quote:

Originally posted by elmer:
I find the recoil to be unpleasant on the .380. Also depending on hand size, the slide can draw blood. Price is good.

Pretty much this.
It's got a "Snappy" recoil for a .380. Yeah, depending on the size of your hands, you're probably going to get a little slide bite. The double action pull is a little stiff to say the least. It's accurate as hell for such a lil pistol, and it scratches the "Bond, James Bond" itch. I haven't had a problem with mine as far as reliability and there's a few thousand rounds through mine (Ball and JHP). It's Stainless Steel, so you're going the feel the weight.

I find it to be a fun little gun, and have had mine for probably 25-30 years, and no want to trade or sell it.

Had one. Was given to me by a close friend. I spent a few dollars on springs, grips, etc. trying to make it work. It cannot be done. Traded it on a Walther P99 (1st generation) which was much much better. Much like Pierce Brosnan did in 1997.

I have always wondered why Mr. Fleming wrote so favorably of the PPK in 32 ACP, in 1958. Of course, the previous pistol was in 25 ACP, and a Beretta. But, the better Walther pistol was clearly the P38, as used in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
<snip>
I have always wondered why Mr. Fleming wrote so favorably of the PPK in 32 ACP, in 1958.
<snip>

Probably because he was an “Intrigue” author and knew little or nothing about firearms.

He wrote that Bond’s PPK had its plastic grips removed (for thinness) and wrapped with tape. That’s nonsense. The PPK, unlike the PPK/S, has no backstrap. Wrapping with tape would gum up the mainspring.

^^^There were not a whole lot of PPK-sized pistols around in 1958 either. And of all of them, the PPK wins the beauty contest IMO.

Not a bad price but like others have said, they are not the most fun guns to shoot. My father had one years ago, due to the popularity of Bond and after shooting it, we both had our issues with it. The edges are kind of sharp and not fun to hold while shooting. Like Para said, the trigger pull is very heavy and makes shooting it accurately a challenge.

The Bersa model 83 he had was actually a nice gun. Granted it was a bit bigger but it had the feel/look of the Walther but was more fun to shoot.

Halo gun for a lot of collectors. A 'hell no' gun for me after the first time I shot one, due to its snappy recoil and the awful and stupidly heavy DA trigger. I've tried a couple of more times since; the outcomes were the same. But YMMV, and that's a very reasonable price.

I really don’t find any 380 to be too snappy to shoot and I guess I’m a lucky one that has a reliable one. As others have said, the DA pull on mine measures in at 17lbs. I have a Wolffe springs tuning kit, but I haven’t played around with it due to the fact it is a blowback gun and changing the springs messes the timing and could cause reliability issues where none currently exist.

I have a Fort Smith PPK/S and PPK .380’s (PPK/S shown below). Of all the Walther PP and TPH series pistols I have had since 1965, this one is the most comfortable to shoot, lightest trigger pull (especially single action) and most accurate.



Here is a group that is typical for this gun.



I guess I am just lucky. I of course love my Sig 230 and 232 also.

Trooper Joe

Here are both of them.



I got that brown finger rest on the PPK/S from Earl’s. I think it looks better on this gun than on my unfired 1968 German PPK .380.