Can the Walther PPK Save your life in 2024?
Have you ever dressed up in a suit, looked at yourself in a mirror, introduced yourself by your last name then your full name then pointed a finger gun at the mirror and shoot?…..yea you fucking did, you little James Bond wantabee. Then you cranked it to your favorite Bond girl afterwards didn’t you?
If it wasn’t Famke Janssen then shame on you!
Anyways were not here to talk about your bond fap bank, let’s discuss the Walther PPK
Is the PPK as elegant as a high end crafted watch? Or a stanky “German” turd spray painted silver? Let’s dive into the history of the PPK before we talk about using it in 2024 for self defense. And if you don’t care about the history and just want to get to shit-talk-apalooza skip until you see a table chart.
It was 1929, Fritz Walther was bullshitting with the homies and saw some cops and noticed that a lot of them were carrying the Beholla pistol .32 acp or revolvers. Fritz then began to berate the cops, saying “you pigs are retarted, it’s 1929 and your ass is still carrying a revolver? What, your department can’t afford Lugers?” after the back and forth and criticism of the police’s poor decision of pistols, Fritz decided he was going to make the best police pistol the world has ever seen. Unfortunately this never happened because he made the Walther PP.
Ok maybe I made some of that up however the Walther PP was made in 1929 for German and Austrian police. The PP stands for Police Pistol, after the success of the PP in 1931 Walther released the PPK, which stands for Police Pistol Kriminal, yea i don’t understand the name either, but this was 60 years before I was born so w/e. The Walther PPK was slightly smaller than the PP and was first chambered in 25 acp and .32 acp.
The PPK became very popular during this time, So popular that a party of fascists that you may have heard of called the Nazis started to give them to tons of their officers. Yes the Luger was more popular and more sawed after, but the PPK was also very popular. One very high ranking Nazi named Adolph actually buckled under the pressure of getting his shit kicked in so bad he decided to take the pussy way out and kill himself with a .32 ACP PPK.
You gotta hand it to the Nazis, then knew how brand.
After WWII Germany was in a cluster fuck state, under both US and USSR control yada yada yada read a book on that if you care, but Walther Fled from USSR controlled Germany to US controlled west Germany only to get doublefucked and got slapped with a “you no can make guns” ban/bill, So Walther licensed the PPK out to some French company from 1952 until 1986.
To make things even more fucky for the PPK, this was not allowed to be imported into the United States during all this time due to a restriction saying pistols of a certain size are not allowed for importation. Que the PPK/S, this was made with a slightly longer grip, making it legal for import. The PPK magazine holds 6 rounds however the PPK/S holds 7…Wow-wee!
And To make things even more confusing, When Walther started to make PPK’s within the USA, they were actually made by Smith & Wesson from 2002 to 2013 (tbh, I think this is kind of cool, this is the one I would try and buy). Walther Finally started making its own PPK to the OG 1931 specs in the year 2018 in Arkansas. Ok enough history let’s talk about using the PPK in 2024 for defense.
Ok so we’re only going to talk about the PPK, none of the other variants.
We’re also only going to talk about the .380 version which is the strongest caliber of the PPK variants.
|
Length |
6.1” |
|
Height |
3.8 |
|
Width |
4.4 |
|
Weight |
22oz Some places say 19, some 23, we’ll say 22. |
|
Barrel Length |
3.3 |
|
Magazine Capacity |
6+1 |
|
Trigger pull DA/SA |
13.4lbs / 6.1lbs |
|
Iron Sights |
non adjustable, non removable |
|
Optics ready |
Nope |
|
Safety |
Slide mounted, sweep up to disengage |
|
Operation system |
Straight Blowback |
Where to start, where to start.
Let’s get one thing out in the open. I think the PPK is a neat gun for his history and it’s Mark on pop culture.
However
I think it’s an absolutely reckless retarded choice for self defense in 2024. Here are the reasons that make me come to this conclusion.
As I said in my revolver article, any gun is better than no gun, but when you have the choice to pick a gun for self defense, pick the option that is going to give you the best outcome.
The PPK is known for being a small pocket gun. However it was established as a pocket gun over 60 years ago. By today’s standards this is too big to truly be a pocket gun, meaning with a pocket holster it’s going to look like you have a gun in your pocket.
