I posted earlier that I was very happy with my new PPK/S-1 but found I wanted to change a number of things from the way it came from the factory. Many thanks to Beretta92 and many others from this forum who led the way. The notes describe some of the surgery I performed on my new PPK/S and are not recommendations.
FRAME
The frame tail was reshaped using a Dremel bench belt sander, files, and sandpaper. The frames seem to come in three tail flavors. The original frame had a minimal tail. Somewhere during the production run, a larger tail appeared, and disappeared, as far as I can tell from the illustrations in Hoffschmidt’s book. Then S&W made a big tail for the PPK/S-1. Encouraged by the examples of C&S and Beretta92 from this forum, I trimmed mine to a shape between the medium Walther of S/Ns 334520-356608K or so and the S&W PPK/S-1. The C&S 1911 type beavertail looks very nice, but it seems like it could poke a hole in somebody’s side. I’m happy with my medium approach, it works fine, it is comfortable, and the rounded edges do not poke into my skin. Someday I will do some more reshaping of the tail.
Lightly polished the frame ramp to remove some machining marks. It is purely cosmetic in an area I don't see. Don't ask why.
Rounded and polished the magazine well edges and inside the frame along the magazine well. This area was roughly finished. Magazines now eject clear with minimal scratches.
The barrel trunion was machined somewhat unevenly. I used some sandpaper and scotchbrite strips to even out the part that is visible from the ejection port.
The butt of the backstap was not completely finished. It is hard to explain, but about 80% of the curved edge at the backstrap was right and sharp, the rest was not finished. Some careful filing and scothbrite later and the edge is defined from one side of the gun to the other.
GRIPS
Ordered the Nill WA107 (Walther PP/PPK-S/Interarms PPK-S stippled with thumb rest), directly from their website. Received it a couple of weeks later from the Nills-Grip Logistics Center in VT. They arrived carefully packaged and well padded with no shipping damage and included a replacement screw, necessary because the grips are slightly thicker than the plastic originals (34mm vs. 29mm). The outside is a pleasant combination of well sanded smooth contours and distinctly stippled surface with an oil finish. The inside is precisely machined providing the critical clearance necessary for the trigger bar and sear motion.
I was curious to see how they would fit the S&W modified PPK/S-1 frame and was pleasantly surprised at how easily they can be made to fit the new frame.
The S&W PPK/S-1 frame has three new grip positioning tabs and a slightly different screw flange. I used a small sharp knife to modify the grips to fit the new frame. Cut three notches for the positioning tabs and trimmed slightly the area around the screw flange on the inside of the grips as shown in picture “grip_cuts.gif” The notches are around 2mm x 10mm and can be cut carefully in a matter of minutes. With the notches, the grips fit flat and securely in the frame. The extra length screw threads on the left grip, instead of on the right grip on the S&W grips. The grips fill the hand much better and the firearm feels secure. The S&W grips start about 4mm from the front edge of the frame, the Nills start about 1mm back, giving the front of the frame a more rounded and, to me, a more comfortable grip. I like the thumb rest too. Note that this adds some thickness to the grip. If you want the minimum thickness for CCW you may not want the thumb rest grips.
With the grips in the frame, some careful sanding with very fine sandpaper (220) was required to match and blend the grip contours of the frame. The picture “ppks.jpg
” gives you an idea of how well they fit. Some fine sandpaper wrapped around a pencil helped open up the cut around the magazine release button. The grip's front edge is a uniform 1mm from the edge of the frame.
I have reshaped the tail area of the frame, so please do not use this part of the illustration as an example. The PPK/S-1 frame has a very large tail, which I filed down and blended. Otherwise you would see the parallel gap between the rear edge of the grip and the rear edge of the frame extended more uniformly at the top. I plan to file the frame some more to round the edges and match the grip contours at a later date. For now, a minimal sanding provided an acceptable shape blending.
The rear edge of the grip at the bottom needed a small section sanded to blend it to the butt of the frame. It sanded nicely; there is sufficient room between the reshaped edge and the contour of the stippled area to provide a uniform edge.
The left grip has a cut on the underside at the front to provide clearance for the magazine stiffening rib. It is the correct depth, but is somewhat narrow and should be extended towards the rear of the grip another 5mm or so. This will eliminate any friction with the modern magazines. I extended the cut with a sharp knife and finished with a file.
That is all. A rag with some acetone blended the oil finish nicely. Ended up using Cetol to fill in and finish the wood.
Took more time to write this than to fit the grips. Nill emailed me that they are examining the new S&W frame and reassessing their grips as the modifications described are considered more than just making an adjustment within tolerances for a customer with a steady hand and skill. Scoot down to part 3 to see a picture of the finished product. They are very nice and feel great.
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Image shows the reshaped frame tail. Rear is also rounded in the vertical plane.
