[WiseguyDS]

So, I took the PPS out for its maiden voyage today. First impressions are that it felt good in my hands, the felt recoil was nice.. springy.. not jarring. The sites are awesome for these aging eyes, bright and white. The site picture requires a 6 o'clock alignment with point of impact at 21', about center mass at 9'. Now for the fun part. I hope to get some input from you who have possibly seen this before:

Ammo - 139 rounds bulk range ammo. Never a problem. Truly... never.. out of 1000 purchased. Feeds fine in all my SIGs and my SW Shield.

A few times during the session I had to clear a jam. At times it's like the tip of the bullet never makes it up past the barrel's feed ramp. About the 25th round, it ejected cleanly but failed to return to battery, the slide being maybe 1/8th inch away. 35 more rounds, again fail to return to battery. Same thing. 13 rounds more, same thing.

One thing I began to notice that it appears when using the flush 6 rd magazine. Once the bullet is in the chamber and not quite seated, then that bullet cannot be used again. I tried loading it back on top of the partially loaded magazine (with the remaining rounds) and again by itself as the sole bullet using either magazine, and that bullet will not allow the gun to go to battery. The slide is stuck 1/8" from battery and it takes some force to rack it back to free the lodged bullet. There are artifacts on the bullets that appear to be caused by the gun. I was sure to get photos.

One final thing, I did feed 18 rounds Speer Gold Dot HPs through the gun and they happened to feed and eject fine.

Here's the photos:

Partially up the feed ramp

Same bullet, different angle

Notice the dent in the casing. I've seen this several times. Each time this happens, the bullets are malformed and cannot fit in to the chamber.

Here the damage is done to the bullet itself. Close inspection on the case I'm not seeing any dents but once the bullet is damaged in any way, it will not allow the gun to go to battery.

So, there it is. I'm going to clean it up tonight and pay close attention to the feed ramp. The ramp felt smooth from when I initially inspected it with the barrel out of the gun, feeling of it with my finger it felt very smooth.

Any comments or opinions definitely welcome. Thanks!

 

[Sunman98]

Out of the first few hundred rounds I had something similar happen once. I blamed it on the reman ammo I was using. I don’t remember noticing a dent but I can’t say for sure.

 

[XRing]

Comments are based upon my experience with a PPS classic.
When new and hand cycled some critical defense ammo, I noticed slight dent in case and small line on the projectile.
I thought the bullet may have nosed dived and hit the bottom edge of the barrel ramp and the case was held tight by the magazine so the slide loading ramp dented the case as it hit it to strip it from the magazine.

So I concentrated on the magazine.

Clean the PPS (only field strip).
I did use some slight amount of grease on the rail.
Oil was breakfree clp.
Do not polish feed ramp on the frame. Reason if working correctly the round doesn't hit the ramp, at least not on my PPS. If you need warranty work why introduce something that Walther may or may not challenge?
Frame feed ramp is likely not the cause in my opinion.

Only clean inside of barrel with bore cleaner or clp.
Same reason as not polishing the frame feed ramp
Do not polish ramp.
Slide, clean the loading ramp but do not polish it. There may be brass present.

Magazines

Disassemble per owners man.
Wipe out packing oil, wipe down with clp on cloth.
Remove any plastic flashings from follower and other parts. This heped with my PPS.
Shoot fmj to break in.

If still a problem consult with Walther CS by phone.

 

[WiseguyDS]

Thx for the tips XR. My range ammo is usually new, not reloads and this batch was from a packaged 1000 rounds that I’ve pretty much went through with my other guns. The 150 I put down range this time left me with about 50 remaining so am familiar with this lot’s performance. Up until the PPS, all priors performed without fail. But the thought occurred that maybe this PPS might be picky (which is a strike against for a potential EDC in my book) so I have another 1000 on order, boxed X-Ring coincidentally, for the next range trip.

Re your other tips, all sound, I’m only cleaning with RemOil and brush/boresnake/cloth. I’ll save the polishing and work for Walther once I really know what to tell them. Also, same for both mags. They looked pretty clean so just a light spray of RemOil and ran a cloth through them. They’re slick, and clean.

But one things certain, it won’t replace my Shield until I can shoot 500-1000 rounds without failing in any way.

