The Walther PPK is a confounding pistol. The full sized Police Pistol (PP) is hard to find these days, outside of an auction house. Here in the states, the PPK is still rare. The PPK/S, though, is very familiar and about to get a lot better.
This is the moment patriotic PPK fans have been waiting for: an American made PPK. These are being assembled in Fort Smith, Arkansas, at Walther USA’s headquarters.
In the past, the PPK/S has been imported from Germany or produced by other American gun companies. You may find a PPK/S with an “Interarms” label, or some of the Smith & Wesson versions.
Understanding the origins of the PPK (Detective’s Police Pistol) here in the states requires an understanding of GCA68 import regulations. The PPK was too short to be imported. The grip, too, was short. The combination of a short grip with the compact barrel meant the gun could not be imported.
Walther came up with an innovative fix. The PP had a longer grip. They began with a modified PP frame, and the compact PPK slide and produced a pistol that satisfied import regulators. It is designated the PPK/S. Think of the “S” as “Sport,” which is what the feds wanted–a gun with “sporting” uses.
Changes to the Walther PPK/S?
Over the 90 years of the PP’s history, there have been numerous changes. This latest version is also updated.
Walther is beefing up some internal parts of the frame, giving their new PPK and PPK/S a longer life span. They have also made some adjustments to the trigger bar.
The magazines are stainless and come with the finger extension. While it adds a bit of length to the grip, the extension makes the gun much more comfortable during recoil.
The milling on these new guns is exceptionally clean. I went down to the HQ in Fort Smith and got an early hands on with these. They are as beautiful as you would expect from a PPK.
What’s next for the Walther line? There are plans in the works for some special editions. The guns will be available in stainless, or in blue. New grip additions are coming, too. These should be on the shelves by the time this gets up. If they’re not, they will be soon.
When are they expected to ship out?!
From what I’ve heard, they’re supposed to ship after Shot show.
What calibers? Love to see 32 and 22lr versions.
God Bless America and all the people legally therein.
Amen to that !
It is called a Trojan Horse. They have Americans assemble stuff but in return they 1) get the profits to send back to Germany 2) get a ton more American sales and potential government contracts because people think they are (as) American (as any American company then) 3) get, probably, cheaper labor than EU labor.
Honda makes jets now and Toyota is getting into that business too. Guess where a lot of their R&D facilities are headquartered? Just like they made only small cars decades ago they are making Tundras ( and more bigger Land Cruisers, Lexus, Pilots, Armadas, etc.) They will some day kick us (U.S. military) out of Japan when they have better planes (and smart bombs and nuclear weapons – remember they have nuclear power plants there so they are familiar with the tech) than us and it was all paid for by the Trojan Horses they sold the American public. 50% of Honda’s world profits were from the country of the United States of America. Every Boeing employee who buys their vehicles had paid more and more to get rid of their own job, well, unless they are absolutely top notch engineers then the Japanese will let them work for them someday.
Kind of like HP assembling printers in Singapore. No one thinks of Singapore as a super power because they are not the owners of the technology in which they produce. They are just cheaper labor. We are proudly becoming a third world nation. Good luck with that.
Start a gun company and make a better gun if you are that passionate that the existing U.S. companies that makes guns are that inferior. Kind of like Elon Musk the South African, who apparently, has more American soul than anyone who just complains about American guns or cars or anything else and then goes and buys foreign.
American sovereignty means nothing, even to “patriots.” We won’t last another 50 years with this way of American thinking.
But hey, great gun, go out and buy one or dozen, their awesome!
What the hell are you on about? The US has factories in other countries and other countries have factories in the US? So what? Having the factories here and giving jobs to Americans is a good thing, who cares where they’re headquartered?
Not anything you need to worry about as you’ll be dead long before then…..
Why,? You going to kill me? Most likely with a foreign gun. Because I could easily live into my 90s so you must know something. But, if you do have something to do with it then make sure all the spirit portals are closed everywhere you go because I promise I will travel through them and destroy your soul every opportunity I get.
Just to bring you up to date on “Honda-Jet” I was working in aviation right next door to their facility in Greensboro, NC. Not only was the Honda-Jet built here in the USA, ALL of the flight testing done here, but much of the R&D was done here in the USA as well by Honda America employees. No Boeing employees are in danger to losing jobs to Honda… You are trying to make the same comparison as heavy trucks to bicycles. Two very different animals.
Munro
That’s what Detroit thought in the 1950’s, that Japan only made small cars and weren’t a threat. You realize Toyota had a dealership in California in 1957. Now go drive through Detroit and tell me they were right. You are thinking 5 minutes ahead, the Japanese are thinking 50 years ahead.
