Walther PPK/S failure to feed or eject.

W

wolf223

I purchased a Used Walther PPKS on Saturday, February 16, 2008. I took it to the range and fired off 250 rounds with moderate failure to feed or failure to ejects.

It seems to jam up every 5th or 6th round and I had to drop the magazine, pull the slide to the rear and push it forward so that it would ride all the way forward and shoot. It feels as if the .380 rounds are slightly too big for it.

I bought some Federal .380 ammo can not chamber a round. I have to pop it out using a pen or bore brush from the muzzle end.

The ammo that worked moderately well was Winchester hollow points a buddy had laying around. Those only jammed about every 15th rounds; every other magazine would have one jam or failure to eject.

The last 50 rounds went without incident, but I stopped due to the "rubbing of my skin" where the beaver tail sits... I mainly shoot large frame .40 cal so this was a new experience...

So my questions are:

1. Is this normal?
2. Should I be worried about it?
3. Is there any specific ammo I should be looking for?
a. Target
b. Defense
 
I too have a Walther PPK/S .380 which I bought new a few weeks ago. When I got it, I was told that the gun tends to be be very tight at first and needs to be broken in. The break-in period may take anywhere from 500 - 600 rounds. I too have had some FAF's and FAE's. Thus far the Winchester ammo has given me the least amount of trouble. I am going to take it through 1000 rounds and if things do not improve I am going to send it so Smith for an eval.
 
I have a Smith made PPK-S and have had no trouble with it at all. I've put various "range ammo" through it without a single failure, and I sampled 50 rounds of Federal Hydra Shock before I decided that it would be O.K. for carry. No issues.
 
thanks, Red

i guess i will do the same. i've already e-mailed the dealer (Four Seasons - Woburn, MA) and will hopefully get some suggestions from them.
 
I have 2 Walther PPK/S's. I got them about 30 years ago. Three things I've learned about PPK/S's. The most mportant one is they have to be real wet to run well. Grease, oil, or what ever, but they need a lot of lube applied to a real clean gun.

The second thing about them is, each one has a mind of their own. You can take two identical PPK/S's and one won't feed the same brand of ammo as the other.

The third thing is the recoil spring has to be changed about every 1000 rounds or sooner, also you have to be carefull to get it on right. One end is smaller than the other, the small end go's on first.
 
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FWIW, the PPKs made from after WWII until the GCA68 stopped them from being imported, were very nicely fitted. They cycled like grease on ice. They were all made in France, under licence, even the ones marked "Made in W.Germany."

The Interarms PPs and PPK Sport guns were also well fitted. I believe that the frames were made in the USA and fitted with imported parts. I compared the machining of the slides of early post-war PPKs to ths slides of Interarms PPK Sport pistols and they were absolutely identical.

All of Smith's metal framed autos work very well and it is hard to understand why they can't seem to get the same quality with the PPKs. Perhaps they take short cuts on the Walther contract guns.

In any case, it should be simple enough to slather some lapping compound on the rails and work the slide for a couple of minutes to smooth out the rough spots. A good polish of the feed ramp with a cratex wheel probably wouldn't hurt either. Clean it, lube it and then run a couple hundred rounds through it.

Since the 9mm Kurtz is not widely accepted as a serious self defense caliber, there is a lot of questionably suitable factory ammo out there. Much of it is underloaded and may not function many guns reliably. This is one caliber that I would handload just to make sure that I had reliable ammo.

Jack
 
update:
I went back to the range today and the damn thing broke! the extractor is broken off and what appears to be an extrator plunger and spring!

I called Smith & Wesson in Springfield, subsequently transferred to Houlton, ME and got voice mail!!!!!!

So I am now going to send it back!
 
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I recently purchased a new PPK/S (S&W) in .32 ACP. In the first trip to the range it functioned perfectly through 108 rounds. However, it did not want to chamber a Gold Dot jacketed hollow point when I retracted and released the slide. A small bump on the slide took care of the problem and it shot the entire magazine of eight without any problems. The accuracy was acceptable with all types of ammo used, Winchester FMJ, Fiocci FMJ, Fiocci 62 gr hp and the Gold Dots.

