Walther PPK

M

mrat

New member
I have a Interarms Walther PPK in .380. Is it safe to carry this gun with a round in the chamber and safety off? I was told that the PPK does not have a passive firing pin safety and if dropped on its hammer it can discharge.
 
Hi, Mrat,

The PP/PPK pistols are designed to be carried with the safety off and hammer down on a loaded chamber. There is a hammer block in the frame which keeps the hammer from reaching the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled. With the gun empty, remove the slide and pull the trigger. You can watch the hammer block operate.

Jim
 
Obvious advice here, but very important with the PPK: be sure to do a lot of practice firing with the rounds you plan to carry outside of the range...the PPK I used had a lot of reliability issues with hollow point ammo, but fed full metal jacket a lot better. The effectively flat "sharp" edge of the hollowpoints would catch instead of feed up the ramp into the chamber.
 
Having been a PPK/PP/TPH fan for years I would NEVER carry one for self defense against humans. The reliable and accurate version of the Walther is the Makarov.

I do LOVE the wonderful Walthers but not one of the 300 plus that I've owned were reliable and none was as accurate as a Makarov. They are lovely and famous but if you must carry a Walther at least please consider sending it off for a complete gunsmithing or start with a pre-1960 one as they are more reliable.

Just my two cents worth -- but based on considerable experience.

------------------
Talk is cheap; Free Speech is NOT.
 
Jody: I love the appearance and the feel of the PPK and have had 13 of them over the past 35 years. I suppose I thought that I might eventually find a reliable one. Never did! I had frequent failures to feed and stovepipe jams were the rule rather than the exception. I had people tell me that I was limp wristing the gun but I never had this problem with any other handgun. My Sig P230 worked perfectly and even 1911's worked well. It's a cool gun but I would never depend on one as a defense weapon.

Jeff
 
My experience with the Walther has been the exact opposite of those who report it as being unreliable. I've owned a German-made PPK/S in .22 caliber for more than 20 years. In that time, it has proven utterly reliable with any .22 high-velocity long rifle. I usually fire at least 500 rounds with it when I shoot it, and I can't remember when I've had a malfunction. It's a great plinker. I haven't had any experience with the .380 version so I can't comment.
 
Next to the Glock that I had til yesterday, my Walther PPK/S .380 (stainless, and even an American-made one) is the most reliable pistol that I own ... especially so with good ammunition. Now, I just got a Para-Ord P13 that might surpass it, but I trust the PPK/S ... I will admit that I haven't shot more than 600 rounds through it, but haven't had any problems. Maybe I'm lucky.
 
The PP/PPK was really designed around the FMJ 7.65mm (.32 ACP). There were not too many pre-war guns in 9mm K (.380 ACP). The PPK/S, made in the US has had problems, partly due to attempts to fire ammunition it was never designed for, and partly due to using cast (MIM?) parts where they shouldn't be used, specifically for the ejector.

Mine gave me jams and smokestacks with FMJ until I worked on the recoil spring by rolling it on a belt sander. No more jams and has worked perfectly for about 500+ rounds with no problems with both ball and some HP.

Note that that trick is for someone with a little experience; it is easy to go too far.

Jim
 
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