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Image shows the four notches that adapt the Nill PP/PPK-S grips to the S&W PPK/S-1.
FRAME
The frame tail was reshaped using a Dremel bench belt sander, files, and sandpaper. The frames seem to come in three tail flavors. The original frame had a minimal tail. Somewhere during the production run, a larger tail appeared, and disappeared, as far as I can tell from the illustrations in Hoffschmidt’s book. Then S&W made a big tail for the PPK/S-1. Encouraged by the examples of C&S and Beretta92 from this forum, I trimmed mine to a shape between the medium Walther of S/Ns 334520-356608K or so and the S&W PPK/S-1. The C&S 1911 type beavertail looks very nice, but it seems like it could poke a hole in somebody’s side. I’m happy with my medium approach, it works fine, it is comfortable, and the rounded edges do not poke into my skin. Someday I will do some more reshaping of the tail.
Lightly polished the frame ramp to remove some machining marks. It is purely cosmetic in an area I don't see. Don't ask why.
Rounded and polished the magazine well edges and inside the frame along the magazine well. This area was roughly finished. Magazines now eject clear with minimal scratches.
The barrel trunion was machined somewhat unevenly. I used some sandpaper and scotchbrite strips to even out the part that is visible from the ejection port.
The butt of the backstap was not completely finished. It is hard to explain, but about 80% of the curved edge at the backstrap was right and sharp, the rest was not finished. Some careful filing and scothbrite later and the edge is defined from one side of the gun to the other.
GRIPS
Ordered the Nill WA107 (Walther PP/PPK-S/Interarms PPK-S stippled with thumb rest), directly from their website. Received it a couple of weeks later from the Nills-Grip Logistics Center in VT. They arrived carefully packaged and well padded with no shipping damage and included a replacement screw, necessary because the grips are slightly thicker than the plastic originals (34mm vs. 29mm). The outside is a pleasant combination of well sanded smooth contours and distinctly stippled surface with an oil finish. The inside is precisely machined providing the critical clearance necessary for the trigger bar and sear motion.
I was curious to see how they would fit the S&W modified PPK/S-1 frame and was pleasantly surprised at how easily they can be made to fit the new frame.
The S&W PPK/S-1 frame has three new grip positioning tabs and a slightly different screw flange. I used a small sharp knife to modify the grips to fit the new frame. Cut three notches for the positioning tabs and trimmed slightly the area around the screw flange on the inside of the grips as shown in picture “grip_cuts.gif” The notches are around 2mm x 10mm and can be cut carefully in a matter of minutes. With the notches, the grips fit flat and securely in the frame. The extra length screw threads on the left grip, instead of on the right grip on the S&W grips. The grips fill the hand much better and the firearm feels secure. The S&W grips start about 4mm from the front edge of the frame, the Nills start about 1mm back, giving the front of the frame a more rounded and, to me, a more comfortable grip. I like the thumb rest too. Note that this adds some thickness to the grip. If you want the minimum thickness for CCW you may not want the thumb rest grips.
With the grips in the frame, some careful sanding with very fine sandpaper (220) was required to match and blend the grip contours of the frame. The picture “ppks.jpg
” gives you an idea of how well they fit. Some fine sandpaper wrapped around a pencil helped open up the cut around the magazine release button. The grip's front edge is a uniform 1mm from the edge of the frame.
I have reshaped the tail area of the frame, so please do not use this part of the illustration as an example. The PPK/S-1 frame has a very large tail, which I filed down and blended. Otherwise you would see the parallel gap between the rear edge of the grip and the rear edge of the frame extended more uniformly at the top. I plan to file the frame some more to round the edges and match the grip contours at a later date. For now, a minimal sanding provided an acceptable shape blending.
The rear edge of the grip at the bottom needed a small section sanded to blend it to the butt of the frame. It sanded nicely; there is sufficient room between the reshaped edge and the contour of the stippled area to provide a uniform edge.
The left grip has a cut on the underside at the front to provide clearance for the magazine stiffening rib. It is the correct depth, but is somewhat narrow and should be extended towards the rear of the grip another 5mm or so. This will eliminate any friction with the modern magazines. I extended the cut with a sharp knife and finished with a file.
That is all. A rag with some acetone blended the oil finish nicely. Ended up using Cetol to fill in and finish the wood.
Took more time to write this than to fit the grips. Nill emailed me that they are examining the new S&W frame and reassessing their grips as the modifications described are considered more than just making an adjustment within tolerances for a customer with a steady hand and skill. Scoot down to part 3 to see a picture of the finished product. They are very nice and feel great.
Image shows the reshaped frame tail. Rear is also rounded in the vertical plane.
Image shows the four notches that adapt the Nill PP/PPK-S grips to the S&W PPK/S-1.