This PPK/S was purchased to replace a 1954 PP 32 ACP. The PP had been purchased in 1991 and had great sentimental value. It came with the original box, German owners manual, test target and a label on the box with the policeman's name and locker number. The PP was taken in a burglary last November. The new PPK/S lives in a safe.

I chose the PP and PPK/S in 32 ACP based on a Guns and Ammo magazine from 1982. They indicated that in most pistols the 32's functioned more reliably than 380's and 32's were generally more accurate. With Silvertips and the more recent Gold Dots there doesn't seem to be much difference in the terminal balistics.

Here's to hoping I have one of the good S&W PPK/S's. I have read some horror stories on some other internet sites.
 
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well, I'm glad yours worked.

my Walther went back to Houlton, ME and they replaced the extractor. I went back to range within two days of getting it back and it was still doing the same thing....

as a result, I took it back to Four Seasons for a full credit for the pistol and extra magazine I bought (THANKS CARL!!!!).

i walked out of FS with a S&W M&P compact. my reasoning was simple: 9mm is chaper to shoot vs. .380.... the size is a little bigger than a PPK/S, but I can deal with that for CCW in the summer.
 
This is funny. I used to have an Interarms that I hated - lots of FTEs and FTFeeds. I screwed around with it enough to get it working and sold it at a loss. That gun had some of the sloppiest machining I've ever seen on a firearm. I could do better drunk in my basement with a file.

A couple of years ago I picked up a new S&W PPK/S and it has been perfect.

The only "problem" is the really bad Sean Connery imitation I do when I'm shooting it.
 
Don't make lite of the poor Sean Connery imitation, you better do it just like him if you want a one stop shot with that little pea shooter!
 
You should have found a Sig P230!!!! Greased lightning!!

Edit: Pic.
IM000242.jpg


Even a Feg 9x18 is better at $100.00
IM000241.jpg
 
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I had an Interarms PPK/S 380 in the mid 80's. It jammed, was not accurate, and even spit the magazine out several times. The gun store took it back and gave a tradein allowance of the the full price.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I find the PP series to be more reliable and accurate in 32 ACP.

My 380 is a Beretta 85F. It handles every type of ammo I have tried. The accuracy is fine for a close range self defense weapon. It is a little larger than the PPK/S, but carries very well in a Galco hi-rise holster.

Has anybody looked into having the S&W models coated with Dura Coat or ARM-MOR? I prefer a black PPK/S over the shiney stainless.
 
Diagnosed New PPK/S Failure to Feed

My new PPK/S .32 cal. fails to feed and I can see how and why. The edge of the brass cartridge jams against the top rim of the chamber. This happens while firing, but also when I attempt to chamber the first round with the slide in the usual fashion. I found that if I only load 4-5 rounds in the magazines; however, the problem does not occur. I have 4 Walther brand magazines. I noted that if I load 6-8 rounds, the bullets seem to be crammed in the magazine, with the top round cocked pointing upward. I tried to adjust this by adjusting the rounds, tapping the magazine firmly, etc. but it didn't work. 6-8 rounds in the magazine seems to cause the feed problem every time, loading or firing. With 4-5 rounds, no problem.
 
donharmon said:
My new PPK/S .32 cal. fails to feed and I can see how and why. The edge of the brass cartridge jams against the top rim of the chamber. This happens while firing, but also when I attempt to chamber the first round with the slide in the usual fashion. I found that if I only load 4-5 rounds in the magazines; however, the problem does not occur. I have 4 Walther brand magazines. I noted that if I load 6-8 rounds, the bullets seem to be crammed in the magazine, with the top round cocked pointing upward. I tried to adjust this by adjusting the rounds, tapping the magazine firmly, etc. but it didn't work. 6-8 rounds in the magazine seems to cause the feed problem every time, loading or firing. With 4-5 rounds, no problem.
Click to expand...

I also have four Walther .32 magazines, 2 from the stolen PP and two that came with the S&W PPK/S. One of S&W's did not want to smoothly load over 6 rounds. I took them out and started over. Everything was fine on the second time around. The two PP magazines work perfectly.

