So I saw one of the new Fort Smith AR produced PPKs in the wild the other day and as I'd just gotten my holiday bonus check I couldn't resist taking it home. The frames are machined in the US and the slide is machined in Germany. It appears the frame is machined and not cast.

I also owned the Smith and Wesson version from a few years back and this one is nicer built in every respect save one. The machining is crisp and clean. The roll marks are actual roll marks and not the weird etchings that Smith used. Tolerances appear very tight and nothing moves that isn't supposed to. It's tightly sprung, but it's a .380 PPK and that is par for the course. The sights are machined as part of the slide and not dovetailed. Fortunately, they proved to be dead on at 7 yards, which I find acceptable for a pistol of this size and caliber. They are very retro in that they are small and narrow, but they are usable.

So how does it shoot? That's the important bit. I only had time to run a hundred rounds through it of mixed FMJ and Critical Defense. No failures to feed or extract. Rounds went where they were pointed, landing right on the front sight at 7 yards and having no difficulty staying in the scoring zone out to 25 yds. I didn't try to shoot it for maximum accuracy, but I have no complaints thus far. At 7 yards it put its first magazine into one ragged hole. Next range trip I'll try to shoot it rested for groups just out of curiosity.

I mentioned there was one area that I wasn't completely pleased, and its a minor gripe. It still has the extended beavertail from the Smith guns. The edges don't seem as sharp as I remember from the Smith gun, but it still starts digging into the web of my hand. 380 recoil isn't punishing, but it gets downright uncomfortable after it manages to wear a groove into your paw. I think today is the first time I was ever relieved to switch off to a 357 magnum with warm 158 gr loads for some "more comfortable" shooting.

In any case, I'd never recommend the PPK as a primary carry pistol. Time and technology have passed it by. The new PPK, at least based on my one example, does seem to be a very nice example of the breed and I can see myself carrying it occasionally, especially should tuxedos and martinis be involved. Now where did I park my Aston Martin?

I handled one of the new PPK's at an LGS. After the S&W debacle, Walther has done a decent job resurrecting this icon. I too wish the Walther engineers would have dispensed with the exaggerated beavertail, especially since they elected to go with integral pre WWII style sights. I would also like to have seen the pistol offered in its original 7,65mm chambering. I must concede however, even in a retro model, the .380 will be a much better seller. Enjoy.

I got one , loved the way it looked, fit and finish were great, very accurate, 300 flawless rounds, but the darn thing did a number on my hand . I even got gloves and the bottom of the slide sliced a hole in the web part of the glove.
Great iconic guns but there is so little room when you nestle that beaver tail into the web of your hand it's unavoidable pain.
I ended up trading it for a Beretta 85.

While I do not have one of the new ones, I was ecstatic when Smith & Wesson extended the tang

For those of us with some meaty flesh between our thumb and index finger that extended tang gets rid of what we called the Walther bite