A REVIEW OF THE "NEW" WALTHER (UMAREX?) PPK/s .22 L.R.: IN A WORD, DISAPPOINTED

Really, it's my unfortunate duty to report that result. In fact, really, I could say nothing more, and if you're one of the few who'd take me at my word, that one word would be, as I said, disappointed.

But inquiring minds want to know more. First off, let me say I didn't conduct the full exam of the gun that I should have. But, as you'll soon see, what I did see disappointed me so that I didn't feel the need to go on. I won't be buying one.

I'm disappointed because I was really looking forward to getting one of these. Priced at a street price of $423 at my LGS, it was certainly priced right.

I'd be willing to pay lots more for a gun that had better quality.

In my teens, I owned an Interarms imported German made 1976 Walther PPK/s in .22 L.R. I foolishly traded it, although I got a Python for it, some years later. It was a great gun. It had a smooth and reasonable DA trigger pull and an excellent SA pull. It's rich, deep, almost liquid-y blued finish could only be rivaled by Colt and Smith and Wesson on their finer guns. It was as accurate as you could want a .22 pocket pistol to be, and really was quite an accurate gun.

I now own a Smith and Wesson/Walther blue finish American (and recall repaired)  Walther PPK/s in .380, and it's construction and it's trigger pull in DA and SA are what I recall those of my old Interarms version to be. I've also owned another and much earlier made American version in stainless, which I sold to a friend years ago.

So I have a frame of reference about the "normal" operation of a PPK/s in the trigger pull department.

How should I describe it? Jerky. Haltingly. Heavy. Uneven. Scratchy. I could sum it up with unpleasant.

As a former cop, longtime prosecutor, and even longer time gun buyer and seller, I've seen lots of guns from crap to great. In my law enforcement work, I've seen a disproportionate share of Hi Points, Loricin, RG and other guns.

I'd take any of those over the Walther I saw anyday of the week. Each has a better trigger pull, whether SA or DA.

When I said "Oh, is that the new PPK/s in .22?", my LSG just rolled his eyes and told me not to get excited. He told me the trigger pull was horrible, and he didn't know how they were going to sell the numerous ones they had in stock. He said he had the one with the best trigger pull on display and that the others were even worse. He had a request into his distributor to have the maker take back these guns as defective, but reportedly the response was that "they just have a heavy trigger pull".

The finish was dull. The gun is lighter than a "real" PPK/s and I suspect it's made of cheap metal. You know how the slides and frames of the mass of .22 versions of 1911's are sorta light and made of perhaps a metal cast itself? I know lots of parts are cast even in high end guns, but this had an especially cheap kind of lightweight characteristic.

Not a good kind of lightweight like my Colt Cobra or the Glock series of pistols but a scary kind of lightweight. Cheap. It felt cheap in the hand. I didn't pay particular attention to the grips, because frankly after I tried DA and SA trigger pulls once each I had no interest in the gun.

The finish was a matte sort of blue, but not a nice matte finish like that I have on some Smiths and Kimbers. Again, it looked cheap.

I didn't check to see if it disassembles like the standard PPK (using the trigger guard) or to see if the safety functioned as a decocker. I did notice that the sights were black and hard to see and that the safety had no red dot on it to indicate firing position.

I'm guessing this is made FOR Walther under license by Umarex. I've seen some of their guns that were not so high quality that had that same feel as did this one. I will say that my son has an Umarex Colt M-16 (really a 70's stocked long barrel AR .22 clone) and we've been quite pleased with it for several years now and it doesn't have that cheapo feel that the PPK/s did. The rifle has had thousands of rounds through it with no issues.

So as I remarked to my LGS, and to which he agreed, for less money the Ruger SR22 is a million times the pistol that the Walther is, plus it wouldn't take a trigger job on the SR22 to actually be able to use it. The stock trigger and sights on the SR22 are excellent.

If you want to spend a little more dollars than the Walther, the Browning 1911-22 is another excellent, excellent gun. Again, my son has this gun, and shoots the heck out of it. Whenever I get the chance, I pry the gun from his hands and from those hands of my friend Billy Ray, and I get to shoot a mag or two out of it before surrendering it again to El Fisho Jr.

As pleased as we are with the SR22, we shoot the Browning a whole lot more because of the fun factor, and because it is an accurate little cuss. As is the SR22.

So buy either of those, or a Mark series Ruger pistol or Smith and Wesson in .22, but trust me on this. The PPK/s is a stinker.