I use a moderate amount of gun grease on the frame rails as recommended in another post. I also use a drop of Breakfree on muzzle end of the barrel. No functioning problems at all.
 
I bought a SW PPK/S new inApril and had double feed jams from the git-go. Then the hammer stuck at full cock and could not even be pried int falling even though the sear was disengaged completely. I sent it for warranty work and it came back with new springs and the same old problems. then the hammer stuck again. Fortunately I had found a gunsmith who had been a certified Walther warranty tech before SW moved that job to Maine. He fixed the hammer problem for good but still i got jams at least once every mag; and darn tootin' beastly jams they were, too. Double feeds thatn required me to put on the safety and field strip the piece to clear it. I decided to try one more thing before I solld the weapon at a loss: clean it thouroughly, polish the slide contact points and feed ramp with jeweler's rouge, clean it thouroughly once more, and use a new oil called "slip 2000" on it liberally. But during the process the slide stop came out and the spring launched itself out the window never more to be seen. Having invested so much time and effort, I decided to complete the process and test fire the gun. to my surprise the feeding problems were gone but of course recoil caused the sllide stop to bounce up once every 6-10 rounds and lock the slide open. This was inconvenient but tap-rap-blam beats field stripping for a severe malfunction. Personally I think that the spring had been pushing that slide-stop into the chamber and thus interfereing with feeding. Or maybe the polissh and rouge did the trick, I dont know. but that trusty gunsmith is now installing a new stop spring and i have my fingers crossed that I'll have a reliable pistol in a few. By the bye, contrary to what most people have reported mine tends to like hollowpoints better than ball.
 
Another New Walther PPK/S .32 Won't Feed, Either

I commented on this failure-to-feed matter previously. In fact, my problem got worse after 600-700 rounds as the pistol loosened. Both in manually loading and in firing, the brass cartridge edge hangs up on the edge of the chamber. Sometimes this could be manipulated, but most other times, I would have to eject the magazine and then shake the pistol to make the round fall out. (It wasn't chambered, so it couldn't be extracted. Examining the brass cartridge showed a sharp scratch scored downward from the top of the brass, as it was jammed against the sharp chamber edge (instead of being guided into the chamber).

Finally, after a month of regular firing and jamming, I gave up and the dealer, a man of integrity, gave me a new pistol as replacement. Guess what? Same thing. My conclusion is that S&W has poor manufacturing quality of this pistol, as I have never heard of the made-in-Germany, genuine Walther PPK/S having this problem. Rats.
 
Karl Walther must be turning in his grave knowing what S&W is doing to his PPK. S&W made a quality firearm up until the British took over, after that it all junk.
 
PATRON said:
Karl Walther must be turning in his grave knowing what S&W is doing to his PPK. S&W made a quality firearm up until the British took over, after that it all junk.
Click to expand...

I would agree. I have a PPK/S from the 70's that came from Europe. Runs like a champ. Never have any feeding issues, fit is tight as could be and is a great shooter. Hate to hear that a gun that has been in existence for so long is getting a bad rap due to poor reproductions.
 
I just picked up a Walther PPK/S in .380 auto last night at Basspro and put 100 rounds of Remington UMC ammo through it and had no problems. I was sure to lube it liberally and work the slide a little as well. I found it to be an excellent little gun. If my license wasn't restricted by our communist state government I would probably use it as my carry piece.
 
EddieCoyle said:
This is funny. I used to have an Interarms that I hated - lots of FTEs and FTFeeds. I screwed around with it enough to get it working and sold it at a loss. That gun had some of the sloppiest machining I've ever seen on a firearm. I could do better drunk in my basement with a file.

A couple of years ago I picked up a new S&W PPK/S and it has been perfect.

The only "problem" is the really bad Sean Connery imitation I do when I'm shooting it.
Click to expand...

I had the same issue(s) with an interarms, I sold it. In my opinion this gun was just not reliable enough for me to carry with confidence.
 
PPK/S in .380

D'oh. I just packed up my ppk/s to send back to smith and wesson.
Same story, ftf, fte. Why do they keep making this pistol? They must be bombarded with support calls and returns. [angry]
 

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