In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.

walther ppk/s german made

sharpshooter039sharpshooter039 Member Posts: 5,897 ✭✭✭
edited October 2003 in Ask the Experts
well i recieved so much help on my first post i decided to try it again..I have a walther ppk/s german made imported threw interarms.it has the ulm prof marks and is chambered in 9 mm kurtz "380".it has the elk antler marks of ulm but what is the eagle or hawk mark over n stand for.also this walther has different grips and i wanted to know if they were after market..they are checkerd wood with an eagle holding arrows and the word sile under the eagle,,thanks for any information you have..

Comments

  • nmyersnmyers Member Posts: 16,875 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The Walther factory was rebuilt after WWII in Ulm/Donau, and that is where your .380 auto pistol was made. Early guns had no import markings; Interarms markings on US-sold guns started in the '60s. Your gun probably has a 2 digit year date stamped on the barrel; it was made > 1968, when the PPK became unimportable. The PPK/S is simply a PPK frame with a (larger) PP slide on it. The small markings on your pistol are inspector/proof markings; I don't think anyone has bothered figuring out what they mean.

    Standard grips on the PPK/S were plastic. Interarms offered wood grips from their parts department. However, yours came from another distributor, Sile, which is still in business today, and are aftermarket. I'd try to replace them with original plastic grips.

    Neal
  • HangfireHangfire Member Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hi Neal- I think you'll find that a PPK/S actually has a PP frame and a PPK slide.This is why they hold one more round than a PPK, and meet the importation requirements in the height-widths points system for post 1968 importation-Bob
    Just wanted to add, I seem to remember that production of Walthers was undertaken by Manhuran in France right after the War.

    Gun control is a steady hand
  • nmyersnmyers Member Posts: 16,875 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My mistake - I got the frame/slide reversed.

    But, Manurhin was not a Walther factory; they just made the guns under license from Walther (like Interarms USA).

    Neal
  • M16A21911M16A21911 Member Posts: 8 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    the ppk/s is a joy to carry. my old man has a stainless one. he says the s indicates something else besides stainless. what is the s?
  • jsergovicjsergovic Member Posts: 5,526
    edited November -1
    The small PPK slide was grafted onto the large PP frame and the PPK/S ("Special") was born.

    http://www.recguns.com/Sources/IIIC2x2.html


    from the listed site...
    In 1985, the Austrian company Glock Inc., sought to import their Glock 17 into the U.S. and, like the PPK, it was found to have too few points (primarily because of the Glock's light weight). The engineers at Glock spent a weekend designing a cheap, easily-removed adjustable sight and thereby earned enough points to be imported.

    Walther took a different strategy in 196??. The small PPK slide was grafted onto the large PP frame and the PPK/S ("Special") was born. The result had sufficient points to be imported, held the same number of rounds as the PP (7+1), and was only slightly larger and less concealable than the small PPK. Shooters with large hands may prefer the PPK/S over the PPK because of its larger, more rounded grips as well as its additional capacity.
  • madmarc0madmarc0 Member Posts: 862 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Some say that the S means short barrel.

    Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my gun has!
  • SirVetteSirVette Member Posts: 50 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Both the PPK & PPK/S have the shorter barrel so the S cannot stand for short barrel.
    FYI, Kurz is short. 380 is also called 9mm Kurz or 9mm Short.
    In Europe the United States is referred to as the States, the gun was put together as said above for the new US law so could be Special or States.

    Recently the PPK/E made by FEG, Hungarian made clone of the PPK. Walther sold the rights to stamp the FEG with Walther PPK/E -- E is for Europe.
Sign In or Register to comment.