PPK

The Walther PPK (Polizei Pistole Kriminal) is one of the world's classic pocket pistols. It was introduced in the early 1930's and was one of the first commercially successful pistols to have a double action
trigger mechanism. The PPK was initially marketed as a pistol for the German "Criminal Police" (undercover detectives). Virtually every new Waltzer PPK in the US is manufactured domestically by Interarms
under license of Carl Walther Waffenfabrik of Germany.
This review will cover the stainless steel version of the PPK (the classic Bond gun, but a 9mm version). A blued steel version is also made. The PPK/S (PPK/Special) is also available - it is slightly larger than the PPK, has two-piece grips instead of wraparound grips and has a magazine capacity of 7 rounds. A PPK/S magazine will work in a PPK, but will protrude slightly from the magazine well. PPK magazines are too short for the PPK/S. In other respects, the PPK/S is similar to the PPK.

The PPK has trim dimensions and is very flat, making it an ideal pistol for deep concealment or when something larger cannot be carried due to clothing restrictions. The PPK's finish is a uniform, polished
stainless steel with no tooling marks or scratches. The frame is made of a slightly different alloy of steel than the slide to prevent galling, but the color matches the slide. A wavy pattern has been machined on
the top rib of the slide to prevent glare when sighting. The rest of the slide's top surface has a matte finish to further reduce glare.

The PPK's sights are the standard Patridge type (front post with a notch rear). The front sight has an orange dot and the rear sight is colored orange in the lower part of the notch. The rear sight is drift
adjustable for windage. The trigger guard is smooth and rounded. Vertical grooves on the trigger serve to improve finger friction during the double action pull. The hammer spur is round to prevent catching on
clothing.

On the left rear of the slide is the PPK's hammer-dropping safety lever. When the lever is pushed down, the pistol is on 'safe' and the hammer is safely decocked. The lever is pushed up for the 'fire' position.
The PPK safety lever blocks the firing pin from moving. There is no passive firing pin block. There is one other internal safety that the manual calls an 'automatic safety' - this safety is independent of the
position of the safety lever and is always engaged unless the hammer is cocked or the trigger is pulled all the way back. The 'automatic safety' prevents the hammer from contacting the firing pin when the
hammer is at the rest position. If the resting hammer accidentally receives a blow from the rear, it cannot hit the firing pin and fire the pistol. If the pistol is dropped muzzle down and 'safety off', only the inertia
of the firing pin against its return spring might cause it to fire.

The double action trigger pull of the PPK is quite stiff and the recoil spring spring is also quite stout since it is a blowback pistol. Some people with weaker fingers may have trouble racking the slide or pulling
the double action trigger. The single action pull is very crisp and has almost no slack. Like many other straight blowback 0.380 ACP pistols, the PPK has a surprisingly snappy perceived recoil.

The PPK has a 'loaded chamber' indicator in the form of small round pin that protrudes from the rear of the slide just below the rear sight when the chamber is loaded. The hammer has an ample clearance cut
in it to prevent contact with the chamber loaded indicator. Of course, the user should check the pistol to verify its unloaded state and not rely solely on a mechanical indicator.

The magazine release is on the left side, and is located near the top front of the grip. The slide will lock back when the magazine is empty, but there is no external slide stop/release lever. To close the slide, a
loaded magazine is inserted and the slide pulled back slightly to release the internal catch and chamber a round. Alternately, the empty magazine can be removed entirely and the slide pulled back slightly to
release the slide stop to close the slide on an empty chamber.

The PPK comes with two 6-round magazines. One has a flat metal floorplate and another has a polymer finger rest floorplate. The magazines have stainless steel bodies and followers. They can be
disassembled for cleaning if needed.

There is no external takedown lever. Field stripping the PPK involves pulling the trigger guard down and pulling the slide back and lifting it off the frame. It is a simple process that is easily learned.

Everyone who has complained about the somewhat spotty reliabilty of a stock PPK with JHP ammo should realize that it is a 1930's design with some improvements over the decades. Its feed path is not as
straight and smooth as newer designs. To make this even clearer, the PPK user's manual states that the pistol was designed for a 0.380 ACP cartridge with a 95 gr. FMJ bullet at 955 fps and cautions that
"other bullet types and weights may or may not function." The user is advised to test the feed reliability of potential defensive hollow point ammo extensively. I use Remington 88 gr. JHP's since the bullet shape was designed to approximate FMJ ammo.

The pistol came with a test target that had 3 shots with an extreme spread of about 2.375" at 15 meters (49.2 feet). Personally, I'm quite happy to place all shots on an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper at 50 ft with a
standing two handed grip. I've found my PPK to be very reliable in terms of feeding, extraction and ejection of 95 gr. FMJ and Rem. 88 gr JHP ammo. My particular PPK occassionally required a
double-strike of the primer to fire a round. It was returned to the factory (took 1 month) and no more double-strikes are needed.

Readers interested in the history of the PPK and its variants should check out the small book "Know Your Walther PP PPK pistols" by E.J. Hoffschmidt. 1975 Blacksmith Corp., Chino Valley, AZ. ISBN
0-941-54003-0

I don't know if Blacksmith is still located in Arizona, but I've seen newer printings of all their books at most gun shows.