Pros and cons of a PPK

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Pros and Cons are pretty much what everyone just said...

In today's day and age, I would not carry one for serious social purposes because there are many more options today, including in 9mm/40S&W that are better for self defense.

If you want one for fun and range plinking due to the Bond factor, then get one... you may find the PPK/S or PP to be better than the PPK due to their longer grips, but that's up to you...
 
I had a PPK once and liked it very much – one of the newer, S&W PPK's. I miss it sometimes.

Pros: Concealable, ACCURATE, sexy (chicks dig it), easily concealed.

Cons: Heavy for a .380.
 
You want heavy for a .380 - try a BDA!
 

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My latest find.

A wheel of Walthers. All of mine are .32ACP. (Except a .22 PPK/s) German and French.

wheelof.jpg
 
If someone said "hey, I'm looking for a CCW", I'd point them in other directions. If someone said "hey, I think PPKs are cool, should I get one?", I'd say "absolutely!".
 
The stainless one is an older Interarms. The test target is dated 8/28/98. I'd been looking for one for awhile. I would guess they made 1 .32 for every 50 .380's.
 
I may be the odd man here, but....
I have a S&W made PPK that has been 100% reliable.
S&W lengthened the tail on it just enough to eliminate slide bite (and I have big hands).
The weight of the pistol makes it a very soft shooting gun for me.
I shoot it more accurately than just about any other handgun I own.
It is in my daily carry rotation.

YMMV
 
Guyfromohio makes a great point when he says
If someone said "hey, I'm looking for a CCW", I'd point them in other directions. If someone said "hey, I think PPKs are cool, should I get one?", I'd say "absolutely!".
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As a fan of the PPK (in particular the PPK/S) I would, however, point out that the two uses are certainly not exclusive. .380 is probably the single most relied upon CCW caliber thanks to small, lightweight pocket pistols. The Glock 42 seems to be surging in popularity. While the PPK is not as small as the former nor as light as the latter, it is quite slim and carries well and it is still the same caliber as other popular CC pistols and has a longer barrel than most and is usually very accurate with its fixed barrel. If someone wants to rely on a PPK for CCW, they would get no argument from me. Likewise, if they were to choose a heavier caliber.
 
Digression Warning!

I carry it in a pancake holster at 4 o'clock and it is very comfortable and I hardly know it is there.
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In the early '80s I changed jobs/locations and in the new one was not allowed to carry. I clipped the Motorola radio on my belt in the same location where I had always carried my Walther. The weight in that location felt ... comforting.

Late one night in a large, dark, deserted elevator lobby (on an "empty" floor) a rough-looking fellow suddenly appeared around the far corner, saw me & looked startled, then quickly jerked his right hand under his coat ...

Too far to rush him, I quickly stepped left into a shallow alcove for what little cover it would afford, crouched & reached under my jacket ...

... and grabbed a handful of Motorola radio. <sigh>

Thank goodness, it turned out the the guy had been drinking WAY too much that night and had gotten lost ... he was reaching ... for his wallet ... in an alcohol-soaked, jerky fashion.

BTW, after that night, I always wore that Motorola on the LEFT side so that my brain would not, again, during an emergency response make the bad assumption that that comforting weight was my handgun. ;)
 
Eh..better your hand land on something rather than nothing!

Those old Motorolas were BRICKS, dandy impromptu impact weapons.....
 
PPks are excellent guns in a very small size. My interarms stainless has digested thousands of rounds and still works perfectly. I've carried it for years.
 
At some point I positively craved a .380 ACP PPK. For the usual reasons, I guess : aesthetics, mystique, reputation, size/power concerns...

So I sold my 9mm STAR BM , laid out a sizeable amount if cash on top and bought one.

It never did what i was supposed to : it never "bit" me, it kicked way more than aforementioned 9mm or a 2" S&W 640, accuracy was only so-so, and it proved unreliable with any ammo.

I since replaced it with a 2" S&W 15 .
Still kick myself about letting go of that delightful Star 9mm, though.
 
Chriske wrote:
So I sold my 9mm STAR BM , laid out a sizeable amount if cash on top and bought one.

It never did what i was supposed to :
Click to expand...
That is certainly descriptive of the hidden cost of the firearm hobby. Guns we shouldn't have bought. Trades we shouldn't have let go. Drawers full of unused accessories that were supposed to be wonderful. It costs money to get smarter.

Fun, isn't it? :evil:
 
I owned a PPK/S in the 1970's but sold it because of the atrocious trigger pull. In general it was a gun that was over-hyped.
 
Great gun in .32, better still in .22LR - and I'm not going to forgive Walther for the current crop of pseudo-PPKs in that caliber. I own a Deutsche-made PPK/S in .22, a prewar PPK, and a Manurhin PP, the latter in .32. All are fine pistols.

I think the Europeans took a very different approach with compact guns. Americans tend toward raw power - Henry Deringer made his pocket pistols in .45 caliber. But that comes at a cost in shootability. The European attitude was that it was better to hit where it hurt with a .32 than miss with a .380.
 
I have a Interarms stainless PPK/S carried it for a long time still do now and then I always shot Corbon ammo and I can't understand all this recoil complaints its a 380 not a 44 mag
mine has been reliable and again I don't consider the weight a issue I carried in a Don Hume leather pocket holster and weight never a problem . its not a KelTec but it doesn't weight a ton either.
I dislike the S&W as they made several changes inside to save money and labor. Remember they had to recall all of the ones made in first few years. I also dislike the tang I have never suffered slide bite and think tang ugly. If you want one go for it or buy a Bersa Thunder at about 1/2 the price. Bersa has better trigger over all and accuracy about same . Finish not as nice as Pre S&W guns but toss up against S&W Just my02
 
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