 

[Kar98]

Only time I've had issues with my PPS M1 was with the six round mags. But then again it was already broken in when I acquired it. Didn't show signs of use, but you could tell it's been shot, but no more than a couple or five boxes. Looks much more worn now, LOL.
Also, it's one of the dreaded BD/AJ**** ones. Doesn't translate into any issues though.

 

[PPS1980]

Never had any problem with 6, 7, or 8 round mags and 115FMJ ammo in my PPS Classic. The main cause for the failures you describe is magazine weak spring or drag lowering the tension forcing the ammo up. The next most likely is drag on the slide. Good luck.

 

[Sunman98]

The user manual states to clean and oil fully before use. I remember there being quite a bit of black gunk in mine. Most seem to ignore this step. With the exception of a P226 in my experience guns come filthy inside from the factory.

 

[WiseguyDS]

The user manual states to clean and oil fully before use. I remember there being quite a bit of black gunk in mine. Most seem to ignore this step. With the exception of a P226 in my experience guns come filthy inside from the factory.

Yeah I definitely cleaned and lubed prior to taking it out. Agreed NIB usually are gunked up or bone dry.

 

[23738]

Also, it's one of the dreaded BD/AJ**** ones.

No reason for dread.

Has it been fixed to your knowledge?
I would think Walther would possibly keep a list of serials of fixed guns. Maybe yours had the fix implemented before it got to you.

Either way, I would call Walther and ask if they've had it in already.

Since mine got fixed, nearly 5 years (wow, does time ever fly by!?) it's been textbook reliable.

 

[XRing]

My Walther magazines all had some minor flashing on the follower that caused slight drag.
That is why I mentioned looking at them
Once all were cleaned my classic has fed any jhp and fmj.
Cleaning the brass off the loading ramp under the slide helped too.

One other check try with empty magazines and unloaded PPS put in each magazine with slide open and again with slide forward and check how secure each magazine emgages. Assure proper alignment.

 

[Kar98]

No reason for dread.

Has it been fixed to your knowledge?
I would think Walther would possibly keep a list of serials of fixed guns. Maybe yours had the fix implemented before it got to you.

Either way, I would call Walther and ask if they've had it in already.

Since mine got fixed, nearly 5 years (wow, does time ever fly by!?) it's been textbook reliable.

Who knows. The trigger hasn't failed to reset on mine yet. Every now and then I'm thinking maybe I should look for the relevant posts here and compare them to mine. But then it slips my mind

 

[WiseguyDS]

My Walther magazines all had some minor flashing on the follower that caused slight drag.
One other check try with empty magazines and unloaded PPS put in each magazine with slide open and again with slide forward and check how secure each magazine emgages. Assure proper alignment.

Mags look good. Followers both compress and release smoothly. Also checked how secure they are and both seat equally secure with slide open or closed. Tugged on each also.

I'm going to try to get over to the range mid-day tomorrow and see if I can shoot another 100+ rounds. I'll also bring the HPs and see if I can get any failures with those.

Once I can get a pattern recognized or reduce it to one or the other of the mags it may be time to call Walther.

 

[WiseguyDS]

Well maybe a call to Walther customer service will not be necessary, at least at this time. I just shot the rest of my range ammo (52) plus a box of cheap Blazer Brass and a box of Speer Gold Dots, 152 rounds in all, without any issues at all.

If this happens again for the next few range trips I just may have a new EDC.

Thanks guys for your input and suggestions. Not sure what was different other than maybe needing to get it through its first run and a subsequent cleaning and oiling.

 

[CA SURVIVOR]

From now on I'm going to use your "jarring" since my PPS is the M1 in .40 S&W, I hope you get your feeding issues resolve.

 

[WiseguyDS]

Another 150 down range today with zero issues. Too bad I didn’t see the posts about the PPS break-in period before I first posted this. CLP after each use and proper lube and she’s running great. Double taps, quick succession mag dumps, partial mags, full mags + 1 in the pipe. I’m really pleased with this gun.

 

[WiseguyDS]

452 rounds with zero failures. One more range visit to go. I’m positive so I just bought a Clinger. Im thinking we’re gonna dance, me and this one.
On the next successful range visit, the Shield’s going to backup duty. She’s a native .40 SW with an addl 9mm conversion barrel and an Apex trigger so it will always have a home with me.