007’s “Skyfall” Pistol: A Walther PPK/S .380 ACP Range Report

As Q once told James Bond in “Skyfall” about his weapon: “The Walther PPK/S 9 millimeter short. It's been coded to your palm print, so only you can fire it. Less of a random killing machine, more of a personal statement.”

Thus it was in that 2012 movie that “The World’s Most Famous Secret Agent” finally received an upgrade in ballistic power from his longstanding standard model Walther PPK in .32 ACP (7.65mm) caliber that he was issued way back in the very first film in the series, 1962’s “Dr. No.”

The “nine-millimeter short” cartridge that the 2012 version of Q is referring to is better known to American gun enthusiasts as the .380 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol); the “Short” label refers to the fact that its shell casing is 17 millimeters in length, 2mm less than that of the full-powered 9mm cartridge (aka, the 9mm Parabellum, 9mm Luger).

Having said all that, the PPK/S variant also comes in the .32 ACP chambering. So then, what truly differentiates it from the standard PPK?

Walther PPK/S Initial History & Specifications

Carl Walther GmbH introduced the PPK/S in 1968—thirty-seven years after the advent of the original PPK—after the antigun Lyndon B. Johnson administration imposed the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968 which, among other things, arbitrarily banned the PPK from import into the United States due to its compact size. The PPK/S circumvented the GCA by combining the frame of the 1929-vintage PP, which was deeper than the PPK, and the slide of the PPK. As noted by the Walther Arms Inc. product info page:

“An evolution of the classic PPK, the PPK/s maintains the timeless features, essence, and elegance of the original with an additional extended grip allowing for added capacity and improved ergonomics.”

The PPK/S retains the traditional double-action (TDA) trigger system of its predecessor, i.e., a heavy (13.4 lbs.) double-action (DA) pull for the first shot and a lighter (6.1 lbs.) single-action (SA) the rest of the way until the safety/decocker is applied.

Dimensions include a barrel length of 3.3 inches, overall length of 6.1 inches, height of 4.3 inches, and an empty weight of 19 ounces. Magazine capacity is seven rounds.

Range Report and Shooting Impressions

I have owned a standard PPK .32 ACP (with a stainless steel finish) since 2011, specifically one of the specimens built in the joint venture with Smith & Wesson that has an extended grip tang to offset the gun’s age-old vice of hammer bite. However, I hadn’t fired the PPK/S variant in eleven years, so I wanted to get some refresher training on it.

Accordingly, I recently went to the excellent XCAL indoor shooting range facility in Ashburn, Virginia, to test out their rental PPK/S; this particular specimen had a stainless steel finish. To enable my evaluation, I purchased fifty rounds of Speer Lawman  95-grain Total Metal Jacket (TMJ) ammo and an XCal-2 anatomical silhouette paper target. I divvied the course into twenty-five rounds of headshots at 7 yards (with the first shot of each magazine fired in DA trigger mode, the remainder in SA mode) and twenty-five rounds of torso shots (all SA mode) at 25 yards, delivered from a Classic Weaver Stance.

Impressions?

It had decent accuracy, but my Kentucky windage adjustments had to go in polar opposite directions at the two distances, i.e., a 12 o’clock hold at 7 yards and a 6 o’clock hold at 25 yards. At the 7-yard mark, my first shot went low into the target’s jawline; after the appropriate adjustment, twenty-three rounds went into the ocular rectangular scoring box, but I overcompensated and pulled high into the forehead. At the 25-yard mark, my first shot gave me an unintended head hit, as it went way high into the target’s jawline area (right alongside my unintended too-low first shot from my 7-yard string of fire); after adjusting firing, I ended up with eight A-zone hits, twelve C-zone hits, and five rounds that either hit the peripheral non-scoring zones of the target or missed altogether. Meh.

Nobody ever accused the PPK series of having a smooth DA trigger or a crisp SA trigger. When I commented on this to the Range Safety Officer (RSO), he replied half-jokingly. “Yeah. But they go great in tuxedos.”

The sights were decent (red-painted dot sights, not to be confused with electronic red dot sights).

Reliability-wise, there was one instance—at the thirty-three-round count—where the slide failed to go fully into battery as a result of unlocking my wrist prematurely; any semiauto pistol should be fired from a locked wrist in order to prevent jamming, and this sense of urgency goes double for pocket pistols. Anyway, a quick smack on the back of the slide (as prescribed by self-defense guru Massad F. Ayoob) remedied the situation.

Last impression: .380 ACP ammo is freaking expensive!! 

Bottom line: It was a fun experience overall. But while I may purchase a PPK/S .380 somewhere down the road, both as a complement to my .32 PPK and for its own pop cultural significance, it’s simply not at the top of my wish list right now.

Want Your Own?

True Gun Value states that “A WALTHER PPK S [sic] pistol is currently worth an average price of $499.17 new and $368.52 used. The 12-month average price is $671.13 new and $504.40 used.” Walther’s official website lists an MSRP of $969.00 for both the black and stainless steel finish…unless you elect for the fancier walnut grips over the standard black plastic grips, in which case you pay thirty bucks extra.

About the Author: Christian D. Orr

Christian D. Orr is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch , The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS). If you’d like to pick his brain further, you can ofttimes find him at the Old Virginia Tobacco Company (OVTC) lounge in Manassas, Virginia, partaking of fine stogies and good quality human camaraderie.

Image: Robert Sarnowski / Shutterstock.com