Walther PPK /S failure to load

[Zamble]

I went to the range on Saturday, and my PPK had a boat load of ftl's. I had it well oiled and the rounds are factory loads. It is the second time I had taken it out shooting at the range. The first time it did it, but not so many times as this time. When I got home the first time I cleaned the crap out of it and oiled it well, then worked the slide and it appeared the problem was fixed.

On Saturday the chamber would not close all the way, etc. I would drop mag and reload and it would load the round properly. I fired about 35 rounds before it got old and I put it away.

Thoughts?

[swifty]

~ Poor quality ammo.
~ The pistol does not like the bullet profile.
~ Poor quality or damaged mags.
~ Damaged extractor.
~ Weak wristing.
~ FP not retracting properly.
~ Weak recoil spring.
~ Thumb dragging on slide.

[powderburnt]

I had a .380 PPK/s back in the 80's that had lots of failure to feed problems. I had bought it new, and sent it back to be fixed where they replaced the extractor and polished the chamber among other things. The 'smith stated that he had successfully tested it with Winchester Silvertips, so I decided to try that ammo, and still had problems. I tried different holds, offhand, and anything else I could think of, but without success.

Shooting with friends, they could go through a magazine of mixed loads with no problems, but I could rarely make it through one without a FTF. I really liked the gun, but a pocket pistol that is unrelliable is not very useful to me. I sold it to a friend that has been happy with it ever since.

I am an acquirer rather than a trader and have 75-100 firearms now. The PPK/s is one of only three guns that I have ever sold. Maybe yours will work out for you.

TLDR: I gave up on mine. Good luck to you.

[Zamble]

I have shot different types of ammo.
Mags are factory.
I don't think it's the extractor. The rounds eject fine, they just don't load at times after firing.
Weak wristing, I let it slam forward and like I said, it happens more when auto loading.
Spring is a possibility, but to my knowledge the gun has a low round count.
Thumb drag, no.

Something I left out before is that some rounds are half to three quarters in chamber when it jams.

[swifty]

... some rounds are half to three quarters in chamber when it jams.

Make sure the chamber is clean.

Just for knowledge, set aside any rounds that fail to chamber, then remove the slide and see if the rounds seat in the chamber by dropping them into the barrel.

Your description of the shells in the chamber is common. Usually, the cartridge coming out of the mag does not slide fully up the breech face. Don't rule anything out until you are 100% positive it is not a factor. Look for a combination of things, not necessarily one factor.

[Gunsmith Dan]

Could be mag problems .... magazine is not being held high enough, lips are to close or mag catch is wearing out.

Could be extractor problems where the extractor is not moving out of the way enough when rounds slide up the breech face.

Basically it all depends how the rounds jam up .... the cartridge is partially out but the nose does not touch the ramp, nose stuck on the ramp, nose stuck in the top of the chamber.