Walther PPK Revisted ? Repossession Jobs ?
Walther PPK Revisted ?
Repossession Jobs ?
It has been almost exactly 22 years since I have owned a Walther PPK. In 1980,
I found myself changing jobs and going to college later in life, and in
possession of three guns. An odd assortment, they were the remnants of a
police career that had been abandoned at the time due to a growing distaste for
politics in the wrong place. I had downsized to a Walther PPK .380, a MAC Model
10 .45 SMG, and a Ruger M77 Varmint in .308. As you may have surmised, the PPK
got the most use, often packed to my nightshift job at a convenient store while
attending the local state college. For some reason, I scaled down even more,
figuring I'd become a "gentleman" or something, and traded the PPK for a Ruger
Target auto .22 with 5.5" bull barrel. A few months later, I was westbound to
seek adventure and employment in Colorado. A brush on the job as an
investigator for a repossession firm in Denver caused me to rethink my
defensive armaments, and the Ruger was upscaled to a new Colt .45 Goverment
model. A steady acqusition and use of big bore autos and revolvers followed
for the next 20 years, packing a Colt Government Model in some form on and off
duty for most of that time, with an occasion fondness for the Model 24 .44
Special Smith & Wesson. After a final split with the law enforcement scene, I
began to see 9mm's and .38's in a new light: not puny, underpowered defense
guns, but guns made for FUN shooting....you know....plinking and such, so a few
of those got added to my list of things to have. I now have a Browning HP,
Beretta 1951, and a Walther P99...all great guns. What led me back to the
little Walther PPK was an interest in "The Guns of James Bond". I already had
the P99, and the AR-7 (used in the movies to shoot down a helicopter...right?),
and I was mostly interested in the REAL James Bond guns...those in the books.
Well, ol' Ian Fleming had some different ideas, not all of which have been
mentioned elsewhere. In the first book, Fleming has bond using a cut down Colt
Police Positive, and a "long barreled "Army Special", both presumably .38
Special. The Brits most likely "cut down" guns when the original 2" barreled
snubbies were not so easy to find, even the spooks, and Fleming knew this. He
also has Bond with a .25 Beretta later in this first book of the series, and
this is what started it all. A few books later, Bond is re-armed with the PPK
and the Beretta is dropped from use. I often wondered just how good Bond was
supposed to be, since "real men" use big guns. It was always intimated that
Bond was a crack shot, and could shoot well with most all weapons. A level of
proficiency like Ed McGivern comes to mind. We all aspire to that, don't we?
Well, I gets me a Beretta .25, and lo and behold, on a good day, sitting two
handed, I pop 6 shots into the head of a B25 at 25 yards you could cover with a
fist. The gun WILL shoot if the shooter can. But now I need a Walther PPK for
my "Bond Collection", and it should be a .32 (although I know the same gun in
.380 would be a better defensive choice, BOND had a .32). So I get on
Auctionarms.com, and Gunbroker, etc, and finally land a nice pre-68, post WWII
7.65mm specimen in exc shape (for a bit above "exc" price, but what the hell).
I take it out, it stovepipes about one out of every mag. GRRR! Could be the
ammo, could be a weak extractor spring/worn ejector/badly shaped extractor lip,
etc. I'll trouble shoot a while, or send it to Earl's Repair in MA, THE US
Walther station for repair. BUT, another Walther appears, and it is a Pre-68
German made .380, almost identical to the .32. I just gotta have it! It
arrives, and DAMN, it stovepipes on the very first round. But they ARE
handloads, and this thing is so crisp, I think it just needs broken in. Yeah,
that's it! Cause now it's shooting nonstop. Points well, and also does fist
sized grous at 25-30 yards, as does the .32. The .380 bucks a little more; the
.32 is funner to shoot for the ladies, etc. Trigger pulls are smooth on both,
not like the US made PPK's. Heard a lot of backwash on the US made guns...they
are just not as smooth or pretty. I'll seek out the German guns, as I'll
suggest to any of you as potential buyers. It will take me a lot of practice
to hone my shooting to "Bond level" competency, but then, he is fictional,
right? I shoot pretty well, but it would be just so cool to be a crack shot
with a PPK...snap a shot from the hip into the head of the target at 15-20
yards. I could live with that. Give me something to work towards for the next
50 years of my life. Glad the little auto is back with me. Come to think of
it, the very first PPK I owned (in 1972) was almost identical to this .380, and
I think they might both have been '66 production. Paid $240 out the door in
1972. Won't tell you what I paid in 2002 for the same gun, but it comes out to
a little over 14% per year inflation. Pretty good investment, guns are. By
the way, the older pre-68 guns are usually idenfied quickly as they have the
chocolate brown grip
Keep in mind that Cmdr. Bond was a investigator/assassin nothing more nothing
less. Even if Flemming was totaly incorrect about "a brick through a plate glass
window" it does make a fine close range weapon. MI5 undercover personel carried the
PPK for many years.
For many years the US Goverment issued the silenced .22 Hi-Standard and later the
Ruger MKI /II for very black covert operations (it still issues the Ruger).
So its not how big it is it's how you use it.