A Mad Oger Bon Mott.
A PPK in .32 ACP was my first carry gun. It was the only thing I could afford when I got my permit in Venezuela and that was because it was my Dad’s and he carried maybe twice in his life before shoving it in some drawer.
Even in .32 ACP, it barks bad and if your hands are not skeletal, you will sport a slide bite more than once. The trigger is simply atrocious in double action and barely passable in single action. But also, the principle of a bad gun is better than no gun applied: It saved my bacon more than once.
I could not bring it with me when we moved to the States and Mom gave it to a friend of ours who was a cop and could take care (or ignore altogether) the legal bullshit of the registration transfer. And other than the fact it belonged to Dad, I had very little remorse about not being able to keep it.
Thanks for the honest assessment. I always wanted to acquire one; mostly due to the cool factor and small size. Reviews like this formed my decision to be very pleased with Colt Model M’s. Just as cool and sized right.
The original Walther made ones were bad. The Century Arms imports were worse. The Smith & Wesson/Walther hybrids were better. I have two of those. Yes the sights are still pretty poor, but they are cool.
I agree. They are cool and not worth the rounds:weight ratio.
I’ve had a couple, but they don’t stay.
Amusingly, my current EDC is S&W’s first DA/SA “copy”: a M-39-2. 😆
The one good thing is it’s easy to sell a PPK after you realize how terrible they really are! In spite of their many flaws, it’s still seen as a “cool” pistol. My first carry pistol was a PP copy, a $150 Pistolet Makarova in 9x18mm. Better gun than a Walther PP–even though the DA pull sucked–the SA pull wasn’t terrible, and the gun is very accurate.
I have not been impressed with the clones I’ve shot.
.
But what’s the saying, a pocket gun isn’t supposed to be fun to shoot.
I’ve got two communist era FEG pistols that are clones of the PPK. One surplus issued to their officers, retired then imported. The other manufactured specifically for import to the U.S.
It’s incredible the change in quality that occurs with a small influx of capitalism into communism.
Same here. My EDC is an FEG PA-63. I have a second one as a spare. Only PPK pattern with an aluminum frame that I know of. Nice carry weight, a bit snappy to shoot. After a couple of mags, the web between my thumb and fore finger needs a rest. Fortunately Hornady makes an FTX load in 9X18 Makarov.
Back when I had my FFL, my cost was $99. I made a hobby out of tuning them up to cure their two major annoyances in stock trim.
1) The double action trigger pull is horrendous. Easy fix by swapping out lighter main spring and heavier recoil spring.
2) Magazines don’t drop free because the slide stop tab on the follower drags inside the mag well. This requires a bit more tweaking/gunsmithing.
Closest I’ve come to owning or firing a PPK was a SIG P232 in .380 that I’d bought used. Decent gun, though the recoil was harsher than my P228 in 9mm and the heel mag catch made reloading a bit fiddly, especially when trying to do so quickly. But it worked as a CCW piece even with the crappy holster I’d bought for it.
Unfortunately, the gun turned out to be a lemon. I later learned that SIG had let a bunch of out-of-spec frames slip through QC: the holes that the takedown lever cross-pin fits into were ever-so-slightly off-center from each other, which would cause the pin to shear and a) prevent the gun from being disassembled and b) allow the takedown lever to overrotate upwards into the path of the slide.
I sold it back to the shop who’d sold it to me (knowing, I later learned, that it was broken when they first sold it to me). The guy who sold it to me, “forgot” to ship it to SIG for repairs when I’d asked the shop to, and then later bought it back from me after I had it fixed again was let go from the shop shortly after that whole saga of disappointment.
Got other guns in that class (blowback lower power centerfire. Makarov, Bersa Thunder). Got no desire, and never had, for the PPK.
When first designed the PPK was a decent firearm. It’s mostly iconic due to it’s connection to the Bond franchise.
Walther really needs to revisit and update the design and manufacturing to bring it into the 21st century.