Walther PPK. My dad has two (don't really know why), and is threatening to give me one on an indefinite loan. It's not my favorite handgun, but I don't hate it, any gun is better than no gun, and you can't really argue with free.
I'm curious about ammunition. I understand the older ones don't like modern JHP rounds. Can anybody shed light on that? Should I just buy a few boxes of FMJ and pick the brand it eats most readily?
alex wrote: any gun is better than no gun, and you can't really argue with free.
You are going to hell for saying that!! That is so totally unPC!
Is your father adopting?
Isn't the PPK .380 ACP not .38 S&W?
In all seriousness, I'm trying to think of why they wouldn't like JHP and my only thought is the maybe the jacket. Just use lead rounds. Should be fine. Lets go shooting.
93EXCivic wrote: Isn't the PPK .380 ACP not .38 S&W?
Looks like a revolver to me. 
He never said it was a .38. He just brought it up cuz we were talking .38's. 
The ppk chambered in .32acp has issues with hollow points. The .32 is semi-rimmed cartridge, and it can rim-lock, where the top round gets hooked behind the next round in the magazine. I dont think the .380 has the same issue. I carry mine with a hollow point in the pipe and the mag full ball ammo.
Oh yeah, my wife bought me my ppk/s for our anniversary.
Joey
YMMV, but I sold my PPK because it was about 99% on chambering FMJ, but only about 50% on HP. I prefer hollowpoints for home protection and that was a deal-breaker for me. Mine was a .32
Joey, I've heard similar stories about keeping an HP in the chamber and FMJ in the clip... do you think its because of the hype on the .32 troubles, or do the .380's actually not have that problem?
Alex... you could always trade it for a Beretta .45ACP 
joey48442 wrote: Oh yeah, my wife bought me my ppk/s for our anniversary.
I have nothing to add t the topic other than a respect for Walther, but your wife rules. Carry on.
I actually woke from a dream one night in which I had fully (and correctly) field stripped then reassembled a Walther PPK, even though I have never owned one. I was vacationing in Florida at the time, and this is how I relax.
I love the look and size of the PPK and wanted one for a long time, but then I rented one for an hour at a range and decided not to buy one. They're heavy and every edge seems really sharp. I even cut my hand on it at some point. It had a few failure to feed issues and I decided that it was still something I'd like to own someday, but between the .380 caliber, the weight and the fail to feed thing, it was not something that I would find myself carrying very often. You also have to keep in mind is that this is a really old design. There's nothing wrong with that, but there may have been better ideas since then.
I'd suggest trying one before you buy. Most ranges have one that they'll rent.
Fun Fact: Hitler killed himself with a Walther PPK .32.
Fun Fact II: James Bond carries a PPK.
When people give me a hard time over carrying a .32, I say "hey, it was good enough to kill hitler!"
Joey
curtis73 wrote: YMMV, but I sold my PPK because it was about 99% on chambering FMJ, but only about 50% on HP. I prefer hollowpoints for home protection and that was a deal-breaker for me. Mine was a .32 Joey, I've heard similar stories about keeping an HP in the chamber and FMJ in the clip... do you think its because of the hype on the .32 troubles, or do the .380's actually not have that problem? Alex... you could always trade it for a Beretta .45ACP
I don't know. I wouldn't think the .380 would have the same issue, as it's not got the rim like a .32 does.
Joey
joey48442 wrote: When people give me a hard time over carrying a .32, I say "hey, it was good enough to kill hitler!" Joey
.32 is as low as I will go. There's no problem with a .32 for personal protection.
Woody wrote: I actually woke from a dream one night in which I had fully (and correctly) field stripped then reassembled a Walther PPK, even though I have never owned one. I was vacationing in Florida at the time, and this is how I relax. I love the look and size of the PPK and wanted one for a long time, but then I rented one for an hour at a range and decided not to buy one. They're heavy and every edge seems really sharp. I even cut my hand on it at some point. It had a few failure to feed issues and I decided that it was still something I'd like to own someday, but between the .380 caliber, the weight and the fail to feed thing, it was not something that I would find myself carrying very often. You also have to keep in mind is that this is a really old design. There's nothing wrong with that, but there may have been better ideas since then. I'd suggest trying one before you buy. Most ranges have one that they'll rent. Fun Fact: Hitler killed himself with a Walther PPK .32.
I agree. There are much better options for carry. I carry a pf9 more. It's about the same size but fires a 9mm. But the ppk is just so pretty! I view it like an mgbgt. Way better options out there, but people (myself included) love the things!
And my wife is the best!
Joey
It will probably work best with good FMJ's, but why not try some JHP's? It might work just fine with them.
Fun Fact III: The book James Bond carried a .25 PPK. The movie James Bond(s) carried a .32 PPK.
Dr. Hess wrote: Fun Fact III: The book James Bond carried a .25 PPK. The movie James Bond(s) carried a .32 PPK.
Actually, he carried a .25 Beretta in the early books, later replaced by the .32 PPK.
http://jamesbond.ajb007.co.uk/handguns-of-james-bond/
Tom_Spangler wrote:Dr. Hess wrote: Fun Fact III: The book James Bond carried a .25 PPK. The movie James Bond(s) carried a .32 PPK.Actually, he carried a .25 Beretta in the early books, later replaced by the .32 PPK. http://jamesbond.ajb007.co.uk/handguns-of-james-bond/
This is correct.
Joey
I've shot this one plenty, and I've had a couple FTF's even on ball ammo (like maybe 2 out of 300, but I'm sure I was using the cheapest stuff I could find), which may very well be due to the fact that these guns are sort of neglected (which is another reason that I want to give his 1911 a 'good home'). Could a good gunsmith go over it improve reliability?
Even though this won't be my carry gun, it will be my only home defense gun for a while, so reliability is pretty key.
Or maybe I should just use this as an argument to get my hands on his 1911...
I just picked up my first handgun--a Ruger SR22. So much fun! I've put about 1300 rounds through it so far at the range. Not a single fail to fire, and only one failure to chamber the next bullet on a weak round (Remington Thunderbolt ammo). I've spent way too much time reading about this gun on the internet over the last month or so and it sounds like it is one of the more reliable 22's available. I considered buying a 9mm Glock but the SR22 was a few hundred bucks less and I can go to the range and not have to worry about how much money I'm wasting on ammo. The Glock 19 still looks like a lot of fun but so far the SR22 has more than kept me happy.
My buddy got his girlfriend one of those pink Walther P22s, which get a fair amount of criticism (not just for being pink). I think it's fun as hell, and its never given me a problem in the 100 rounds I put through it. Shooting a Judge on the same day, the P22 felt like playing Duck Hunt.
Was it a Baretta? Damn, it's only been >35 years since I read those books.
Whatever you will be concealing, you get a discount at the shop on a holster. Just have to make a trip to Flo-Town.
curtis73 wrote: YMMV, but I sold my PPK because it was about 99% on chambering FMJ, but only about 50% on HP. I prefer hollowpoints for home protection and that was a deal-breaker for me. Mine was a .32 Joey, I've heard similar stories about keeping an HP in the chamber and FMJ in the clip... do you think its because of the hype on the .32 troubles, or do the .380's actually not have that problem? Alex... you could always trade it for a Beretta .45ACP
Did you try different brands of HP? My .380 lcp had issues cycling one brand, but has cycled flawlessly on another.
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