Fort Smith PPK, PPK/S owners!

[defjon]

How are you doing? I'm tempted again. Some lovely wooden grip, stainless finish models at the local fun store.

How is reliability? Are you finding inexpensive range ammo feeds okay? I like the winchester flat point 380 round. It isn't the hottest, but is flawless in my lcp and my wife's 238.

How about the jhp defensive ammo? Any issues?

They've been out in the marketplace a couple of years now, I'm just wondering how they're holding up and what real life users experiences have been.

They are asking a lot in the shop! 850 I believe? To me, a ppk should go for about half of that, but I look at the cost of various things since 2020 and I suppose I understand.

 

[defjon]

Welp...if nobody is buying them maybe the cost will go down...

 

[guzzi]

Got one of those beauties.

Both my wife and I enjoy it's accuracy.

The only ammo that's been through it are our reloads. Using 100gr Extreme.

Our P238 is softer shooting, but no where as good looking.

 

[tarosean]

We have had one since they first came out. No issues to date, it has fed everything from PDX1 & HST down to cheap steel cased.
That said, its not a "range" gun for us. My wife carried it for a while, but technology surpassed its use in our household.

 

[halfmoonclip]

They are handsome (even with the proboscis), and feel good in the hand.
Their reputation over on the Walther board is less ammo fussy than the older models. The original, European guns were never designed for hollow points, as were the Interarms guns. Some are okay with some hollow points, others not so much.
The ongoing problem; as a .380 blowback, it has a snappier recoil than, say, a G42.
Moon

 

[Speedo66]

If it’s anything like my German Interarms version was, expect snappy recoil and some bloody racing stripes in the web of your hand.

Sold mine…

 

[Ethan Verity]

I purchased two back in early 2020, and I would be lying if I said either one was good right out of the box.

The first one I bought was the black finished model, purchased brand new from an online retailer. The gun arrived and had a very poor finish, notably three completely bare spots where the finish was not applied at all along the front of the grip and the trigger guard. I personally found this unacceptable on a brand new, $700+ pocket sized pistol, and reached out to Walther to see what could be done. They told me they don't refinish guns.
So, at this particular time they were offering a no questions asked full refund return on any guns you weren't happy with - and I took advantage of that and sent this ugly gun back to them for my refund.




I then took my refund cash, turned around, and bought the stainless steel model instead. No finish for them to F-up this time, so I figured it was a safe purchase.

Well, that model had its fair share of problems as well, but I was at least able to fix them all myself.

Problem #1, Walther must have failed to degrease the steel prior to applying the red safety paint (that little red dot under the safety/decocker lever), because the paint on mine flaked right off after simply wiping it down with a paper towel. I didn't even apply any gun cleaner yet, I was just wiping it off after bringing the brand new gun home, and the red paint was gone!
I repainted the safety dot myself using Rust-Oleum High Performance Enamel 'Safety Red' (that's actually what it's called) color paint, which has held up beautifully after 3 years. Personally I'm proud of this little red dot of paint, I put a lot of work in getting it perfect. Lol

I figured the crummy red factory paint on the sights would flake off next, and went ahead and redid those as well.



Problem #2, the gun was having light primer strikes on double action. I replaced the factory hammer spring with a standard weight hammer spring made by Wolff Gunsprings, and now some 3,000 rounds later I have never had another light primer strike in DA again.

Problem #3, the slide was locking back on a loaded mag. The slide lock was popping up under the recoil impulse just enough to catch on the breech face of the pistol and lock it back, even though there is still ammo in the magazine. I resolved this by grinding a 45 degree angle cut on the corner of the slide lock, so that it deflects off the breech face if it rises up slightly, rather than locking up the whole gun. It rises much higher when actually being pushed up by the mag follower, so this does not impact the natural function of the gun.


Problem #4, after finally resolving the previous 3 problems, and having a gun that was running to my performance standard, a measly ~200 rounds in and the trigger bar snaps in half at the range and completely disables the gun!!

I called Walther expecting a new one to be sent under warranty, but they instead wanted me to pack up the gun and ship it out to them. I didn't want to deal with all that for a part that is easy enough to fix yourself, so I just purchased a new one outside of the warranty service. Once that finally arrived to me, I installed it myself.

At last, after all that fuss, I now have a truly reliable gun that cycles any ammo I feed it. I have since put some 3,000+ rounds through the gun, and it has run flawless (knock on wood). But, I shouldn't have to fuss this much with a brand new, $700+ pocket pistol! Walther's customer service has not been anything to write home about either, both times I called them (crappy finish on the black gun, and broken trigger bar on the stainless) they didn't help me at all. I can't say I'm impressed.

