After several months of hesitation I took the plunge Friday and purchased a new S&W produced PPK/S-1. The QC issues that some buyers have had made me delay the purchase but after checking out almost a dozen at several local shops and finding ZERO defects, I bought the new S&W version. I have had several post-war German (PP's and PPK/S's), Manurhin (PPK/S's), and Interarms American (PPK's and PPK/S's) and the new S&W is as reliable and accurate as any of them. I have not been able to find any flaws in fit, finish or function. The new S&W version is equal in performance to the German, French and early Interarms produced guns and far superior to the final Interarms efforts which were more than a little rough. I love the fine blue of the German and Manurhin versions but for my my new S&W version I went with stainless steel. I have to keep careful watch on blued pistols for corrosion using inside-the-pants holsters. South Carolina does not have a monopoly on heat and humidity but I think we have more than our fair share.
The shop where I purchased it let me go into the back room, field strip and clean the pistol so I could head immediately to the range. After 200 rounds of Remington UMC 95 grain FMJ there were NO JAMS of any sort. At 50 feet rested seven shot groups ran just under 3" and off-hand groups a shade over 4". I fired one box (20 rounds) of 90 grain JHP Cor Bons to check reliability for a carry round. They functioned perfectly and gave me an offhand group of 20 shots into a hair over 5" with one called flyer out at 8". All groups were fired single action only. I ran several magazines through the pistol using a DA first shot and SA follow ups and was very happy with those results as well.
Some folks seem to have issues with Walthers and recoil. If a PP-PPK series Walther is your first centerfire pistol I might can see where you notice the recoil. After shooting +P 38 Specials or .357s in airweight S&Ws though, the Walthers have very little recoil in comparison. The tang on the backstrap is very helpful in reducing muzzle flip and gets you back on target a hair faster. I have never had any issues with hammer bite so the tang didn't help me any there. The only pistols that ever made me bleed while shooting them were the little Walther TPH's. They would invariably leave a pair of red slide tracks on my hand when I gripped them to high.
That pretty much sums up my first experience with the new PPK/S's. I am content enough that I'm picking up a second one (one for the house; one for the car) on Wednesday. I'll post results with it after its range initiation.
Best Regards,
ADP3
The shop where I purchased it let me go into the back room, field strip and clean the pistol so I could head immediately to the range. After 200 rounds of Remington UMC 95 grain FMJ there were NO JAMS of any sort. At 50 feet rested seven shot groups ran just under 3" and off-hand groups a shade over 4". I fired one box (20 rounds) of 90 grain JHP Cor Bons to check reliability for a carry round. They functioned perfectly and gave me an offhand group of 20 shots into a hair over 5" with one called flyer out at 8". All groups were fired single action only. I ran several magazines through the pistol using a DA first shot and SA follow ups and was very happy with those results as well.
Some folks seem to have issues with Walthers and recoil. If a PP-PPK series Walther is your first centerfire pistol I might can see where you notice the recoil. After shooting +P 38 Specials or .357s in airweight S&Ws though, the Walthers have very little recoil in comparison. The tang on the backstrap is very helpful in reducing muzzle flip and gets you back on target a hair faster. I have never had any issues with hammer bite so the tang didn't help me any there. The only pistols that ever made me bleed while shooting them were the little Walther TPH's. They would invariably leave a pair of red slide tracks on my hand when I gripped them to high.
That pretty much sums up my first experience with the new PPK/S's. I am content enough that I'm picking up a second one (one for the house; one for the car) on Wednesday. I'll post results with it after its range initiation.
Best Regards,
ADP3
