Walther PPK & PPK/S

There are very few handguns that I have not worked on in the Walther product line as well as well as most other manufacturers. The Walther PPK is a smaller version of the PPK/S, they are well made and all fixed barrel handguns are very accurate. This is not the best selection of a handgun for a woman because its not easy to rack the slide and the Double Action trigger pull out of the box is not easy. These two models have been around for a long time and the stainless steel version is very popular.

I have done a lot of work to these two models through the years. They often have feeding problems and I will explain why, The pistol comes with a 20 lb. recoil spring, some people install a 24 lb. recoil spring. The slide is made to where a person with a big hand is prone to have the web of their hand cut by the slides sharp edges during the cycling of the slide. When a person sees the blood running down from their cut at the web of their hand they naturally lower their grip on the pistol, their hand is now to low for the recoil spring to work against a low weaker grip causing a limp wrist syndrome and you have a jam in the making.

Years ago I have written detailed articles about these handguns that were published. I no longer write for any publication because I am not Politically correct and the editors will not print the truth because of the fear of losing advertising money and I will not be a party to lies and BS.

Out of the box the Double Action trigger pull is between 16 to 18 lbs. and the Single Action is about 5 lbs. I have been able to bring it down to 13 lbs. Double Action and I can set the Single Action at 4 lbs. The trigger is serrated and these serrations should be removed. The plastic cheap grips will be ruined by cleaning agents if you are not careful. If you tighten the grip screw to much the factory plastic grips will crack around the screw head on one side and around the nut which is on the other grip panel side. I suggest you remove the grips before any cleaning is done.
If you replace the plastic grips with after market wood grips they will usually bind the trigger bar under the right grip panel and your pistol will no longer be operational.

The hammer of this design has a very short arc and needs enough spring power to be able to ignite every primer, if you or some one else starts cutting coils off the factory hammer spring you will create ignition problems. The thumb safety should de cock the hammer while it is in the lower quadrant of its travel.

Usually the front sight has a dot that is drilled which is too small, when possible I always enlarge it and paint it with fluorescent paint. These pistols have a mechanical chamber indicator that often causes a problem because the spring takes a set or collapses or is not installed correctly. I have corrected this problem many times.

Many people think that the Makarov pistol was copied from the Walther PPK/S design, THIS IS NOT TRUE. The only couple of similarities are a fixed barrel and the disassembly procedure, when you pull down the trigger guard, beyond that they are totally different.

If the Walther is held properly and has a decent feed ramp, magazine and extractor it should work fine with most factory ammunition. NO ONE THAT HAS A VERY LARGE HAND SHOULD OWN A WALTHER PPK or PPK/S.
Do not use a 24 lb. recoil spring with weak ball ammo.
My PPK/S which is stainless steel is flawless using good ammunition.

Teddy Jacobson
www.actionsbyt.com
281 277 4008
tjacobson@houston.rr.com
www.actionsbyt.blogspot.com/