Shooting range tale: Some problems/solutions for PPK owners

[Pilotsteve]

Hello friends. Pilotsteve continues the tales of drama from the shooting range yesterday. Perhaps being located so close to the gentlemen in the booth next to me with his faltering Smith & Wesson PPK/S gave my PPK the notion of developing a bad habit all it's own. After all, there's an old saying that you are like the company you keep. Terrifyingly, my PPK seemed to "hang out" near a S&W copy and began to act naughty when I was at the range with her yesterday.

Never before has this happened to my beloved and trusted PPK. "Bang, bang, bang!" flew my bullets, with the familiar snap of the recoil and the slight twinge of pain as the sharp corner of the rear tang nipped at the back of my thumb. "Bang, bang, bang" as black holes appeared about the forehead region of my zombie targets. "Bang, bang... mush."

Mush?????

I pulled the trigger for yet another round and was only greeted by a soft spring return of my trigger. No satisfying, "Bang!" Eh?

Looking at my PPK I noticed the safety had somehow switched itself on! What's this? I flipped it to fire mode and fired a few more shots before... mush!

This continued throughout the rest of my shooting session. Being ever vigilent of the status of my PPK, I noticed that after a few shots of Speer Lawman ammunition the safety lever would always somehow flip itself downward partially. In this condition, "mush" would surely return quickly. I found myself having to flip the safety lever back to fire mode after every few rounds fired. What gives?

The safety lever is very sure and crisp. It has very positive detents in both safe and fire mode with a very sure "click" in each position. It's not like the safety decocker is falling to safe mode via gravity or my own mishandling. There's a very satisfying and sure snap when placed in either mode. Reading through some of the older posts reveals there might be some carbon or other debris in the mechanisms which might require a "detail cleaning" or full disassembly of the slide in order to alleviate this problem. An I correct? After all I've shot many thousands of rounds through my trusty Interarms PPK and suddenly this misbehavior arises.

Suggestions, my friends? I'm a bit saddened because my PPK is being naughty and somehow placing herself into safe mode when firing. I've never had this happen before. Am I to take her properly apart and clean her or is she suffering from being in such close proximity to that poor guy with his Smith & Wesson PPK/S?

-Pilotsteve

[Leighton]

You let her get to close, and pick up some bad habits!!

[MLB]

Sounds like it's time for a new spring Steve. Have you noticed any difference in the location of ejected brass?

[MGMike]

Detail-strip the slide and thoroughly clean the extractor tunnel.

M

[Pilotsteve]

Originally Posted by MLB

Sounds like it's time for a new spring Steve. Have you noticed any difference in the location of ejected brass?

Thank you for the advice MLB, but I wasn't able to determine the location of the brass because being an indoor range the spent casings would hit the Plexiglas panes between the booths and end up in some random area (including down the back of my neck - ouch!). When I cleaned the PPK after I got home I took careful note of the workings of the slide. The ejector is very tight and the spring inside seems to be very strong. Maybe too strong? The safety lever clicks very smartly into either safe or fire mode.

Also I looked closely at the recessed hole in the hammer block safety inside the slide when switched to safe. The hole was not plugged or obstructed.

Originally Posted by MGMike

Detail-strip the slide and thoroughly clean the extractor tunnel.

This is what I was thinking. It looks like after a while some powder residue and other goop gets in there - impossible to clean otherwise.

Oh boy... time to take my slide apart. I might as well do the entire PPK while I'm at it - I could clean the frame out too. Can you hear my nervousness at this notion? Time to look closely at TANFOGLIO's "How to disassemble a PPK in 70 steps." I believe I'm quite skilled mechanically but I'm afraid all the same. Is it really that difficult?

-Pilotsteve

[Milspec]

If you're going to take your PPK apart you might want to do the work inside a large, clear plastic bag. I had a S&W PPK/S safety plunger that shot across the room and vaporized. I was about to make one from a drill bit when another member came to my aid...

[Hogokansatsukan]

Maybe your Interarms PPK needs to go to S&W to be "fixed"!

[MGMike]

Originally Posted by Pilotsteve

...

Oh boy... time to take my slide apart. I might as well do the entire PPK while I'm at it - I could clean the frame out too. Can you hear my nervousness at this notion? ...

-Pilotsteve

Don't go crazy. You have a problem inside the slide, not the frame.

Leave it alone until it needs attention.

M

[jjt]

boy i sure hope an interarms problem thread does not start to grow........i have never had problems with my P99 1 st gen 9mm.......I purchased it new in 2000 may be a 100 +/- thru it since I just run a few rounds thru it every 6 months or so clean lube etc....reload it and put it back in the dresser...........new laws in ga enabled me to get a CC permit......of course my first choice was a Interarms PPK or s NOT a S&W...i hope the pr guys for S&W read this forum and either take return of their QC failed guns and or offer gift Certs for any of their well respected firearms and I mean that...........they are a great gun manufactuer

jjt

[Pilotsteve]

Originally Posted by MGMike

Don't go crazy. You have a problem inside the slide, not the frame.

Leave it alone until it needs attention.

M

The best advice I've had yet. If I do work on the frame it's going to be limited to the magazine catch because I've had a magazine come out on me while firing it in the past and I'm sure there's some crud in there too.

Studying King Tanfoglio's 70 steps I see what appears to be a special shrimp fork-like tool used to move the spring back for the firing pin to aid it's removal. I do not have such a tool... is it a specialized tool I'll need or can I use a small brass screwdriver to do the same thing? I've seen some pictures others have sent of their PPK's and many came with this tool but mine did not. Thankfully the frame does not appear to be too difficult to disassemble and yes, I'll do the work in a plastic bag to avoid the dreaded "BOING!"

-Pilotsteve