German made PPK, 7.65 cal

T

Trooper Joe

New member
I have been looking for a long time for a decent German made PPK in 7.65 Cal. Most of the ones I have found I would need a home equity loan to buy them.

Finally found a nice, tight one made in Germany in 1966. Found it at a gun show in Atlanta about a month ago. Settled on $600 delivered to my dealer in Michigan.



When I found it, it had a slide on it marked made in France and in .380 cal. The guy who owned it said he had the correct slide at home that said made in Ulm Germany. The slide had a lot of pitting allegedly and hardly any bluing left. He agreed on the price and said he would send the correct slide to Michigan.

Got the slide today minus the decocking lever and firing pin and fp spring. In a few minutes, I switched the parts and everything seems to work OK. Did a little fast cold bluing and the gun is good to go. ( I ended up with a very nice extra slide for a .380 PPK made by Manurhin. Anybody need one?)

The lettering on the slide is nice and sharp which is a plus since I plan on getting the gun re-blued.

As a side note, my first 7.65 PPK was a war time gun, very worn, that I bought when I was on Lansing, Michigan PD in 1965 (right after the first James Bond movies that featured the PPK). I think I paid $50 for it then and I also had that gun re-blued.

53 years later, I corrected my bad mistake of selling that gun and finally found my German PPK.

Any thoughts on a good re-bluing service where I can keep the total cost of the project under $1,000 (under $400 for re-bluing)?

Thanks gang ahead of time for your thoughts and suggestions.

Trooper Joe
 
For rebluing contact Doyle’s Gun Shop in Plummer Idaho, since the slide has pitting ask for a service blue which is a medium sheen and will not display the imperfections like a high polish. Mel is about the best going with a bluing tank and your PPK would cost about a hundred bucks for a beautiful job.208-686-1006
 
For rebluing contact Doyle’s Gun Shop in Plummer Idaho
Click to expand...

I searched around some, and it looks like Mel may be out of business.

A thread dated 2014 on another site said the phone numbers and emails weren't working.
 
Carmady, I talked with Mel yesterday and he is trying to slow the business down considerably ( he is 78 now) and disconnected the phone ( never was a computer man) but you can write him at: 401 Ellis Ln Plummer Id. 83851. He still receives deliveries every day from throughout the US even though he pulled his ad from the Firearms News some time ago. Many shops that offer rebluing service simply shipped the work to Mel and claimed they did it.
I guess he does not need me soliciting work for him but I know your PPK could not receive better treatment.
 
These days you can have GOOD bluing or BAD bluing...choose ONE.

The price between good and bad is not very high so you might as well get good work.
The difference is in the quality of polishing. Don't look at the bluing, it's all dark blue.
Look at the metal under the finish to see the quality of the polishing work.
Bad work has rounded off edges, dished out holes, thinned stamps, and ripples in the flat areas.

For professional rebluing services here's the top people.....

APW-Cogan is probably the best all around gun refinisher in the business.
He doesn't offer a true mirror polish like on the Python.

http://www.apwcogan.com/

Glenrock is famous for their high quality work. Many top custom gunsmiths use them when they want the absolutely finest work on an expensive custom gun.

http://www.gunbluing.com/

In the past Ford's had a top reputation as being one of the very few able to do a Colt Python Royal Blue level polish job.
Last year they had a problem and ruined several Colt forum members Pythons, so use them with caution.

http://www.fordsguns.com/

The Custom Shop IS NOT affiliated with the Colt Custom Shop and Colt does not really recommend them. Colt simply listed them as a possible source for gun work as a customer service.
However, while they specialize in Colt firearms work they do offer top rebluing for most other guns.

https://www.customshopinc.com/

Ron's is primarily a firearms restoration service but they also offer top quality standard hot salts bluing.

http://www.ronsgunshop.com/

Smith Gun has an excellent reputation.

http://smithgun.com/

As for the pitting, you'd be amazed what a top professional polisher can do.
At that level, a polisher spends 8 hours a day polishing metal, so he's obtained and maintains the skill level.
Your average local gunsmith who still even offers bluing simply doesn't have the skill level needed because he doesn't do it enough to keep whatever skill he did have.
 
Nice pickup! I have a soft spot for those PPKs and like you, have been looking for one that won't break my bank account. No luck so far, but I find the hunt is at least half the fun of collecting.

A few weeks ago I did manage to find a three lever VIS Mod35, a gun I have been trying to acquire for a few years now.
 
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