ok so pistols

guys today were talking about the ppk

you already know this gun

its james bonds gun

i dont even need to tell you that

its a really good gun too

plus its pretty old

did you know it turns 90 this year

true facts

happy birthday little guy

so back in 1929 a little company called walther was making guns in the historic german gunmaking center of thuringia

walther had been in business for a few decades but hadnt really hit it big yet

they went through a process of making a number of weird looking guns

but then they hit gold with the pp and ppk

pp stands for polizei pistole

or police pistol

walther had come up with some design tricks to make the gun safe to carry but quick to fire

and they thought itd be perfect for german policemen

the ppk is the polizei pistole kriminallmodel

which means detective model police pistol

the ppk was shortened in length and height so its even easier for a plainclothes detective to carry concealed

it was a very popular gun and used by lots of police forces along with some military people

even adolf hitler used one

so we talked about the 1911 last time

and i mentioned how it has a safety

because unlike a revolver

just cocking the hammer doesnt chamber a round in a semiauto

you gotta work the whole slide to chamber a round

but that also cocks the hammer

and after you cock the 1911

it has a real short and light trigger

so its easier to fire than a double action revolver

oh sweet

but its also easier to fire when its just riding on your hip too

oh bummer

this increases the risk of shooting your donger off

so the 1911 uses a safety to block anything from moving

well the ppk has a safety too

but it also decocks the hammer

walther figured out a way to put a long double action trigger into a semiauto

so now you could chamber a round

then actuate the safety decocker

this decocks the hammer but leaves a round in the chamber

then you can leave the safety on for double safe

or put it back to fire

and itll still a long heavy trigger pull like the double action revolvers people carried for years without an additional safety

so you can carry it in your pocket without risking ballistic orchiectomy

and if you pull it out to shoot a guy

the trigger pull cocks the hammer and releases the hammer

two actions

just like those double action revolvers

oh sweet

and when the slide cycles after the shot it cocks the hammer

so the rest of the shots have a short and light trigger pull so its faster and easier to get shots on target like the 1911

and you dont have to fumble with a safety in a critical moment

plus the other advantages of the semiauto

like magazine fed

more rounds in the magazine

automatically ejects spent cases

daaaaaaang

this was a huge development and copied by literally everybody on pistols large and small

so then the other important technical detail is that the ppk uses whats called a straight blowback action

we talked about the 1911 and how it has those lugs and that lock into the barrel and that arm that tilts the barrel down

that was all necessary because you have to give time for the pressure of the exploding round to dissipate so it doesnt spay burning particles into your face

well the ppk uses smaller rounds that only make little explosions

heres a comparison

the 1911 shoots the .45 acp but the ppk shoots the little .32 acp

dude its like .13 smaller

this makes it easier to deal with the pressure

in fact the walther doesnt have anything locking the barrel at all

the barrel is permanently attached to the frame

the recoil spring goes around the barrel and the slide goes over it all

and the spring puts constant forward pressure on the slide to keep it closed

the spring pressure along with the inertia of the heavy slide keeps the slide closed long enough for the bullet to go out the end of the barrel and start releasing the pressure before the slide opens

this system is compact simpler cheaper easier

its really good

only problem with blowback is .380 acp is about the limit on how big the cartridge can be before the gun starts getting unwieldy

you can go into 9mm or even .45 acp

but they get very bulky and heavy for a pistol

you gotta make the slide really heavy and put a heavier spring

it starts becoming a pain

usually blowbacks in those calibers are submachineguns

so being a simple blowback makes field stripping the ppk super easy

you pull down the trigger guard and push it a little to the side to lock it

then just pull the slide all the way back and lift it off

thats it

super simple

it also has a neat loaded chamber indicator

its a tiny little nubbin in the back you can see and feel to let you know a round is chambered

super neat

some pistols have this now but um

they can get a little excessive

lol

the ppk was such a successful and revolutionary design that it basically invented a new class of pistol and was very widely copied

after wwii the soviets cleaned out the walther factory and with the tooling and blueprints designed the excellent makarov pistol

spain made the astra constable

poland made the p64

hungary made the pa63

guys its a very popular type of gun ok

for customizing it you can get pretty grips and maybe some sights

lots of holsters and other carry options

anything you could think of to carry it

comes in lots of little calibers from .380 acp on down to .22lr

its old but still works really well

i dont own a ppk itself but i own like three different derivatives

theyre all great and i actually carry them

they dont hit hard but they hit hard enough

plus they conceal better than a lot of guns

which is important when concealed means concealed

pewpew

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