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Hope I didn't get this in the wrong topic..

I have a cousin who works at Gander Mountain. Stopped in to see him today and asked about a good concealed carry weapon (my first handgun, by the way), and he pulled out a .308 Walther PPK. It felt really nice in my hand and was a pretty good looking gun altogether, however, I've heard that .308 ammo is scarce, and I don't like the idea of having to line up at 7AM the morning shipment comes in just to get a few boxes of ammo. Does anyone have a recommendation on whether or not it would be a good idea to buy this gun?

Samurai Blur wrote:Hope I didn't get this in the wrong topic..

I have a cousin who works at Gander Mountain. Stopped in to see him today and asked about a good concealed carry weapon (my first handgun, by the way), and he pulled out a .308 Walther PPK. It felt really nice in my hand and was a pretty good looking gun altogether, however, I've heard that .308 ammo is scarce, and I don't like the idea of having to line up at 7AM the morning shipment comes in just to get a few boxes of ammo. Does anyone have a recommendation on whether or not it would be a good idea to buy this gun?

I think you have the caliber wrong. It is .380, rather than .308. As far as I know ammo availability isn't an issue. I wouldn't recommend buying it, but not for the reason of scarce ammo. Others will give better first hand information about the Walther PPK. Reliability is more important than good looks. This applies to handguns too.

First of all, I think the caliber of the Walther is .380 acp. or 9mm shurz, .308 is a rifle cartridge.

You'd be better served with a 9mm luger, IMO. The pistol may be a little larger; however, ammo is more readily available and cheaper tham .380. I'm mighty partial to my XD 9 SC. If you find one, it'll run you about $500 NIB.

Oldgringo wrote:First of all, I think the caliber of the Walther is .380 acp. or 9mm shurz, .308 is a rifle cartridge.

Actually 9 mm Kurz. Kurz is the German word for "short." Even though I sometimes carry a .380 ACP Sphinx, I think a 9 mm is a better choice. Today, there are so many choices of small 9 mm pistols.

WildBill,

Thank you for correcting the typo caused by my extreme dyslexia and/or lack of typing skills.

Now that's out of the way, the spelling on the slide of my SS Sig P230 SL says 9mm kurz.

Oldgringo wrote:WildBill,
Thank you for correcting the typo caused by my extreme dyslexia and/or lack of typing skills.

It appears I suffer from the same afflictions.

In the last two months I have had the occasion, twice, to shoot the 9 mm Beretta PX4 Storm Subcompact, 13 Rds. I have never liked Beretta's but this gun is sweet. Small, light, accurate and very easy to shoot. As soon as the holster makers catch up, I may just have to buy one.

BTW Samurai - welcome to the Texas CHL Forum.

Another vote for the 9mm.

.380 ammo is nearly as expensive as .45; both are much more (nearly 50% more) expensive than 9mm.

If you're really stuck on the Walther, skip past the .380 PPK and get the Walter PPS in 9mm.

To clear up confusion; Yes I did mean to type .380, not .308. A wrong slip of the hand.

I have owned a PPK/s for 25 years, and just recently got a PPS. The K is ideal for appendix carry in a light holster. its a dress gun. The PPS is a little bigger, more powerful and lots lighter. Still waiting on a holster for it to see how it carries.
Both have been completely reliable so far.

Stopping power is important, but you might need to think about some other factors, particularly weight and recoil. If you gonna carry this thing, you may not be comfortable, but you should avoid being uncomfortable, if you know what I mean. The .380s are, for the most part, lighter and easier to conceal. The smaller 9mm pistols are light and easy to conceal, but their recoil may cause you trouble bringing the pistol back onto the target for your second and subsequent shots. I prefer a little heavier gun (a Beretta Model 84 .380 and a Beretta Model 9000S 9mm, 23 and 26 oz. respectively, plus ammo). You can get good HP ammo for both, but neither are one-shot stoppers, thus my concern for accurate follow-on shots.

LarryH is right - 9mm is the most common handgun caliber in the world, and the ammo is much more available and inexpensive than anything other than .22 LR. If you're gonna carry, you need to practice, and cheap ammo is the key to being able to shoot often.

A good holster and belt will go a long way in making concealed carry more confortable, or less uncomfortable. I like Ranger belts (Google it) for their style, width, and support. I recently bought two from Tony Lama that have turned out to be ideal.

Finally, talk to a lot of people, look around the web, and gather as much information as you can, but remember that it's all personal preference. What's good for me or anyone else on the forum may not work for you.

I have a PPK and love it i never had to change my style of clothes or go out of my way to get the perfect holster. There are better guns for carrying though. Some guns are too small like ones you cannot hold comfortably and accurately aim. Others can be too big like a full sized 1911. But i think size wise the PPK is about right for most people.

As others have said here the .380 ACP is a 9mm round with less power behind it. It is a good round but will not stop every goblin you come across. Then again neither will a .45 if you can't hit them or can only carry it in the car because it is so big. The light round makes recoil negligible and even the smallest woman will be able to fire it without problem.

It is all preferences I will keep carrying my PPK until i can afford something better.

somedudefromhouston wrote:I have owned a PPK/s for 25 years, and just recently got a PPS. The K is ideal for appendix carry in a light holster. its a dress gun. The PPS is a little bigger, more powerful and lots lighter. Still waiting on a holster for it to see how it carries.
Both have been completely reliable so far.

I have an FEG PA-63, which is a PPK clone, chambered in 9x18 (aka 9mm Makarov). It is my dress gun, simply because I don't have a rig for my Hi-Power that works well with a suit. I carry it as my primary on dressy occasions, either in an IWB holster (when wearing a suit) or in a holster shirt (when it's just a dress shirt and slacks).

The most common issue people have with the PPK (and the PA-63 as well) is slide bite. This is especially true if you have beefy hands. Specifically, the slide tends to abrade the area just behind the web of your hand when it travels rearward upon recoil. With a lot of practice on my grip technique, I was eventually able to minimize the problem, but I still developed calloused skin there from all the scraping. It was my first handgun, and the first 1200 rounds or so, it drew blood every range session. It's a bit gruesome when cleaning the gun and seeing blood and tiny bits of skin collected along the bottom of the left rear slide serrations. Like I said, I have beefy hands, so your experience may vary.

I started looking for a PPS about a week ago. I took some advice from you guys and decided not to get the PPK/S. I went to Gander Mountain again today to ask if they had a PPS since no one in my city has any, and they told me that the PPS and PPK/S had been recalled and they couldn't sell me one. They said they had no idea why it had been recalled. Does anyone have some insight about this? I can't find anything online about it. I'm really just thinking about getting a Taurus Millenium Pro PT111 and being done with my handgun search.

I have a .380 and I cannot put more than 25 rounds through it without it starting to tear up my hand. Being a woman with very small hands, I thought it would be the best fit. WRONG. I now have a Glock 19 and a Taurus Millennium Pro 111. I can put boxes of ammo through these two and never feel it. To be truthful, I like my Taurus better than my Glock - I shoot much better with it. Probably because with my small hands, it just feels better. I will still keep my Glock though.