Regardless, I now enjoy my stainless Walther PPK, and I carry it in the summer time in a pocket holster. Saying you're willing to bet your life on a gun is the highest compliment you can give it, but it took a lot of work for it to reach that point. Hard to say if it's really worth that or not... but darn, it sure is a cool gun!

 

[Old Dog]

(heavy sigh)
I too fell for the S&W version of this venerable pistol. Within a couple years of the production starting in this country. I bought one, in a fit of nostalgia when I realized I should have never sold my Interarms PPK (even though I sold it for almost three time what I'd paid for it).

THE single most unreliable .380 pistol I've ever owned. Could not make it through one magazine without malfunctioning, despite fieldstripping, thorough cleaning and appropriate lubrication.

It remains the only pistol I've ever sold off in a fit of rage. I frankly expected far better. @Ethan Verity -- kudos to you for having way more patience than I did.

 

[Tallball]

If you just want a shooter, FEG in Hungary made copies of the PP and PPK. You can find them dirt-cheap on GB every once in a while. FEG made good quality firearms. I have their copies of a Hi-Power, PP, and PPK, and they're all reliable.

 

[philoe]

I recently purchased a .new Walther .380 ppks.
Right out of the box it had light Primer strikes on every round. Several rounds took 3 and 4 drops of the hammer to set off rounds. Different ammo brands were used, so not an ammo issue.. I haven been that frustrated in a long time.
I sent it back (they paid shipping) and it now runs better than before but not perfect.
I will not count on it for a carry gun.

 

[Ethan Verity]

I recently purchased a .new Walther .380 ppks.
Right out of the box it had ight Primer strikes on every round. Several rounds took 3 and 4 drops of the hammer to set off rounds. Different ammo brands were used, so not an ammo issue.. I haven been that frustrated in a long time.
I sent it back (they paid shipping) and it now runs better than before but not perfect.
I will not count on it for a carry gun.

Check out my post from earlier (post #7) under the section 'Problem #2'... I had that same problem as you, and was able to fix it with aftermarket Wolff gun springs.

 

[1KPerDay]

I purchased two back in early 2020, and I would be lying if I said either one was good right out of the box.

The first one I bought was the black finished model, purchased brand new from an online retailer. The gun arrived and had a very poor finish, notably three completely bare spots where the finish was not applied at all along the front of the grip and the trigger guard. I personally found this unacceptable on a brand new, $700+ pocket sized pistol, and reached out to Walther to see what could be done. They told me they don't refinish guns.
So, at this particular time they were offering a no questions asked full refund return on any guns you weren't happy with - and I took advantage of that and sent this ugly gun back to them for my refund.
View attachment 1140069
View attachment 1140070
View attachment 1140071

I then took my refund cash, turned around, and bought the stainless steel model instead. No finish for them to F-up this time, so I figured it was a safe purchase.

Well, that model had its fair share of problems as well, but I was at least able to fix them all myself.

Problem #1, Walther must have failed to degrease the steel prior to applying the red safety paint (that little red dot under the safety/decocker lever), because the paint on mine flaked right off after simply wiping it down with a paper towel. I didn't even apply any gun cleaner yet, I was just wiping it off after bringing the brand new gun home, and the red paint was gone!
I repainted the safety dot myself using Rust-Oleum High Performance Enamel 'Safety Red' (that's actually what it's called) color paint, which has held up beautifully after 3 years. Personally I'm proud of this little red dot of paint, I put a lot of work in getting it perfect. Lol
View attachment 1140072
I figured the crummy red factory paint on the sights would flake off next, and went ahead and redid those as well.
View attachment 1140074
View attachment 1140075

Problem #2, the gun was having light primer strikes on double action. I replaced the factory hammer spring with a standard weight hammer spring made by Wolff Gunsprings, and now some 3,000 rounds later I have never had another light primer strike in DA again.

Problem #3, the slide was locking back on a loaded mag. The slide lock was popping up under the recoil impulse just enough to catch on the breech face of the pistol and lock it back, even though there is still ammo in the magazine. I resolved this by grinding a 45 degree angle cut on the corner of the slide lock, so that it deflects off the breech face if it rises up slightly, rather than locking up the whole gun. It rises much higher when actually being pushed up by the mag follower, so this does not impact the natural function of the gun.
View attachment 1140073

Problem #4, after finally resolving the previous 3 problems, and having a gun that was running to my performance standard, a measly ~200 rounds in and the trigger bar snaps in half at the range and completely disables the gun!!View attachment 1140076

I called Walther expecting a new one to be sent under warranty, but they instead wanted me to pack up the gun and ship it out to them. I didn't want to deal with all that for a part that is easy enough to fix yourself, so I just purchased a new one outside of the warranty service. Once that finally arrived to me, I installed it myself.

