Each time I call Fort Smith about availability I am told they are and have been shipping to distributors.The other day they said for the last 5 weeks, in Feb they said shipping since Jan, seems they can't get their stories together. Every LGS I called or went into said none of their distributors have them and most use different distributors, all the distributors have said not out of stock but have never received any. In Feb BassPro listed in their circular and online saying due in March, in March they removed from online. Now in April again in circular and online as I called and was told shipment expected in May and of this morning it has been removed from their online page. It seems Walther is purposely doing this to keep demand and price up. I would not be surprised if this is just a sham from Fort Smith as the PPK/S was first advertised coming soon what 3 years or so ago and excuses galore, licensing etc.
Enough already of Fort Smith games and lies
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Yes will probably be really good if they truly sell them. They are releasing so slowly and possibly to a select handful of distributors, are there problems producing them, are they releasing slowly to keep the demand and price up. Every dealer I have spoken with have checked with their numerous distributors and none have received any. I do believe Fort Smith is not being honest at all.
I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. The most plausible reason is they are having trouble producing them. Could be problems with a supplier, could be labor issues or it could be there are quality issues.
My opinion is these are more probable than Walther trying to manipulate the market.
They are in the business to sell guns. The need to sell guns to make money but they can't sell them if they can't make them.
My opinion is these are more probable than Walther trying to manipulate the market.
They are in the business to sell guns. The need to sell guns to make money but they can't sell them if they can't make them.
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I am also very curious as to the lack of solid info or an ability to commit to a “standard company line” about a shipping date. As I have been out of the gun buying market for a while is this standard for Walther? Other companies?
I suspect a lack of inter-company communication is more the culprit and am not quite ready for my tin foil hat yet.
I suspect a lack of inter-company communication is more the culprit and am not quite ready for my tin foil hat yet.
Just received this reply from Walther Fort Smith:
We have shipped well over 1000 at this time, unfortunately not everyone
will be able to get them quickly as most of the distributors at some
points have been taking preorders. They have been shipping since the end
of January but I wouldn't be able to give you any specific information on
who may have one in as we don't ship directly to most dealers.
So they have been shipping at least 11 weeks so makes out to about 100 per week.
We have shipped well over 1000 at this time, unfortunately not everyone
will be able to get them quickly as most of the distributors at some
points have been taking preorders. They have been shipping since the end
of January but I wouldn't be able to give you any specific information on
who may have one in as we don't ship directly to most dealers.
So they have been shipping at least 11 weeks so makes out to about 100 per week.
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Nice! Thanks for the update!
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Or only twenty pistols per state so far.
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Of all the shipping dates that have been bantered about, including the one given me by Walther, this statement seems to fit best what we have been seeing the past three months. Even so, averaging at 100 per week, I would think we would be seeing more avaliable right now.
A while back I googled firearms distributors and found that there were about 24 major firearms distributors, so if my math is right that would mean approximately 42 PPK/S' per distributor. Granted, there are many more distributors not included in this, but even so, if 1000 have been shipped, somebody had to get them.
Yes but we have no way of knowing how they are being allocated to distributors. Are they equally distributing them in round Robin fashion. Are they giving precedence to their most profitable distributors. Is it first out in gets the first gun out??? I dont think we know.
This does explain why we are hearing reports of a gun available here or there.
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Out of curiosity is the PPK, PPK/S still produced in Europe for them and/or the world?
Guess my thought here is if some of the Ft. Smith production is being shipped overseas.
Course there could be just a hell of a lot of pre-orders to fill.
Guess my thought here is if some of the Ft. Smith production is being shipped overseas.
Course there could be just a hell of a lot of pre-orders to fill.
Right! What I was trying to do was give a general, perfect world, overview. Even giving preference to the most profitable distributors, with the contacts our forum members have, somebody should have dialed in on, at least, a couple of these distributors by now.
Email I received while I was posting the above: "The guns started shipping last month. I believe somewhere around 1,000 have been shipped out."
Pretty much confirms what was posted earlier.
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PPK/S production ended in 1989. PPK production ended in 2003. I would expect most of the current Ft.Smith pistols to be for the US market.
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I was surprised to see a new stainless PPKs at Megasports, a large gun store in northern Illinois a few weeks ago. There was only one and the price was $699 so I passed on it. It was sold by the time I went back a couple days later. Walther is clearly making them but only a small number are popping up randomly at dealers.
