[zonadrill]

I have always liked the ppk/s, but had very poor luck in finding one in .380 that was reliable (the .32 is great). I have gotten rid of several german ppk/s that all jammed for me. I now have 3 versions that I wanted to compare. I have a german ppk/s, an interarms ppk, and the s&w ppk/s, all in .380. I found the german one used and refinished. I was sceptical, but it was a good price and they let me try it before I bought it and it functioned well. I had the s&w refinished in black and all the sharp poorly finished edges smoothed over. I took all three to the range yesterday for a comparison. I shot winchester white box and remington golden sabers. The german and s&w both performed flawlessly with no jams. Both very accurate at 7 yards. The double action was much smoother with the s&w. The s/a was approximately the same. The interarms was bought used and supposedly had a trigger job and reliability work done by cylinder and slide. It had multiple failure to feeds with winchester white box. It handled the golden sabers without problems. The double action was smoother than the german version, but nothing great. I was not as accurate with it. It was the only one that wanted to "bite". I concluded that I felt very comfortable relying on the german or s&w version, but would not trust the interarms (at least not without extensive, expensive testing to find just the right ammo). The s&w has a much better trigger, especially in double action. The improvements in the feedramp design probably result in the better reliability. I don't like the looks of the extended tang, but it functions fine.

 

[artysgt]

Zonadrill,Thank you for your research and report, I hope your findings will put paid to all the " experts " who trash the Walther PPK made by Smith & Wesson.

 

[uncut]

I wouldn't mind a S&W PPK..... if only they could fix the damn markings on the gun....
I hate how the frame has the milled out spot for the serial #... and the laser engraving on the slide... but that is just me.....

 

[P88]

zonadrill,

Thanks for the report. I had an Interarms PPK/S that actually worked very well. I sometimes wish I still had it.

I'm surprised with your results from the S&W PPK/S. I've had nothing but problems with them. Good to see they can work.

 

[Fuelburns1]

I'm seriously looking at buying a PPK and I'll most likely get a S&W so I'm glad to hear that they aren't all as bad as I've heard.

 

[SonnyD]

My S&W has not bobbled 1 time since I bought it. I've put a mixture of 400 rounds through it so far, WWB, Corbon, Hornady Tap, and W/silver tips. It has just been flawless, which surprised me a little because what I had heard. I think mine is a transition model, it's got all the S&W markings on it, but the original rear tang. I did notice that my grips were cracked in the usual places!! I ordered a set of Rosewoods from Earls....hopefully they'll be here tomorrow or Friday.

Regards Sonny

 

[michael t]

Well I have a Interarms and it will feed rocks it you can fit in Mag. A lot of pistols don't like the Winchester. I have Bersa board and even their I have people bitching Win doesn't work in my Bersa.
I agree with "uncut" S&W needs to clean up their PPK/s first dull it I want to shoot not shave and rest of what uncut says. I won't pay price for a German gun or for the Smith Guess leaves me with Interarms I would buy all I can aford. But People just don't want to part with their junk. Wonder why that is.

 

[MLB]

I have intermittent FTF with Remington UMC ball in my S&W ppk/s. Extracts just fine, but gets jammed up half way through the feed into the chamber. My defensive loads (Fed HydraShoks) work fine. Isn't that odd...

 

[zonadrill]

I totally agree that the finish on the s&w is poor. I had it sent off to CCR to be refinished and he smoothed out all the sharp spots and got rid of that awful laser cut area. I was also surprised that it functioned so well, but it has been reliable every time I have used it, not just the other day.

I know the 380 interarms are hit and miss for reliability and I have had very poor luck with german ones as well. Maybe it is just me, but no other style gun in my collection jams. I have tried on other ppks to pin it down to a magazine or find the right ammo, but it is too expensive and too difficult and I still don't have confidence in the piece once it jams. I am very happy with s&w and the used german (who knows what was done to it, but it works). Otherwise, I would stick with my old .32 ppk german, which has been flawless.

 

[Laurent]

The .380 PP (Ulm 1973) I bought last month has been perfectly reliable yet. I appreciate more and more the PP over the PPK. Capacity, reliability, ergonomy... and you don't trade much in CC virtues.

Bye