Firearms News Volume 73, Issue 23

In this issues installment, we have two historical paths to explore, because it is Bond, James Bond. The first is the origin of the Walther PPK/S. Actually, the PP, the Polizeipistole. The PP was brought to the market by Walther in 1929, the end days of the Weimar Republic. It was meant to be the amalgamation of all things modern. It was, at heart, just a blowback .32 ACP pistol. Meant for police use, the European attitude towards pistol calibers was “That’s plenty, no need to make a fuss over this” and so the lowly .32 was deemed more than sufficient in many European countries. The Germans were not outliers in this, across the European continent, those in charge couldn’t agree on much, but one thing they all agreed on…

Never heard of the PPK/L? I hadn’t, either, when a customer came into the gun shop some 35 years ago, with a pistol to sell. A Walther, in .32. But it didn’t have any military markings, so no-one cared about a pocket .32 pistol. However, it did have one unique difference: an aluminum frame. Yep, an aluminum-framed PPK/S. Walther had made them back in the 1960s, and imported them until the GCA68 points system came about. Instead of the black plastic grips, these (at least, this one, I’ve never seen one since) had a mottled brown set of grips, a tortoise shell look. I thought, “That’s cool” and added it to my collection of .32 pocket pistols and euro-military .32s for a not-large sum. A short while later, my brother…

OK, so you want go full James Bond, MI6, and have a suppressor on your PPK? To misquote Boromir: “One does not simply swap the barrel on a PPK.” The barrel on the Walthers, PP, PPK, et al, are pressed into a hoop on the receiver, a hoop that looks much like that of the AR-15 lower receiver. The barrel is then secured with a cross-pin. In order to even try to thread the existing barrel, you have to drive out the cross pin and then press the barrel out of the hoop. One error and you have a set of parts suitable for selling to a parts wholesaler. Bend or mangle the hoop, and your PPK is toast. Knarf the barrel, and you’ll have to replace it. Oh, and…

Check out Davidson’s Gallery of Guns at GalleryOfGuns.com! Davidson’s offers the GuaranteeD® Lifetime Replacement Warranty which backs all the firearms you buy through GalleryofGuns.com. It works like this: if anything ever goes wrong with any gun you buy with the Davidson’s GuaranteeD® Lifetime Replacement Warranty, it will be replaced. If no replacement is available, it will be repaired at no charge to you. Simply return it to the retailer where you purchased it, pay for the return shipping and upon receipt Davidson’s will ship the returning retailer a brand-new gun for you provided one is available. If a replacement is not available your firearm will be repaired for free. For complete warranty information please refer to the Guaranteed Warranty link found at the home page of GalleryofGuns.com.…

The man sat alone with his thoughts in the cavernous interior of the RAF C17 Globemaster. The massive transport aircraft boasted enough cargo space to host a proper game of cricket, yet Commander James Bond had the plane to himself. The flight engineer gave him a nudge indicating that it was time to depressurize. 007 studied the stars from the open ramp. When the jump light flashed from red to green he dove headfirst into the inky blackness. The dark Colombian jungle spread expansively some five miles below. Hector Antipas Jimenez, the twelfth richest man on the planet, was worth a cool fifty-three billion dollars. He made his money by murdering his way into control of the world’s most extensive drug cartel. This evening Hector was throwing a simply epic…

Check out Davidson’s Gallery of Guns at GalleryOfGuns.com! Davidson’s offers the Guaranteed® Lifetime Replacement Warranty which backs all the firearms you buy through GalleryofGuns.com. It works like this: if anything ever goes wrong with any gun you buy with the Davidson’s Guaranteed® Lifetime Replacement Warranty, it will be replaced. If no replacement is available, it will be repaired at no charge to you. Simply return it to the retailer where you purchased it, pay for the return shipping and upon receipt Davidson’s will ship the returning retailer a brand-new gun for you provided one is available. If a replacement is not available your firearm will be repaired for free. For complete warranty information please refer to the Guaranteed Warranty link found at the home page of GalleryofGuns.com.…