It's my guess that Fort Smith is having to train a lot of new staff to assemble them properly so that the fit/finish/reliability is substantially improved over the Smith and Wesson version. Though frustrating for those of us who have been following this debacle for the past few years it is nevertheless encouraging to see the early reviews by people like Mac to be very positive.
The demand is certainly high and I believe it will remain high even after they are commonplace in gun stores. This is contrary to so many posters here who have written countless times that the PPK is an antiquated design and it won't sell.
I can't imagine how many millions of dollars Walther has lost out on by not having this firearm available since the release of the last couple Bond films.
It's like Walther never even bothered to check what the German gun laws are before they began production of the slides to be exported to the US.
Omega and Aston Martin spend millions for product placement in the Bond franchise, whereas Walther has been getting it for free since Quantum of Solace when Daniel Craig switched back to the PPK.
There are some European executives at Walther/Umarex who definitely deserved to be sacked for how badly they screwed up.
It's my guess that Fort Smith is having to train a lot of new staff to assemble them properly so that the fit/finish/reliability is substantially improved over the Smith and Wesson version. Though frustrating for those of us who have been following this debacle for the past few years it is nevertheless encouraging to see the early reviews by people like Mac to be very positive.
The demand is certainly high and I believe it will remain high even after they are commonplace in gun stores. This is contrary to so many posters here who have written countless times that the PPK is an antiquated design and it won't sell.
I can't imagine how many millions of dollars Walther has lost out on by not having this firearm available since the release of the last couple Bond films.
It's like Walther never even bothered to check what the German gun laws are before they began production of the slides to be exported to the US.
Omega and Aston Martin spend millions for product placement in the Bond franchise, whereas Walther has been getting it for free since Quantum of Solace when Daniel Craig switched back to the PPK.
There are some European executives at Walther/Umarex who definitely deserved to be sacked for how badly they screwed up.
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Indeed; since the PPK isn't banned from importation in Europe, legal carrying of firearms for personal self defense is unusual, old ones are abundant and cheap over there. Hence most of the new production will be for the US market.
I picked mine up 2 weeks ago at a LGS in Goodletsville TN. He had 6, I got the 1st one. This last Monday he got another 6-8. Their OTD price, cash, was $675. That included 9.75% tax and $10 background check.
Finish and function were top notch. Trigger pull, out the box was 16.5#/6.5#. After a little polishing and lubrication trigger pull was 14.1#/4.1#, with a touch of creep but, a smooth pull and crisp break.
The corners on the grip, trigger and slide were all sharp. I spent an hour or so with a 400 grit, .250” round stone to break the corners. Especially on the grip and beaver tail needed to be rounded in order to make it more comfortable. I also polished the feed ramp for good measure. This PPK/S shoots and feels great. First one I’ve owned.
Finish and function were top notch. Trigger pull, out the box was 16.5#/6.5#. After a little polishing and lubrication trigger pull was 14.1#/4.1#, with a touch of creep but, a smooth pull and crisp break.
The corners on the grip, trigger and slide were all sharp. I spent an hour or so with a 400 grit, .250” round stone to break the corners. Especially on the grip and beaver tail needed to be rounded in order to make it more comfortable. I also polished the feed ramp for good measure. This PPK/S shoots and feels great. First one I’ve owned.
I picked mine up 2 weeks ago at a LGS in Goodletsville TN. He had 6, I got the 1st one. This last Monday he got another 6-8. Their OTD price, cash, was $675. That included 9.75% tax and $10 background check.
Finish and function were top notch. Trigger pull, out the box was 16.5#/6.5#. After a little polishing and lubrication trigger pull was 14.1#/4.1#, with a touch of creep but, a smooth pull and crisp break.
The corners on the grip, trigger and slide were all sharp. I spent an hour or so with a 400 grit, .250” round stone to break the corners. Especially on the grip and beaver tail needed to be rounded in order to make it more comfortable. I also polished the feed ramp for good measure. This PPK/S shoots and feels great. First one I’ve owned.
Finish and function were top notch. Trigger pull, out the box was 16.5#/6.5#. After a little polishing and lubrication trigger pull was 14.1#/4.1#, with a touch of creep but, a smooth pull and crisp break.
The corners on the grip, trigger and slide were all sharp. I spent an hour or so with a 400 grit, .250” round stone to break the corners. Especially on the grip and beaver tail needed to be rounded in order to make it more comfortable. I also polished the feed ramp for good measure. This PPK/S shoots and feels great. First one I’ve owned.
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Ccryder53. Good for you. Sounds like know your way around a gun.
What is your general impression of the fit, finish and overall quality of the gun?
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