Like most people, I’m a fan of James Bond. One of the first guns I ever specifically wanted before I got really into them, and one of the first guns I ever bought, was a PPK/S made under the Smith & Wesson license. It was blued, pretty, and not very fun to shoot in .380. It also had reliability problems every once in a while. So I sold it to a friend (a huge James Bond nerd) and decided I’d hold off until I found a PPK in 32 ACP.
Last summer, I found a 1941 PPK in 32. It had some initial feeding issues that turned out to be caused by a slightly oversized slide stop. My gunsmith sorted it out and it’s been decently reliable ever since. But I’ve been trying to settle on a pair of grips that doesn’t cause more malfunctions.
A couple months ago, Walther announced that they’d be bringing back the 32 ACP caliber to the PPK and PPK/S lines. So as soon as my LGS had them available to order, I snatched one up.
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It shoots fantastic. The weight makes the 32 round feel like a .380 coming out of a closer to full size gun. If you’ve ever shot a .380 EZ from Smith, you know what I mean. It’s even softer than that, though. The double action is far smoother and feels lighter than either my PPK/S or the vintage PPK. The sights are much improved over prior iterations, though I’m still thinking of either having the front blade drilled for a fiber rod (or gold bead if feasible) or sending the slide out to be cut for modern sights. The stainless finish is great, mostly.
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That’s a good transition into the two problems I have with the gun. First, and least important, is a cosmetic issue. The brushed finish on the back of the slide is, for lack of a better term, sharper looking than it should be. I’d expect more of a matte brushed look, like basically everywhere else on the gun, but it’s weirdly shiny. As if someone took a polished piece of metal and hit it with a wire brush. All the brushed marks go in the same direction, but it’s just not quite right. There’s also an issue where it looks like whoever was chamfering the edge of the slide around the hammer screwed up a little and cut a little too far off the edge.
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The second issue may be the ammo, or may be the gun. I’m not sure. But I’ve been shooting Fiocchi Defense Dynamics and have had probably 5-7 failures to fire in about 250 rounds. Most of these have gone off on the second or third trigger pull (thank God for second strike capabilities), but two rounds today just refused to go bang. That makes me think it’s probably a hard primer/ammo issue, but I’m not sure. Here’s a picture of one of the two duds from today (left) next to a fired case (right) after a single trigger pull on the dud. I reloaded the round and hit it another 5 or so times, but it never went off. It still looks like a pretty okay primer hit to me, so I’m hoping it’s not the gun’s fault, and I should just buy more expensive 32.
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All told, is the gun perfect? No, it has its cosmetic flaws here and there. The double action, while the best PPK double action I’ve ever felt, still sucks even compared to a bone stock J frame. But for $900, give or take, it shoots great, and makes for a great carry gun when a super small gun is a necessity. Would definitely recommend, as long as I can get this light strike/hard primer question resolved.
Last summer, I found a 1941 PPK in 32. It had some initial feeding issues that turned out to be caused by a slightly oversized slide stop. My gunsmith sorted it out and it’s been decently reliable ever since. But I’ve been trying to settle on a pair of grips that doesn’t cause more malfunctions.
A couple months ago, Walther announced that they’d be bringing back the 32 ACP caliber to the PPK and PPK/S lines. So as soon as my LGS had them available to order, I snatched one up.
It shoots fantastic. The weight makes the 32 round feel like a .380 coming out of a closer to full size gun. If you’ve ever shot a .380 EZ from Smith, you know what I mean. It’s even softer than that, though. The double action is far smoother and feels lighter than either my PPK/S or the vintage PPK. The sights are much improved over prior iterations, though I’m still thinking of either having the front blade drilled for a fiber rod (or gold bead if feasible) or sending the slide out to be cut for modern sights. The stainless finish is great, mostly.
That’s a good transition into the two problems I have with the gun. First, and least important, is a cosmetic issue. The brushed finish on the back of the slide is, for lack of a better term, sharper looking than it should be. I’d expect more of a matte brushed look, like basically everywhere else on the gun, but it’s weirdly shiny. As if someone took a polished piece of metal and hit it with a wire brush. All the brushed marks go in the same direction, but it’s just not quite right. There’s also an issue where it looks like whoever was chamfering the edge of the slide around the hammer screwed up a little and cut a little too far off the edge.
The second issue may be the ammo, or may be the gun. I’m not sure. But I’ve been shooting Fiocchi Defense Dynamics and have had probably 5-7 failures to fire in about 250 rounds. Most of these have gone off on the second or third trigger pull (thank God for second strike capabilities), but two rounds today just refused to go bang. That makes me think it’s probably a hard primer/ammo issue, but I’m not sure. Here’s a picture of one of the two duds from today (left) next to a fired case (right) after a single trigger pull on the dud. I reloaded the round and hit it another 5 or so times, but it never went off. It still looks like a pretty okay primer hit to me, so I’m hoping it’s not the gun’s fault, and I should just buy more expensive 32.
All told, is the gun perfect? No, it has its cosmetic flaws here and there. The double action, while the best PPK double action I’ve ever felt, still sucks even compared to a bone stock J frame. But for $900, give or take, it shoots great, and makes for a great carry gun when a super small gun is a necessity. Would definitely recommend, as long as I can get this light strike/hard primer question resolved.
