Walther Pk380

[KoreanCowboy]

Ok, so after I was semi duped into buying a Walther Pk380 by the salesman, I did some researching and found that it's not the best little gun in the world. Then after the first firing where 10 out of 28 misfires(ammo was from 3 different boxes and all of the misfires ended up fired in my buddies PPK), I learned that it was not the best little gun in the world or even close! After some hassles with Walther and Smith and Wessen it was determined that I should disassemble the gun and thoroughly clean it. This did seem to work as I haven't had a misfire since. So, my question is does anyone have 1 of these and if so what sights do they have on theirs? The factory sights are TERRIBLE!!

 

[mwlabel]

I had one and sold it to my BIL.

When I looked for new sights, I did not find any. I'm not sure if that is still the case today. If you run into the same problem, I recommend getting model airplane paint in a very bright color, and hitting the front post with that.

 

[stukibuilt]

Ouch, sorry to hear about the bad purchase. It's not a horrible gun, and they do have a devoted following. My advice now that you've shot it a little and don't really care for it is to sell it privately before it gets any significant wear. That said, needing to clean it beforehand isn't all that odd or uncommon.

mwlabel is on point with the paint on the front sight post. You can also have the sight machined with a tritium vial insert, but that's more money then I would throw at that pistol if you don't have an emotional attachment to it... If you buy from a shop, make sure they have a range and rental guns. Usually if you are buying they will comp rental fees and it's the only way to buy a new gun and still "try before you buy."

 

[NickThePyro]

My dad has a PK and PPK and they both shoot fine. It has bad sights and destroys the hand right by the hammer, but is still a fun gun. It is more of a novelty because you can carry it in your pocket, but still can get the job done if need be.

 

[KoreanCowboy]

Thanks guys. It was the second gun I bought. Wasn't real familiar with guns and pretty impulsive. I learned to stick with the Glocks if I don't know anything about the gun. I'll try the painting of the sights. Thanks MW. It just sucks when you feel like you made a bad purchase. Always feel like a sucker!

 

[jdwaynes1980]

Try glow-on.com

I've been using this stuff for several years, and I'm always extremely happy with the results.

I use it on gun sights, and so many other things.

 

[mwlabel]

It just sucks when you feel like you made a bad purchase. Always feel like a sucker!

Never a sucker; it just seemed like a good idea at the time.

The good news is that they are easy guns to sell if you decide not to keep it. Even non-shooters buy them for the James Bond nostalgia.

 

[mdwest]

a lot of pistols chambered for .380 and .32 acp are malfunction prone.. stovepipes, double feeds, misfeeds, etc.. are honestly pretty common in those caliber...

1) break in the pistol before making a final decision... its a machine/tool.. it takes a while for the surfaces that have friction points to smooth out/get slick, etc....

2) until the pistol is broken in.. use round nose, ball ammo only.... sadly, you may be limited to ball ammo in the pk380 period.. many .380's simply cant reliably feed hollow points or other "protection" ammo reliably.. the feed ramps are too steep, and the bullets are to short/wide.. but thats the only way to keep the gun compact/small by design..

my little keltec p32 was terribly bad about misfires for the first 250 rounds or so...

but today, she is slicker than owl snot... I havent had a hang up of any sort in probably 1000 rounds at this point..

fires ball ammo... and 102 grain golden sabers like a champ...

 

[mwlabel]

Dave brings up a good point: ball ammo in .380 guns.

Hollow point .380 ammo can't make the FBI base line for expansion, and very rarely can it make the base line for penetration.
Decent ball ammo will at least make the penetration mark quite consistently.

 

[mdwest]

If youre gonna shoot a "mouse gun".... I STRONGLY recommend that you go with the heaviest bullet your pistol will reliably fire.. at the highest possible velocity (with weight being more important than speed)...

mwlabel is right.. .32's and .380's have a hard time reaching vitals as it is... add in a 265lb dude in a thick/heavy leather biker jacket.. and youre gonna be REALLY pressed to do much more than piss him off unless youre at bad breath distance with him when you pull the trigger.. ..

I own a .32... but it is my Back Up Gun (BUG).. I do not recommend them (or anything smaller than a .38 or 9mm) as a primary except in extreme circumstances (deep cover.. or in an environment where concealment garmets are an issue (the beach/gym, etc..).. people that are super recoil sensitive (debilitating disease like arthritus, etc..)...)..

 

[jdwaynes1980]

My S&W Bodyguard .380 misfired 80% with a box of some shit ammo when I first bought it. I've used nothing but Hornady's Critical Defense, and Zombie Max since then, and have never had an issue through several hundred rounds.

 

[vperlman]

With small, light semiautos, you really need to make sure you aren't limp wristing; they are very unforgiving. If you decide to keep it and want to reduce the wear and tear on your hand, try a slip-on grip, like a Hogue Handall (or Handall, Jr., I'm not sure which will fit better) or Pachmayr. I carry a Kel-tec P3AT as my "summer gun" and have never had a mis-fire with it, so mouseguns can be reliable once you have them set up and handled correctly. If you don't love the gun, though, I would get rid of it and buy something else, as long as money isn't a critical issue. JMO, YMMV.

 

[stukibuilt]

Vic is right about limp-wristing with such small guns. Its the single most common issue I've seen in shooting mouse guns. I used to be of the school that would only carry a 38+P or 9mm, but like what mdwest mentioned my current work has inhibited my ability to carry larger pistols. Hell, I used to carry a 10mm all day every day. Comparing that to my daily 380 is like racing a pro street blown nova against a smart car with a 400lbs passenger... That said, the best defensive gun is the one you carry. I know guys who swear by those NAA .22mags, but I could never bring myself to go that small. My P380 is where I draw the line. I had a KelTec P32, even had it hardchromed out at Tripp's. All I would shoot was ball in the .32, but Hornady makes some decent carry 380, or if you want horsepower you can go with DoubleTap which is running 975fps out of a KelTec or LCP with ball... Not too shabby...

mwlabel, the pk380 was never in a bond movie. The p99 was, but he was traditionally shown with the PPK, which is not the same platform at all as I'm sure you know. The pk380 is more like the walther p22 and p99 had a child... FWIW, I will never understand why they didn't use a Browning Hi Power for a British spy...

 

[vperlman]

Since we seem to be thread-drifting slightly, I'll go with the flow :wink:. Regarding calibers, I spend a lot of time with a medical examiner who has autopsied thousands of shooting victims. She says that she has seen plenty of people killed with .22's. It's really about shot placement (and/or luck). Hell, she's even autopsied a guy who was killed with a bb gun (interesting story). Of course, since I like to play the odds, I always carry the largest caliber I can, consistent with good concealment (typically a P3AT in hot weather, a Springfield XDs .45 in cold weather and a Kahr CM9 for everything in between).

Regarding self-defense ammo, modern rounds get decent expansion out of JHP's even from short barreled .380's, and some manufacturers sell SD rounds specifically made for such guns. I usually carry Hornady Critical Defense or Speer Gold Dots. My medical examiner friend says that the biggest hole she ever saw in a body was from a Speer Gold Dot and that the cops at the scene were blown away. I'm not sure what size it was, but that was enough of an endorsement for me.