I already knew it was Americans laboring for the Japanese to make their planes.possible. And that is better why? Honda owns that technology and know how and can transfer it whenever they want to Japan once we’ve given all we.have.
Japan USED to have an aircraft industry… USED. Now they make nothing more than the occasional seaplane or firefighting plane. They have thrown their lot in with contracts with Boeing to purchase the planes needed to keep their economy humming.
I can see that you want to live your life in fear of the Yellow Peril, and if that is where you want to be, then by all means, enjoy your life…
Munro
Um, the Walther is a German gun. Did you notice I commented about that? Of course you want to make it about race. “Yellow” was only used by you. Period. I am simply “America First” and way before Trump thought about uttering the words. That’s why none of his over priced clothes or anything else like that with his name on it is made in America. I just wanted to catch you before you did more wrongful assuming. But nice try.
Whatever dude… Try not to choke yourself on your self righteousness. I’m done trying to talk to someone who thinks he has the answer to everything, so nice try.
Munro
Japan also makes the F-16 under license from the US and is possibly resurrecting the YF-23. These are current military planes, I’m sure there are more.. They also have an solid experimental aircraft industry, don’t overlook it. You have minimal view of the aircraft industry in Japan. They also have a distinct Space presence. They make good stuff and their quality is not to be underestimated. I don’t care about their color, I hope our society lasts as long.
Very nice looking “classic” pistol,,, but, I had a PPK once, it was the absolute worse designed action I’ve ever used.
No slide catch, so removing a magazine in a mis-feed was a two handed adventure…
An action spring that was so stiff I had to order a softer version which threw off the accuracy…
crappy, stiff hammer, not much good in a quick draw situation,,,non adjustable sights with a red front dot, totally sucked…
I paid $670 for an over engineered poorly functioning 380 pistol….
The Walther PPK need a make over, because with better ideas like the Glock 42 and Ruger LCP2, with extended magazine options and both priced lower and much lower than the PPK
Walther won’t be selling very many of their out-dared little paper weights.
everything you said was correct …..but incredible as it may seem people still feel the need to buy this overpriced bad design James Bond pistol. The only thing historically good about it was the fact it whacked Hitler
Thank you sir, I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one here disappointed in the Walther PPK… and yes, Adolf Hitler checked out on April 30th 1945,,,with a blinged- out Walther PPK that had his initials “AH” on the grips,,, chambered in the 7.65mm , or .32 ACP..
at least that’s what they said on the History Channel’s Tales of the gun…..
Agreed – for anyone who likes the sleek, compact PPK style but wants a better designed, better build, lighter, version – find Sig P232 – it runs rings around the Walther – you can still find them new in the $500-550 price range
I disagree with you.
Kudos to American Walther, I have a Hungarian copy and it is a great gun. I also have a P-5 which is a little larger in 9mm another great gun. I have some plastic guns but prefer the all steel heft of older guns. Maybe steel in single action-double action is coming back…less recoil and more accurate for me. How can you bash the pistol that killed Hitler😁
Nice looking little piece of hardware. What sort of price is being asked for this weapon?
I carried a German PPKS while serving in Special Forces in German in the 1980’s. It was a great pistol. The one exception was sometimes the slide would cut two parallel lines in the web of my hand (man hands). I sold the pistol and regreted it ever since.
I never wanted an Interarms, and definitely didn’t want a Smith & Wesson Walther PPK or PPKS. But when Walther finally took over production in Fort Smith AR, I thought it was time to give it another chance. With the slide made in Germany and the Frame made in the USA, it is an excellent quality pistol, with one exception.
I wanted to ensure that the pistol would feed, so I bought several types of hollow points, FMJ (both round nose and blunt (Who the hell’s idea was that!), and the new fluted bullets. I fired over 1000 rounds. Everything fed through the pistol with no malfunctions. Nice!
However at the end of the day, I had a cut on the left side of my hand. Originally, I thought I drew the pistol with my hand out of position and the slide got me. Since it happened before, I thought little of it. Then I examined my pistol. It had a sharp edge on the back of the grip and underside of the beavertail. Communist bastards! I contacted Walther to ask if they wanted to fix this issue. The bluing is excellent. I tried twice because I wanted them to see the issue, repair it, and reblue the weapon. Of course, no answer from them!
So here is my two Cents on the American Walther made PPK and PPKS. Don’t waste your money on them! There are better .380 pistols out there (with the exception of the Ruger LC Series pistol-Junk). It’s larger than most .380’s. It’s heavier than most .380’s. And while the fit and finish is excellent, if you do find an issue, like sharp edges, there is no customer service. I only guess the Germans have left the building, because their quality must have gone with them. Even James Bond would have thrown this pistol in the river!