At last, after all that fuss, I now have a truly reliable gun that cycles any ammo I feed it. I have since put some 3,000+ rounds through the gun, and it has run flawless (knock on wood). But, I shouldn't have to fuss this much with a brand new, $700+ pocket pistol! Walther's customer service has not been anything to write home about either, both times I called them (crappy finish on the black gun, and broken trigger bar on the stainless) they didn't help me at all. I can't say I'm impressed.

Regardless, I now enjoy my stainless Walther PPK, and I carry it in the summer time in a pocket holster. Saying you're willing to bet your life on a gun is the highest compliment you can give it, but it took a lot of work for it to reach that point. Hard to say if it's really worth that or not... but darn, it sure is a cool gun!
View attachment 1140077

I just can’t get past the droopy beavertail on the new ones. And yes my old interarms PPK and PPK/S bit me and had sharp edges and stiff controls and sucked to actually shoot. But dang they were pretty and fun to play with.

 

[Ethan Verity]

I just can’t get past the droopy beavertail on the new ones. And yes my old interarms PPK and PPK/S bit me and had sharp edges and stiff controls and sucked to actually shoot. But dang they were pretty and fun to play with.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of how that looks either. There were a few times I contemplated grinding it down to the shorter profile to give it a vintage PPK look, but then I come to my senses and realize it's not worth the risk of potentially ruining an $800 gun. At this point, I've just come to accept it.

 

[vanfunk]

I bought one in SS this spring. I’ve gotten over the duck bill beavertail (imagine that animal) and like the way it looks. Mine’s a shooter and, despite the teeny sights, can hang with much larger pistols at 25 yards. I wish the sights were drift adjustable as mine shoots a bit left. It’s been unerringly reliable even with cheap New Republic ammo. I like it and am keeping it.

 

[Gladius]

I'm a bit of a PPK collector. I owned a blued S&W PPK for a while -- it is, so far, the only PPK I've sold. I never even got to shoot it, which is probably for the best. The trigger action was gritty and seemed heavier than any other PP-series pistol I've ever tried. The slide felt like it was moving on sand. The bluing sucked -- it was worse than the bluing mentioned previously, very weak and the frontstrap turned (within a few days of ownership) to an ugly mottled gray (admittedly, I have acidic hands which can affect finishes, but I've never had this problem on any of my older blued firearms of any make). Also, I found it uncomfortable just to hold. Now, I have a small collection of PPK's, but that S&W one is not among them and I don't miss it.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of how that looks either. There were a few times I contemplated grinding it down to the shorter profile to give it a vintage PPK look, but then I come to my senses and realize it's not worth the risk of potentially ruining an $800 gun. At this point, I've just come to accept it.

Some folks have done this, with varying degrees of success. Those smooth, compound curves aren't easy to achieve on a bench grinder.
Many of us were outraged when the PPK begat the PPK/s due to GCA68, but we eventually got over it, and the longer grip has remained an option on domestically produced guns. We're getting used to the proboscis as well.
Now, all that said, it would seem Walther could have done a better job on the shape. The original was simply a work of art.
Simply not a fan of blowback handguns bigger than .32ACP. That seems the upper limit for comfortable function.
Moon

 

[cfullgraf]

I have an S&W PPK in 380 ACP, a Walther PP in 32 ACP and an Interarms PPK/S in 32 ACP.

The S&W is very reliable with 90-100 grain RN ammunitiin. It gets fussy with the current "designer hollow point" ammunition. I really do not feel that is a disadvantage as I feel 380 ACP runs too slow to reliably expand a hollow point bullet anyway.

But, it is a heavy gun for its size with a snappy recoil. I much prefer my Colt Mustang or Kimber Micro with their lock breech action for a micro sized 380 ACP pistol.

My 32 ACP PPK's are much more comfortable to shoot but many folks feel the 32 ACP is an inadequate defense round.

I'd buy a Fort Smith PPK in 32 ACP but alas they probably won't make any.

I like my S&W PPK in 380 ACP but I won't buy another PPK 380 ACP.

 

[doubleh]

I bought my wife a PPK/s slightly used. So slightly I thought is was new when I examined it. It's too old to have been made by S&W though. Although it has been reliable with hollow points to reloads I wouldn't recommend this gun to anyone. Everything about it is hard. It is not pleasant to shoot at all. It's pretty and that is about it. I can understand why it was and still is in such good condition.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Had owned a PPK/s .22 years before, but a gunny buddy showed up with an Interarms .380, and I was simply smitten. Beautiful gun, felt great in the hand. Got one myself, started me down a rabbit hole to reload a reliable hollowpoint. Never did find anything that would run 100 straight. Washed my hands of such things, until wandering back to .32 versions more recently.
Still have a minty .380 Interarms that may soon go on the trading block.
Moon