So you’re gonna carry it IWB somehow. Ok sure.
To really show you the difference between the PPK and modern day pistols,
we’ll need to compare this to modern day pistols.
4 of them to be exact. We’re going to look and compare these 8 categories.
- Size Comparison
- Caliber
- Mag Capacity
- Recoil & Operating system
- Ergonomics
- Trigger
- Price
- Ammo Price
Size comparison
Here are 4 guns that are about the same size as the PPK
|
Pistol |
Caliber |
L x H X W |
Weight in oz |
|
PPK |
.380 ACP |
6.1 x 4.7 x 1 |
22 |
|
Sig P365 |
9mm |
5.8 x 4.3 x 1 |
18.5 |
|
Glock 43 |
9mm |
6.26 x 4.25 x 1.06 |
18 |
|
M&P Shield Plus |
9mm |
6.1 x4 .6 x 1.1 |
20 |
|
Walther PPS M2 |
9mm |
6.3 x 4.4 x 1 |
21.1 |
So of the 5 the ppk is the heaviest
Height is a hard one because all these guns can have different size mags. With the exception of the Sig.
They are all over 6″ long with the PPS M2 being the longest.
3 way tie with width, the others being no more than 0.1 wider.
So the PPK is about the same size as all these pistols. Except the Sig that is smaller in every way.
But what else do you notice about those other 4 guns? None of them are shooting bullshit .380 ACP.
Caliber
On average, 9mm is at least 150 Ft/lbs more energy than 380.
I have an entire article about pistol calibers that you can read more about this here.
.380 is the lowest caliber I would ever carry for self defense but in this case the 9mm is the smallest size or smaller, there is no benefit.
On top of that, the PPK holds 6 rounds in one mag….
Mag Capacity
Of the 4 other guns I mentioned. The Glock holds 6 with a standard mag but there are 10 and 15 rounds mags that would make it taller but hold a lot more.
The Sig holds 10 minimum, and there are kits to make it 12 without getting bigger. Or I can make it a little bigger and hold 17. Major L for the PPK v Sig
The shield is 10 rnds flush or slightly longer 12 rnds
And the other Walther, the newer PPS M2 can hold anywhere from 6-9 in the mag. They measurements were with the 9 round mag FYI
Every one of the 9mm’s held more than the ppk. The Sig doubled it while still being smaller. Absolute L for the PPK
Recoil & Operating System
Ok ok ok ok, we’ll .380 has less recoil than 9mm right? So this gun will kick less and you can be more accurate eh?
Normally this would be correct, however we are comparing modern day guns with a pistol that is over 90 years old. Let’s talk about the operating system of these pistols.
The Walther PPK is a straight blowback pistol. What does this mean? Well in super simple terms.
When you fire a gun, there is a mini explosion inside the bullet, with that explosion happening it wants to expand, it’s going to take the path of least resistance. In a gun’s case that is out the barrel. But we need to make sure the soon to be empty casing stays inside the barrel until the bullet leaves the front of the barrel. If the casing were to leave the barrel before the bullet exits, this can cause the casing to swell up and get stuck in the gun or worse explode in your face. Bad news.
So, when you are timing the gun to keep the casing inside the barrel long enough this is called lock up.
So how does the PPK work? As I said it’s straight blow back, meaning the slide has to be heavy and the recoil spring needs to be heavy in order for this lock up to happen. So you now have more weight rocking back and then slamming forward. This is going to create more recoil.
The PPK’s recoil is on par with most modern 9mm pistols, but it’s still a 380. So we’re now the same size as a 9mm, less rounds and the same recoil…wtf..
Ok but how does 9mm not kick more? It’s because all the 9mm pistols I’ve been comparing are not straight blow back systems. They are tilt locking barrels. 98% of modern day pistols are tilt locking barrels.
So we’ll use the Sig, when you fire the Sig, the barrel has a locking lug and a track/ramp thing built into the barrel.
The ledge on top is going to lock the barrel into the slide, meaning once the explosion in the barrel starts the locking ledge is going to cause the barrel to move with the slide for a few millimeters, then eventually it will drop the barrel down and tilt the barrel upwards.
