Dear S&W/Walther...

[zachomega]

Dear Smith and Wesson/Walther USA,

I bought my PPK/S Aristocrat because I wanted a reliable gun for carrying. However, since owning this gun, it has been nothing but one problem after another. It constantly jams and fails to feed ammo at random. The quality of the SS is not very good either. With less than 300 rounds through it, the rails look worse than my used Beretta 92FS that was a former police gun with thousands of rounds through it. Then of course there was the hammer debacle where all guns for 9 years worth of manufacturing had to be sent back in to correct a potentially serious safety issue.

My gun was sent back and returned to me in dirtier condition than I had sent it in. I was not expecting a brand new gun, but would it have killed you to put an oiled patch through the barrel?

And despite the work order which stated that the feed ramp was polished, my gun still jams extremely frequently. The polishing job on the feed ramp looks like something done by a high school shop student with a dremel. When the gun jams, the slide doesn't quite make it all of the way forward most of the time. When I remove the magazine or shake the gun, the slide will complete its course.

This to me indicates a serious problem with the magazine; which I might add makes getting that 7th round into nearly impossible. In the off event that the gun actually chambers a round on the first try, when you try and remove the magazine it catches because the next round in the queue has moved forward a good 1/2 inch. This is clearly a major part of the problem. There is a friction point on the bottom of the firing pin assembly and the next round in the magazine which basically forces two rounds into the feed area at once. While I'm sure this problem will most likely remedy itself over years of frustrating shooting, this seems like the kind of thing that probably shouldn't happen on a new gun...and especially so on a new gun that is a limited edition weapon.

My makeshift solution thus far has been to disassemble the magazine and cut off 4 links on the spring and then stretch the spring back out to give enough force for the slide stop to catch the slide. Getting the 7th round into the magazine is still a pain in the ass, but at least it can be accomplished without deforming the casings of the difficult to find .380 ACP ammo. In case you were wondering, both factory magazines exhibit this problem although the magazine without the pinkie extension tends to give me more problems.

In closing, if James Bond had the same problems that I have been having, there would be no sequels.

Love,
-Zach

No, I did not really send this to Smith and Wesson/Walther, although I am seriously considering it.

[Dannytheman]

Sad, sad story for sure.

I have a PPK/s and a PPK and I have over 10,000 rounds through both of them over 10-15 years. I have never had a misfire, not one. And I shoot mainly reloads and carry Hydra Shock HP rounds for PP.

I would send your letter in to them, I really would. You might be surprised what happens.

Good luck.

[levib]

I'd take this a lot more seriously if you had already contacted S&W about these problems and given them a chance to fix them. Yes, the recall was a little poorly handled, but they did have 9 years worth of guns to fix and they took that responsibility; there are some companies that may not have.

Good luck.

[zachomega]

You are right. Sent to Walther America.

I have nothing to lose.

-Zach

[netw0rkpenguin]

I have a walther/sw PPS in my junk gun drawer. Theyre not getting my $ again.

[zachomega]

I have a walther/sw PPS in my junk gun drawer. Theyre not getting my $ again.

Just curious, but could you clarify?

Thanks,
-Zach

[netw0rkpenguin]

Just curious, but could you clarify?

Thanks,
-Zach

I talked to the rep, told him the trigger was complete crap. He shrugged and said they know, and no there is no fix for it. I fired 200rds got a few failure to feeds but that could just be breakin cycle.

I will not support companies that knowingly put out crappy products. I paid good money expecting more or less a single stack glock, what I got was a piece of crap that isnt fun to shoot and not reliable enough to carry - hence its in my junk gun drawer.

[synergy]

Those guns have never run well.

I wouldn't mind getting it back dirty, but they need to fix it, or give you your money back.

I hope you didn't sign it with "love"...

S&W customer service is pretty good, but if you act like a dick...I wouldn't expect stellar results.

[devinsdad]

I feel your pain. I have a P22 that I sent it back for shooting 3 inches below point of aim, rear sight loose, and FTF pretty much all .22 ammo. They put on a different front sight, didn't touch the rear sight, and told me to shoot CCI mini-mags. I do, and it does shoot them, put still hangs up an bulk ammo. I have come to the point of superglueing the rear sight down. I got this pistol for my son to start shooting with. Fits his hand beautifully. I'm just pissed that S&W/Walther stamps their name on what I feel is a pretty sub-par handgun. Good luck with yours!

[zachomega]

So far my experience with S&W customer service has been one involving my Walther being sent in, returned about a month later - not bad - although I also didn't send it in until I heard other people were getting their guns back. Funny enough, I sent my PPK/S in after a friend of mine and received mine back weeks before they did.

My gun was returned to me pretty dirty. As you mentioned, not the end of the world. I would have cleaned it before I shot it anyway. But when I was working in customer returns, we always made it a point to return the product in the same shape we received it and sometimes in better shape if we could.

I did sign with love. The only difference between what I sent them and what I posted was I also included the serial number of my gun in the signature. I'm don't know what to expect at this point. Usually when I write a griping letter, I try and have some course of action that would remedy the problem, but in this case, I just can't think of what that would be.

I can understand how they can't exactly give me my money back. I didn't buy the gun from them. I used to work in a warehouse and we had this problem where people would return products to us directly instead of through their dealer and then tell us that we should refund them or credit them. It usually isn't as simple as that. I suspect even in the off chance they offer to send me a replacement magazine, that isn't going to solve the problem. And if they ask to see the pistol again, then what? I send it back for how many more weeks and have it returned to me in unknown working condition?

Another thing that bothers me about the Walthers is the limited 1 year warranty. That is kind of crappy. S&W revolvers have lifetime warranties. These guns are made by Smith and Wesson...why not offer the same warranty?

It sucks. Plain and simple. This is what I would consider a feedback email. If enough people let a company know that their product sucks, maybe they will make it better in the future...perhaps not for me, but for the next poor unsuspecting schmuck who decides to buy a Walther.

Additionally, while I can respect a company who has good customer service when the customer is pleasant to deal with, I rate a company's performance based on how they deal with irate customers who feel swindled. I wasn't angry in the email...quite sarcastic sure...but as I said before, I have nothing to lose. As it stands now, the gun is basically a pretty paperweight.

-Zach

Those guns have never run well.

I wouldn't mind getting it back dirty, but they need to fix it, or give you your money back.

I hope you didn't sign it with "love"...

S&W customer service is pretty good, but if you act like a dick...I wouldn't expect stellar results.