metric said:
The fact that 1) Walther will not answer a point-blank question if the alloy contains zinc, and 2) Their sales and prices of the Umarex-produced model have dropped due to claims that it is a zinc alloy should make everyone extremely suspicious.
Does anyone find it likely that their $250 version is made out of a high-quality alloy that they don't want released to the public (despite the fact that it would be trivial for any lab to determine the composition)? So much so that they are willing to suffer reduced sales and price drops, rather than simply state the basics of the metal?
Why do you think they don't want us to know?
When a manufacturer uses quality materials, it becomes a point for marketing, not a trade secret. Especially if they are suffering under misconceptions.
Draw your own conclusions.
Is it really so hard to write a sentence long e-mail asking them yourself that you're going to presume that they won't answer when I already told you that they will in the first place?
I don't see where you're coming from here, lots of companies have secret recipes for all manner of things for any number of reasons including just plain marketing, which is hardly a reason to be suspicious.
I suppose we should all be suspicious about what's the secret ingredient in Cocacola as well? Or the secret sauce on the Big Mac? Or any of the other number of products that don't disclose every little detail concerning the precise composition of everything/anything they make.
The bottom line is this, the PPK/S .22 has been on the market since March of 2013, yet to this very date not a single report of slide failure has been made that I can find, and on the echo-chamber that is the internet in which a single report of something failing often gets copy/pasted ad nauseam or otherwise is brought up at every available opportunity by dissatisfied customers, that's saying something.
In other words, there's no tangible reason to doubt the structural integrity of the alloy Walther is using, regardless of what it's exact composition may or may not be.
Last but not least, pricing is not a measure of overall quality in the modern-day firearms market. There are lots of high quality yet low cost firearms on the market, including ones which arguably function as good or even better than higher priced firearms.
But hey, if you want to believe that Walther is the new Jennings, that's your prerogative.
guitar1580 said:
After looking and reading, I noticed the connection between S&W and Carl Walther GmbH, and Umarex, partially for US distribution purposes. This 2012 article provides some info about the connection and partial separation. Notice this sentence in the article: "Smith & Wesson will continue to manufacture the PPK for Walther Arms, Inc. and CARL WALTHER will continue to manufacture the M&P22 handgun for S&W." It's almost comical. By now, in 2020, it's hard to tell who is licensing who.
Walther's current affiliation with Smith & Wesson extends no further than the fact that Walther supposedly manufacturers the M&P22 for them, but that may have ended. Currently, Walther is producing the PPK(/S) in .380 ACP out of their facility in Fort Smith, Arkansas. All other Walther brand firearms are imported from Germany, but are marked "Walther Arms - Fort Smith, AR" because Walther USA is the importer.