...as opposed to the sins of our fathers, you know? I mean, there are those who consider the FN 1910 somewhat notorious because Gavril Princip used a .380 example to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand, the Hapsburg heir to the Hungario-Austrian (I know, but why should the Austrians always get to go first? Where is that engraved in unobtanium?) empire. That shot resulted in millions of horrible deaths.
But this gun shares an U-boatload of design elements - and a name on a scroll - with the gun Adolf Hitler used to end his miserable existence. Score one for the good guys, thanks to bad guys who are cowards and don't want to find out how the Soviet Army and its butcher in chief would deal with the butcher in chief of the Wehrmacht.
If all of that came across and byzantine, unfollowable drivel, here's the summary; I bought a Walther PPK/S.
![Image]()
I like it.
Those of you who don't need more can stop here. Those of you interested in further history/details/photos are encouraged to read on.
About two weeks ago I was killing time while my wife had a bit of outpatient surgery. She's doing very well, thank you Father, and thank you forumemeber for asking. But I had hours to kill, and wanted to be as distracted as possible. Yep, I hit all of my favorite gun shops and a motorcycle shop (and the scariest Walmart I've been in in a long, long time, but I'm not ready to talk about that yet). I didn't buy anything, but a Bersa .380 for $269 did get a pretty good grip on my eye.
Fast forward a week to the second follow up appointment, and my dear wife shows signs of wanting to kick around the city a bit before we head home. "How about stopping by Cabelas?"
"Sure, sounds like fun." Walk in, make a beeline for the used gun counter, sigh, no Bersa. Oh, wait, there's another cabinet right there. No Bersa. But there was a stainless Walther PPK/S marked $369. We-he-he-loooo.
Look around. There aint much staff. Catch one of their eyes. He motions toward the sign with a QR code. That's how you get on the waiting list. My dear wife decides to do a lap while I wait. I get signed in, and proceed to cool my heels. She comes back. We chat a bit, and she wanders off. Couple of names have been called, but I'm getting impatient. I tell myself if my wife comes back and I'm still waiting, we're gone. She comes back, but within seconds a new clerk comes up, checks the list, and I hear my name.
His offensive line was not up to the task, I tackled him easily. He gets the Walther, and I ask about dry firing. He takes me over to the bullet stop. He is visibly and audibly impressed when I double-check to make sure it's unloaded before trying the trigger. Now, my last blowback pistol in this caliber(ish) was a Makarov. After that, this gun does not have a high bar to clear when it comes to trigger feel. It clears it reasonably well in DA, but the single action is excellent. I put the pistol down on the counter and say "sold." Yadda yadda yadda, background check is fast and easy, can I used points, I'm gonna grab a spare magazine for one of my wife's .380s because she doesn't have a spare, and we're out the door.
Original box, manual, test fire target, and that spare Sig magazine for $160. Thanks to points, I basically got a PPK/S for a C note. Yeah, I'm a happy camper.
Tune in for our next installment of "GhostHorse buys a PPK," in which we discuss the interesting manufacturing history of the Walther PP family.
But this gun shares an U-boatload of design elements - and a name on a scroll - with the gun Adolf Hitler used to end his miserable existence. Score one for the good guys, thanks to bad guys who are cowards and don't want to find out how the Soviet Army and its butcher in chief would deal with the butcher in chief of the Wehrmacht.
If all of that came across and byzantine, unfollowable drivel, here's the summary; I bought a Walther PPK/S.
I like it.
Those of you who don't need more can stop here. Those of you interested in further history/details/photos are encouraged to read on.
About two weeks ago I was killing time while my wife had a bit of outpatient surgery. She's doing very well, thank you Father, and thank you forumemeber for asking. But I had hours to kill, and wanted to be as distracted as possible. Yep, I hit all of my favorite gun shops and a motorcycle shop (and the scariest Walmart I've been in in a long, long time, but I'm not ready to talk about that yet). I didn't buy anything, but a Bersa .380 for $269 did get a pretty good grip on my eye.
Fast forward a week to the second follow up appointment, and my dear wife shows signs of wanting to kick around the city a bit before we head home. "How about stopping by Cabelas?"
"Sure, sounds like fun." Walk in, make a beeline for the used gun counter, sigh, no Bersa. Oh, wait, there's another cabinet right there. No Bersa. But there was a stainless Walther PPK/S marked $369. We-he-he-loooo.Look around. There aint much staff. Catch one of their eyes. He motions toward the sign with a QR code. That's how you get on the waiting list. My dear wife decides to do a lap while I wait. I get signed in, and proceed to cool my heels. She comes back. We chat a bit, and she wanders off. Couple of names have been called, but I'm getting impatient. I tell myself if my wife comes back and I'm still waiting, we're gone. She comes back, but within seconds a new clerk comes up, checks the list, and I hear my name.
His offensive line was not up to the task, I tackled him easily. He gets the Walther, and I ask about dry firing. He takes me over to the bullet stop. He is visibly and audibly impressed when I double-check to make sure it's unloaded before trying the trigger. Now, my last blowback pistol in this caliber(ish) was a Makarov. After that, this gun does not have a high bar to clear when it comes to trigger feel. It clears it reasonably well in DA, but the single action is excellent. I put the pistol down on the counter and say "sold." Yadda yadda yadda, background check is fast and easy, can I used points, I'm gonna grab a spare magazine for one of my wife's .380s because she doesn't have a spare, and we're out the door.
Original box, manual, test fire target, and that spare Sig magazine for $160. Thanks to points, I basically got a PPK/S for a C note. Yeah, I'm a happy camper.
Tune in for our next installment of "GhostHorse buys a PPK," in which we discuss the interesting manufacturing history of the Walther PP family.
