No More PPKs?

H

hemlock0013

New member
While reading another thread (I forgot which one) someone stated that Walther is discontinuing the PPK due to lack of interest. Is this true? It would be a shame if it were. Though the PPK has its flaws, it is an undisputed classic.

And then there's the whole Bond issue...(Guess he's lucky to have switched to the P99 when he did.)
 
Ah, I can see clearly now. Thanx for the explainer. And now, here was the post I had intended to add to the PPK thread:

...and Bond gets the foxier interns, too. What better way to cut him down a notch than to do away with one of his more...er, masculine symbols?

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Idiot, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. -- Ambrose Bierce
 
Remember that the PPK (not PPK/S) is too small in height for importation under GCA '68. Interarms was getting around this by having their PPK (at least the frames) manufactured in the US. Alas, Interarms has come undone. Without someone to make the PPK in the US, Walther has to fall back to a PPK/S configuration in order for the small pistol to be eligible for importation.

(The PPK/S is a PPK slide and barrel on the taller PP frame.)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jim Keenan: Walther America is Smith & Wesson. Maybe Bill ordered them to stop selling little guns.[/quote]Under the terms of the agreement, S&W can not make anything whose height & length is less than 10 inches (or something like that).
Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD
fud-nra.gif
 
This is a shame - as the PPK is a fantastic pistol. The only .380 worth carrying...

Well - Seecamp is now in .380 as well - that would be pretty good - but OUCH! That waiting list!
:(

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You might laugh in the face of FEAR... but unless your armed, its a nervous, unconvincing, little laugh.
 
OT, can anyone provide evidence of Carl Walther and S&W's union? I know it to be true, but I got flamed pretty bad by a guy that had just bought a Walther P99. I told him he had just financed S&W and he was adamant that such was not the case. According to him Carl Walther is a subsidiary of Walther Germany just like SIG Arms is a subsidiary of SIG Switzerland. He claims that while Walther and SW jointly market the SW P99 the two have no other dealings. Who's right here?

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So many pistols, so little money.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tecolote:
OT, can anyone provide evidence of Carl Walther and S&W's union?[/quote]

Nope, because no such evidence exists. I posted a lenghty response from Carl Walther Germany about this just last month, you can find it in the archives. Carl Walther USA was disbanded after the S&W deal and WaltherUSA set up in it's stead. WaltherUSA is a standalone business entity and Carl Walther Germany has stated they will not abide by any terms of the S&W deal. Here's the response to my email:

(begin email text)

Thank you for your e-mail to Walther Germany.
Walther USA is not looking at signing the agreement that Smith and Wesson
did. Walther USA is a separate company, with our own president and staff. We
make our own decisions on how to sell our product.
Walther USA will remain the Importer for Walther Germany.

(end email text)

A copy of this can be found in the "legal issues" section of the Walther Germany website:
http://www.carl-walther.de/

Regards,

Ken Strayhorn
Hillsborough NC
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hemlock0013:
While reading another thread (I forgot which one) someone stated that Walther is discontinuing the PPK due to lack of interest. Is this true? [/quote]

Alas, it is indeed true. The final 500 PP and PPK models will roll off the assembly line later this year. It's not for lack of interest, though. It's that the PPK is a relatively expensive pocket pistol in the era of the Kel-Tec, Glock and other pistols which take advantage of modern manufacturing techniques. Also, Interarms, which used to make the PPK and PPK/S models in this country after the GCA of '68, has gone out of business.

The assembly lines will be retooled for .22 and .32 caliber match pistols, which are quite popular in Europe. There's talk of marketing the .22 pistols in the US given the success of the SIG/Hammerli Trailside target pistols. The P5 and P88 productions lines have been shut down and retooled for the P99 series.

Regards,
Ken Strayhorn
Hillsborough NC
 
Strayhorn,

Thanks for the information! I was afraid that buying a Walther I would be supporting the unconstitutional HUD agreement.

No more PPKs? Does this mean I should break out the plastic and get one before they're all gone?

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So many pistols, so little money.

[This message has been edited by Tecolote (edited June 14, 2000).]
 
My information is that PPKs and PPK/Ss will continue to be manufactured in the US, not under the license of Inerarms but Walther USA. They will still be made in Alabama, but hopefully will have better quality control and better monitoring of the product.
German PPKs were last imported in 1968. I bought a 68 PPK, made in GErmany, in 7.65 from Earls in MA. It is a gem.
The GErman mande PPk/Ss are less expensive cause they were imported much later.
Once in a while, one has found an Interarms PPK that is a shooter and is reliable; but I would want one stamped Walther USA rather than Interarms, if I did not want to spend the bucks for a German manufacture.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Strayhorn:
Also, Interarms, which used to make the PPK and PPK/S models in this country after the GCA of '68, has gone out of business.

[/B][/quote]
Do you know what happened to Interarms?
They were the largest firearms impoters in the world until the founder died a year or two ago. I believe the company went to a daughter, but I think she must have sold the company. I can't believe they could have gone down hill so quickly as to have gone out of business.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by David Berkowitz: ... Do you know what happened to Interarms? ...[/quote]I'm not really sure what happened but I recall that toward the end (the last half dozen years or so), Walther wasn't too happy about their arrangement with Interarms and wanted to set-up shop here in America like others have done (SIG, Beretta, etc.) however his agreement with Interarms prevented him from doing so. I wouldn't be too surprised if [1] Walther provided the bulk of Interarms profit despite the fact that they imported several others products; and [2] when the contract expired, Walther did not renew, thereby contributing to Interarms going out of business.
Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD
fud-nra.gif
 
There was also some trouble related to Sam Cummings' daughter, who took over Interarms after her father's death. Within the last year or two, she killed her live-in lover and was convicted of manslaughter.

[This message has been edited by Daniel Watters (edited June 15, 2000).]
 
For what it's worth, the "2000 Walther USA" catalog is out and it shows both the Walther PPK and the PPK/S in it. All of the models of are still in there that were in the 1999 "Walther" catalog.

In fact, they've added a Walther PPK/E model. It's offered only in a high polish blue finish and is carries the same dimension and capacities as the PPK/S with one addition--you can get it in .22LR as an 8+1. They come with two different styles of grips: the traditional flat Walther black plastic grips AND a Target finger rest grip similar to the Browning Hi-Power or CZ-75 ergonomic design grips.

I wonder if they are intending to replace the PPK line with this PPK/E only?

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Take the long way home...
 
I picked up my 2000 Walther USA catalog off of the display rack at Keisler's Police Supply in Jeffersonville, IN. However, I got my 1999 Walther catalog last year by calling:

(800) 372-6454

That's the phone number in the Walther add's that you see in American Handgunner and Gun's and Ammo. I called them, left a request on their answering machine, and my catalog came in the mail about three weeks later.

Nice catalogs.

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Take the long way home...
 
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