So during this time when the barrel is moving at the same time as the slide, the bullet is exiting the barrel, by the time it does the barrel will free up and extract the round, load another and were back in business. This process can be done with lighter slides, and lighter springs. Causing recoil to be drastically lowered over straight blowbackblow back pistols.
So far, we have no size advantage, No weight advantage, Weaker 380, Less rounds , And more recoil. But wait, there’s more!!!
Ergonomics
As I mentioned earlier, this gun was designed in the 1930s. Semi auto guns were not nearly as popular then vs now. People back then were gripping the guns weird and overall had terrible grip.
Well the modern day grip for shooting pistols and controlling recoil will not work on a PPK.
The Ergonomics on the PPK are trash. Fucking garbage. Fritz Walther’s hands must have been deformed or his grip was looser than a prison inmate’s butthole. If you are trying to get the webbing of your hand between your thumb and pointer finger as high up on the beaver tail (like you’re supposed to) you’re going to get slide bite. I have not fired a PPK, however I was able to give myself slide bite just by dry firing and racking it in a gun store. I then had to lower my grip and also loosen up on and tighten my grip lower, which means the gun is going to rock back more when it is shot. This hunk of shit literally forces you to hold it terrible.
You know what else has terrible ergonomics on this gun? The safety.
I do not like manual safeties on pistols to begin with, but I especially hate slide mounted safeties. There is no doubt that slide mounted safeties are harder to deactivate than frame mounted, but the PPK’s lever is small and can be stiff for a while before it’s broken in. And because the gun’s overall size is smaller thanthen something like a Beretta M9, it can be easy to accidentally switch on while firing. Not what you want to happen in a gunfightgun fight.
Almost done with the shit parade on this poor poor gun.
The Trigger
This is a da/SA gun. The trigger pull on this in DA is over 13lbs and it’s not a smooth pull. Some DA pulls will be heavy but are at least consistent. This gets slightly worse as you pull it.
The SA pull is just over 6lbs, it’s not terrible, and the reset is not bad. Not good but not as bad as I thought it would be for a DA/SA gun.
With that being said, I’ve fired all the other guns and they are all striker fire triggers. Minimal take up, quicker reset and very consistent.
My order of best triggers of the 5 is
- M&p shield
- Sig p365
- Walther PPS M2
- Glock 43
- PPK.
Can you polish up the PPK trigger and make it better? Sure, but you can do that with the others too. I’ve seen p365’s and G43’s with sub 3Lbs triggers before.
Sights
Time to talk about the sights. It’s how you aim the gun. It’s how you hit targets. How good are the PPK sights?
Well…. sadly the sights have not changed much in the 90 years. The sights on the PPK are non adjustable and machined to the slide, they cannot be removed or changed and they are so small, so tiny and so terrible. Some of the newer PPK’s will have an orange front dot sight with a rear orange mark. on similar to what XS night sights are like, it’s not the best system but the orange at least pops out a little.
Also, if you have a silver slide, the finish will cause glare in sunlight. Fun fun.
And obviously you cannot add optics to the PPK.
So what about the other 4 pistols?
Well, their sights are a million times better. For 1, they are all removable, so if you don’t like them you can change them.
All 4 of these pistols can be bought with night sights (standard on the Sig) also the Sig, M&P and Glock can all be bought optics ready.
It’s proven that you can be much faster and more accurate with a red dot mounted pistol vs iron sights. Sadly Walther takes a double L for optics as the PPS M2 is not offered optics ready, however there are milling services that can be done for that.
Price
If there wasn’t enough reason to not buy a Walther PPK already. I have one more and this is the last point I have.
This nearly 100 year old turd still cost a lot of money. In 2024 the MSRP of the PPK is $950 and the street price is in the mid $800s. Even used they are still going for over $700
P365 can be found for $550 new
M&p $400 new
Glock 43 $450 new
PPS M2 $350 new.
All these guns are better and cheaper. On top of that….the PPK needs a break in period of about 250-300 rounds. So you need to shoot that many rounds just for this gun to somewhat function correctly. So another $100+ to the Price tag.
Ammo Price
Oh my God…..I legit just wrote this much of this article and just now thought of this point……380 ammo cost almost double what 9mm does. In some cases you can find deals online that are similar prices but if you go to a in person shop forget it, 380 will be 30-50% more expensive than 9, guaranteed.
