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The 6 round Walther PPK .380 ACP was a 1930s German semi-automatic pistol that later gained renewed fame thanks to its prominence in James Bond movies. But even before then, these centerfire concealed-carry pistols were standard-issue to German detectives, police and World War II Luftwaffe pilots.

The Walther PPK is the compact conceal carry little brother of the Walther PP. As such its 10 to 20 percent smaller in most dimensions. The result is a 3.8” height, 1.0” width, 3.3” barrel and an overall length of 6.1”. The PPK’s empty weight is 19 ounces, while the magazine adds another 3.1 ounces.

Walther is actually short for Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen. Sportwaffen means “Sport Weapon”. PPK is short for Polizeipistole Kriminalmodell, which translates as police pistol criminal model, but, of course, it was used by police detectives for anti-criminal work!

The Walther PPK’s 1930s curved contours hint at art-deco design, but these immensely practical same curves provide low, organic profiles that flow with clothing and helping to promise quick snag-free operations when needed. Indeed, the PPK was one of the first concealed carry pistols with close range stopping power.

The PPK is a blowback-operated semi-automatic pistol. The slide top is barreled instead of squared, the nose is curve angle-cut toward the trigger frame which comes forward to meet it. The bottom of the trigger frame is also gently curved. Thus one gets the overall sense of curves.

The .380 ACP round uses a 9 mm chamber, but the .380 rounds are less powerful than standard 9 mm ones. However, .380s are shorter in length, permitting a narrower magazine, narrower grip and therefore more compact dimensions and correspondingly lower weight. These smaller rounds also mean dramatically lower recoil and thus theoretically, faster follow up shots and greater accuracy.

Walther also introduced the double-action/single-action trigger that decocks when the safety is rotated down into the safe position. The double-action trigger pull is 13.4 pounds while the single-action pull is 6.1 pounds.

PPK pistols come either in stainless steel or in corrosion and wear resistant black QPQ, which stands for “quench polish quench,” but it’s more commonly known as Melonite. PPK’s components are milled rather than injection molded for higher quality and smoother, precision fitting.

The Walther PPK/s (sporting) variant holds one more round, meaning 7 rounds in all. It’s available in black and in stainless steel with walnut grips. The height grows to 4.3” and empty magazine weight edges from 22.1 to 23.6 ounces, but otherwise its dimensions are the same as the PPK.

PPKs have integrated front and rear red dot iron sights. The back of the diminutive gun has a loaded chamber indicator pin. Grips are checkered.

As of 2018/2019, Walther PPK components are made in several locations. The slides are from Ulm, Germany while the frame and other components are manufactured at Walther’s Fort Smith, Arkansas facility.

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