Walther (Interarms) PPK/S problem

[forby]

I hate to say this, but it might be limp wristing....

I have a ppk and it is the only gun that has ever stove piped on me. Now you have stronger springs and that might be an issue, but you haven't shot it for years and may be used to other guns that are less susceptible to it. I sent mine back to Walther and they polished a whole bunch of stuff and it helped a bit.

I say clean and oil the gun and hold on tight. The JHP's are probably a hotter round and less likely to SP.

Curse of the Walther.........

[Red]

Thanks gents:

I gotta admit that the 20# spring is a bit rough on the thumb and index finger when you manually operate the slide with the weak hand. After cycling it 8 or 10 times, the serrations at the aft end of the slide start to take their toll on your fingers when pulling against that 20#. I don't remember it being that stiff with the original spring.

The FMJ ammo has 90 gr. bullets where the JHP has 95 gr. Slight difference but that little extra mass going out the barrel plus an extra powder load may be exactly what is keeping the problem from happening - off to order the lighter springs.

Kurt, I was not talking about weight of the bullet (in grains), but the weight of the powder in the cartridge. Powder is also weighted in grains.

[Kurt_D]

Kurt, I was not talking about weight of the bullet (in grains), but the weight of the powder in the cartridge. Powder is also weighted in grains.

I realized that...

But if the bullet itself is heavier, it takes more to accelerate it down the barrel and gives a little more time for the gas pressure to push the casing back. Couple that with a higher powder charge and the slide has a harder push against it.

I was playing around with the action and what I'm pretty sure is happening is the slide does not always go all the way back with the lower power rounds and the heavier spring. I think the feed lug on the bottom of the slide picks up the extraction groove at the cartridge base and feeds the round from that point. As the round comes forward, its nose hits the feed ramp but its aft end can't move up onto the slide face and it stove-pipes.

I manually racked the slide back to the groove with snap caps in the mag. Four out of five times, the cap stove-piped when I let go of the slide, once it didn't come out of the mag.

[crazy charlie]

Did I miss something or did you say what caliber you were shooting?
In my limited experience with German Walthers they like hot loads. I can relate to the spring being maybe too heavy.
My Walther PPK(1939 & 7.65) does not like Rem. FMJ. Slight variations in bullet shape can and do affect feeding. My Interarms PP .22 likes hotter loads.
In any event if you change springs and still have problems go to Walther USA site, I think it is Earl's Gun Shop. I wouldn't send it to S&W.

[Kurt_D]

Oh... It's a .380...

[meanbeangreen]

I use to have similar problems with my Interarms PPK/S in .380. For some time I had trouble when racking the slide having a round correctly feed, the slide would actually sit back about a millimeter or so and I'd have to give it a little bump to seat the bullet in the chamber. For some reason, (don't want to jinx myself here,) I have had no problems with the gun in quite some time, no FTF, FTE, or Stovepiping with all sorts of ammo. I agree that it likes hotter rounds, but I think and have read that the more you shoot your gun, the better it will get. May have a long break in period or something. Keep shooting and all will be better, hopefully.

[Kurt_D]

Just went the other day and put a couple boxes of PMC FMJ through it. I shot 35 rounds with the 16# spring with no problems. Then, being a glutton for punishment, I put the 20# spring back in. The first round fired stove-piped, but it wasn't the fed round, it was the ejected casing. I then went another 34 rounds with no problems. It's possible that the gun is limbering up but I had shot a few hundred rounds through it previously.

I put the 16# spring back in and finished out the last 30 FMJs with no issues. I then fired 28 rounds of JHP without incident. The recoil felt a little sharper with the 16# spring but it stays in, for the time being.

Then we got down to business and shot off 4 clips in my friend's Garand.

[39flathead]

Just went the other day and put a couple boxes of PMC FMJ through it. I shot 35 rounds with the 16# spring with no problems. Then, being a glutton for punishment, I put the 20# spring back in. The first round fired stove-piped, but it wasn't the fed round, it was the ejected casing. I then went another 34 rounds with no problems. It's possible that the gun is limbering up but I had shot a few hundred rounds through it previously.

I put the 16# spring back in and finished out the last 30 FMJs with no issues. I then fired 28 rounds of JHP without incident. The recoil felt a little sharper with the 16# spring but it stays in, for the time being.

Then we got down to business and shot off 4 clips in my friend's Garand.

Glad to see you got it figured out.
Now I would call Wolff back and tell the guy that crapped on your gun that it was their shitty spring that was causing the problem and that you would like a refund.

[Grumpa72]

... Now I would call Wolff back and tell the guy that crapped on your gun that it was their shitty spring that was causing the problem and that you would like a refund.

The spring was bad, ordering the wrong spring was bad. Why do you suggest that the spring is at fault here? If I put 20" tires on a Honda Civic and the car drives like a POS does that make it the tire's fault?

[cinbud54]

I have had a Interarms ppk/s for about 20 years and just started shooting it about a year ago, first thing I noticed was that it would misfire, well I reload so........I decided to load some loads a little heavy, it helped a little, next thing on my list was to shoot it, and shoot it and shoot it. After about 4 to 5 hundred rounds, wiping the inside down an reoiling about every 50 rounds it shoots great , and as far as trigger pull if you need it you wont notice it.