A Pair of prominent Automatics, part I

........"Bond.........JAMES Bond"..........or so says Sean Connery, Roger Moore, or the "007" of your choice.........the Famous Walther PPK has been on the "world stage since Hitler's time.  The fact IS, he killed himself in his bunker with one, (Not with a Luger as many believe).  Originally derived from the slightly larger "PP".......the PPK was designed for police use because of its more compact size.

The one you see here is a modern stainless model, chambered in our popular 380 ACP.  The EARLY German automatics were chambered in 7.65.......which we know today here in America as the 32 automatic.  The one you see was made by Smith & Wesson, in contract with Walther.

It is a neat little "hideaway gun" that conceals well, shown here with a pair of Smith & Wesson snubnose revolvers and a Russian Makarov.  In the "cartridge photo", the 380 is the little one on the end.  Don't let its small size fool you, though, .....it'll get the job done.

One of the first successful "double-action" autos, it can be fired in "single-action mode" (with the hammer already cocked for a light touch on the trigger......or in the "double-action" mode, where you can just squeeze the trigger and the hammer will come back on its own, and then fire.  (the double-action pull of the PPK IS a bit excessive though, and takes a bit of getting used to).

Another feature of the Walther back in the early 40's, almost UNHEARD of in America until the 80's & 90's, is the DECOCKER safety, which uses an internal hammer block to keep the hammer from even touching the firing pin while the gun is in "safe" mode.

It'll hold 7 rounds in the magazine plus 1 in the chamber,  Teardown for cleaning is incredibly simple.  You lower the forward portion of the spring loaded trigger guard, shifting it slightly to the left, pull the slide straight back, lift UP & off.  That's all there is to it.

The NAZI's were the scourge of humanity, but they built very efficient weapons.  Their intent was to rule the world, and history has proven that with a different leader, it might have been done.  It's actually to our BENEFIT that Hitler was misguided and twisted.....because the Germans HAD the technology.  From this little PPK, to the V-2 missiles and jet fighters. (I might just write a blog about that, one of these days).

Before continuing........here's a shot of a gold-plated Walther PP (just prior to the PPK), that was given to Hitler.  It has been featured over the years in various gun magazines, but I've never seen it written anywhere as to WHO owns it, (probably for security reasons).  I don't know if those grips are ivory or some kind of pearl, but the "A.H." gold inlay leaves no doubt as to who it was made for.

The PPK he KILLED himself with in the bunker is a mystery also.  I would imagine that some NAZI officer "pocketed" it when they were carrying Hitler & Eva Braun's bodies out into the courtyard to burn them.   I have never, ever seen any articles that one.

So much for THAT.........now back to OUR story........

The firing pin housing, and fixed barrel assembly in the PPK are very straight-forward in design............old gun designs are a lot like old cars..........there just ain't a whole lot under the hood of a '54 Chevy to go wrong.......and not much under the slide of the Walther either.

Many of today's gun makers have gotten real "cosmic" and "gee-whiz", as I call it, but in the dirty, grimy, muddy, sooty realm of a battlefield--------"SIMPLE" is still the best way to go if you plan on making it back alive.  You can embelish a pistol with all the infra-red rails and night sights you want, but if the MECHANICS of that gun are complicated and "finicky".....................it may refuse to serve you when things get "sticky."

And that would be unfortunate.

Which leads to THIS:  as every auto pistols fires and ejects the empty brass case, the slide springs forward again, stripping the next fresh cartridge from the magazine,  HOPEFULLY feeding it up that ramp, "chambering" it for the next shot.  I say "hopefully", because while most automatics cycle "full metal jacketed round-nose" ammo ok, they do NOT always feed  HOLLOWPOINTS as reliably.

The Walther is well known for "reliability (as far as automatics go anyway), but I've had THIS one jam twice-----both times with hollowpoints.  Both times at the range.  No "biggie".  But suppose that happened in a parking lot, or at your front door when you're digging for your house key?

That "hollowpoint" thing NOT something "trivial", either.  In a small-caliber gun like the 9mm or below, you need as much advantage as you can get, and a well-constructed hollowpoint bullet will cut a deeper wound-channel than it's round-nose counterparts, which just make clean little holes.

While not overly accurate at long range, the jacketed-hollowpoint is still the most potent bullet there is for "social work", as I call it.

And it you want to make SURE they "chamber" reliably.....you need to shoot them in one of THESE!  Not an automatic.

But if you're "hard-set" to pack an auto for personal protection, you might consider something a little more "stout".  The photo on the left shows the little 380, alongside the original American 'warhorse", and the sidearm of the G.I. for 72 years........the old standby, 45 automatic, which will be the subject of "part II."