Sport Shooters

The Walther PP (German: Police Pistol) and PPK (German: Police Pistol Detective) are excellent pre-WW2 designs. These guns are double action, come in either the .32 ACP or .380 ACP. The pistol can fire from a cocked hammer (single-action) or by squeezing the trigger to cock, drop, and fire the pistol (double-action). The pistol has single, hammer drop safety that (when applied) drops the hammer and disconnects the trigger from the hammer.

The PPK/S is a hybrid design that came about because of the 1968 Gun Control Act. The PPK/S is a PP frame mated to a shorter PPK slide. The reason came about as a result of the arcane "factoring" criteria of BATF who oversee the importation of these pistols. The gun pictured is a stainless steel gun that is an outstandig choice for hot, high humidity, or salt air environments.

The .380 ACP cartridge should be considered he MINIMUM caliber for a personal defense round. For his purpose, the .380 should always be used with a JHP bullet. The Russian-designed Makarov pistol (caliber 9.2x18) is a reverse engineered copy of the PP. Although it differs in inernal parts from the PP, the major distinguishing feature is its safety. The Makarov safety operates OPPOSITE to the PP (and just about every other DA auto pistol). The safety for the PP, PPK, and PPK/S is UP to FIRE and DOWN to SAFE. The Makarov is DOWN to FIRE, UP to SAFE. The .380 ACP and 9.2x18 Makarov are ballistic equivalents. The .380 is more easily found than the Makarov in the U.S.

I have had several .380 ACP pistols and I never had a problem with feeding. All of the .32 ACP pistols I have had game me feeding problems. The FS-32 that you sold is not even in the same ball park as the Walther PPK/S. The quality, handling, and reliability are far, far superior. I would grab a PPK/S if it somes up for sale in .380 ACP. Alternatively, a Makarov rebarreled to .380 ACP would be just as good as the Walther, but the fit and finish might not be as good as the German gun.

Both Walther PP, PPK, and PPK/S guns and the Makarov were designed to work with the FMJ .380 ACP ball cartridge. Some guns may be finicky about feeding the JHP. If you get one of these, a good pistolsmith can polish the feed ramp so your gun can feed reliably. You'll only know if you get one of these pistols [don't feed JHPs] by firing JHP rounds in the gun. As a rule of thumb, the feeding of JHP rounds in auto loaders is a common concern and it's not just a consideration with the Walther or Makarov. All it means for you is your pistol may need some tweaking to feed the JHP all the time. Now, if it won't feed the BALL round reliably, THAT is a major problem.

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