Well shit god dammit
Thats a lot of negative points about the PPK? So is there a reason to make this your primary CCW or any kind of defense pistol in 2024? No, absolutely not.
If you value your life, you are going to give yourself the best possible chance to win a gunfight.
Now yes, the best possible chance is an AR15 with body armor, but you can’t stay that strapped 24/7, But I have proven with facts that the PPK is not good in the modern day era of pistols. And if you are trying to still make a case for the PPK being practical, you are delusional.
You’re at a restaurant and you order spaghetti, if an ar15 is the fork, then a modern day 9mm pistol is a spoon and the ppk is a toothpick.
So if the Walther ppk is so terrible why are they still popular and still expensive?
I got 3 words for you.
Bond….James Bond.
If you are reading this you probably already know that the Walther PPK has been the gun of choice for James Bond on screen since the 1960s when the first Bond movie (Dr. No) came out. Fun fact in the James Bond book he originally had a Beretta 418 chambered in .25 acp, which is a laughable caliber. There are not many rounds that are weaker than .25 ACP. and James used this bite size spaghetti blaster for the first 5 Bond books, and then he changed to the Walther PPK in .32 acp. Stronger than 25 acp but still a laughable caliber.
Roger Moore was the first Bond to ditch the PPK for some movies. In his first bond movie his side arm was a S&W 44 magnum revolver. Still a bad spy gun option but much better than the PPK. I think the HK VP70 would have made for a great Bond pistol back in those days.
Roger Moore would go back to the PPK in some movies, and in 1983’s Octopussy, Walther requested 007 switch to the Walther P5 in order to promote the then-new weapon. The Walther P5 was a 9mm 8 round hammer fire pistol. Still not the best but much better than the ppk. Pierce Bronsen was the first Bond to get with the times and stop using 1930s crap and switched to the Walther P99.
The P99 was on the smaller side of full size steel slide polymer frame striker fired pistol chambered in 9mm and used 16 round mags. Finally, a gun worthy of being a good Bond gun. Not the best option sure, but light years better than anything he had been using before. Then Daniel Craig came along and fucked it all up and went back to the PPK.
I think Daniel switching to the PPQ then eventually the PDP would have been great and true gun nerds would have appreciated it.
If Sean Connery decided to use a 1911 in his movies, the PPK would be a relic most people would never hear about. If Sean used a S&W model 39 or a Beretta M1951R the PPK would be a ghost.
Face it, you only think the PPK is cool because of James Bond. admit it.
AND THAT’S OK! I like the PPK because it’s a bond gun. I would like to add a PPK to my collection someday. THe PPK is a cool gun for its history. It’s a great gun to add to a collection and shoot at the range for shits and giggles.
It’s a novelty gun in 2024. Not a defense gun. If you want to buy one, make a shadow box case with it next to a screenshot from your favorite bond movie, go for it.
Here is another crazy stat. I cannot find the video, and I’ve sent almost an hour looking for it. But in a self defense court case the shooter that was defending himself was charged guilty due to the fact that an accessory on his gun had a violent name. This was not the item but for example there is a company that makes really cool pistol accessories called Killer Industries. If you were in a court defense case and you used a gun will KILLER parts on it, how do you think the jury would take that? So what does this have to due with the PPK? Imagine if you use your PPK in a defense situation. your now in Court and the prosecutor decided to google your gun and the first thing that pops up is all this James bond shit. Now they are going to flip the case on you saying you have this fantasy of being a spy and you wanted to shoot the person in the defense situation. Crazy right? well this is how some court cases go down, its pretty shitty.
If you want to carry it as your EDC, I really really really hope you train with that gun often. 1000 rounds a year, because you’re going to have to basically be as good as James Bond when it comes to shooting to actually protect yourself with it.
If you would like to watch Videos on the PPK where they also go over this gun and how its a terrible choice. Check these youtubers videos.
- TFBTV – top 5 James bond guns
- Lucky Gunner (best PPK review vid)
- Humble marksman
- Administrative results
- 1911 syndicate
- Honest outlaw
Ppk sources
https://waltherarms.com/firearms/ppk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_PP
Various reddit posts