Walther PPK issues

[alpalwal]

A buddy and I went out to the range this afternoon. He brought out a .380 PPK that was his dad's. It only has about 50 rounds through it and is 40 ish years old at least.

Over about 200 rounds we had 3 malfunctions -

1. After a shot or two the pistol loads a new round but the hammer is down in double action. When he pulls the trigger the round doesn't fire. After racking the slide and getting a new round in there it works fine for the rest of the mag.

2. Same issue as #1

3. Chambers a new round but it has another round trying to load right behind it - double feed.

Considering the double feed I'm inclined to blame the magazine for the issues with #1 and 2 but I just have no idea what could be happening. Any ideas?

[wilshire1412]

Sounds like something in the trigger mechanism is missing or broken.

I have an old WWII PP in .380 that sometimes doubles, I don't shoot it anymore.

Parts are available but can be expensive.

[zinfull]

If you have a WWII pp in 380 then you have a hard to find pp.

jerry

[alpalwal]

If you have a WWII pp in 380 then you have a hard to find pp.

jerry

Is there a serial database or something of the sort that I can confirm age/rarity with?

[blackfalcon]

If it is a WW2 PPK you can view the production chart at this link

http://forums.p38forum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=17935

This list is only good for WW2 production Walthers and not post-war.

[zinfull]

Wilshire
Does your pp have a bottom mag release and any german markings? Pictures would be nice and you may want to start your own post.

jerry

[Marty33]

These particular PPK's can be ammo sensitive. They should shoot the ball ammo fine, but will have trouble with hollow points, etc.

[alpalwal]

Alright, it's actually a PPK S so it's not WW2.

It was shooting just standard Remmington UMC ball so that shouldn't have been an issue.

[redcliff]

It almost sounds like it was short-stroking. Did you guys lubricate the pistol well before shooting it?

Personally I find Remington UMC to be on the low side of the power scale; try it with some other factory ammo and well lubricated.

[Stkx66]

Look for burrs on the shell casing of the ammo your using ( a burr you might be able to catch with your fingernail )- maybe try another brand of ammo. I had a similar problem with our SW PPK. Turned out to be a bad box of ammo that cuased many failure to feed conditions. All solved with another brand of ball ammo.

[alpalwal]

I'll have him try a new ammo and I'll take a look at the next dud round to see how it looks.

The gun was recently cleaned and very well oiled when this happened.

[pTa]

Do get a fresh magazine/ mag spring too

[alpalwal]

Do get a fresh magazine/ mag spring too

He's getting a new Mecgar mag this week. The ones he's using are old but they're in pristine condition. It's probably the cause of the doublefeed though so we'll see how the new ones help things.

[Beelzy]

Whoa on the Mecgar mag...they generally suck.

Older guns like that usually do best with Fiocchi or other slightly hotter ammo. Try that first.

[alpalwal]

Whoa on the Mecgar mag...they generally suck.

Older guns like that usually do best with Fiocchi or other slightly hotter ammo. Try that first.

Weird, my Mecgar 1911 mag is awesome and so I figured the PPK mags would be good as well.