's factoring criteria along with dozens of other pocket pistols. The PP and PPK were probably the only double action pistols in that size/caliber range at the time. Interarms and Walther were importing the PPK/s (PP receiver w/ a PPK slide) almost before the ink on the new law was dry.

The pistol in the CTD story looks to me like a PP not a PPK/s to boot.

Regards,

Jim

[JohnW]

Right - the PPK was caught by the measurement criteria, unfortunately. I've been a PPK fan since before I read any Flemming. I have 2 over 40 years old, and carried one or the other daily for many years with absolutely no troubles or worries.

[BwanaDave]

The S&W PPKs has a longer "beaver tail" that makes shooting it more comfortable and eliminates the "Walther bite". I often carry mine with a round in the chamber and decocked. I think it is perfectly safe and there is no point to having a double/single action auto if you don't. I had mine worked over By Cylinder and Slide. They put a Novack style rear sight which was a great improvement. If you purchase a S&W PPKs there was a recall, call S&W and they will tell you how to tell if the problem has been corrected on the gun at issue.

Dave