Why I won't buy another Walther

[ctr]

Many are following the Smith & Wesson made Walther PPK & PPK/s recall sticky.

I called Customer Service for an update today. My PPK was received at their facility in the beginning of April. The Customer Service Rep stated that they will not begin the repair process on any of the recalled Walthers for another 6 - 8 weeks.

So, I'm without my pistol for a total of 12 + weeks, or basically, a good chunk of the year, without compensation. This is unacceptable customer service - actually, I would not even call it service.

I will not buy another Walther. Period.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[JerryM]

Not nearly as pretty, but the Makarov is a better gun. The East German Police used PPKs, and found them unreliable. Accordingly, they went to the Makarov. At least that is what I once read.

But you go from where you are, and I hope you get your gun back soon, and never have to send it back.

Regards,
Jerry

[DKJ57]

There is another reason why I won't buy Walther pistols. I bought a PPK/S new in October 2008. After only 63 rounds, it threw the extractor (I never did find it). I sent it to Walther America for repair and to be checked out. Got it back after three and a half weeks. They replaced the extractor, but there must be a bigger problem, something with the frame rather than the extractor itself, because after only seven rounds, it threw the extractor again. I sent it back to Walther America. In the meantime, the recall was announced. The pistol has been at Walther since the first week of February.

[JoeyBones]

I can't help but think that German-designed pistols are supposed to be manufactured in - Germany, not the U.S... Don't get me wrong, I'm patriotic - Heck, if I were buying a 1911, I wouldn't even think of buying one that wasn't at least assembled in the U.S...

For me, the same thing goes the other way around - I won't buy one of the new-production Sig, H&K, or Walther mainly b/c of the fact that they are no longer being made in Germany...

Best of luck in getting your pistol back ASAP... And I truly hope that they are able to properly diagnose and remedy the root cause of your extractor issues - Sounds like a frustrating situation, indeed, and I don't blame you one bit for vowing not to buy another Walther, after what your experience has been...

Regards,

Bones

[ripley16]

That eliminates some really good pistols from your inventory you know. Cutting your nose off...

[SubNine]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with Walther. The P99 seems like a nice gun, but I think I will stick with Glock and the Springfield XD series. I have no desire to own a Walther PPK. I am always open to other options, but it is hard to go to something else when I have something that works just fine. I am still looking at getting a SIG P229 though!

[ctr]

That eliminates some really good pistols from your inventory you know. Cutting your nose off...

Not hardly. I'm experienced with Walthers. Their track record from my ownership experience is unacceptable.

1st S&W PPK/s I owned failed to go into battery after only 200 rounds. Sent back for repair. Proved unreliable after repairs.

2nd S&W PPK/s I owned was also unreliable. Random failures to feed even after 1000 rounds, regardless of ammo or magazine.

S&W PPK - current in for warranty repair/recall.

Walther P22 - failure of slide to lock back after last round fired. Problem started at 1500 rounds. Sold it.

Walther PPS - no failures while owned, but since it is a Walther (see 1 & 2) I sold it.

If that is cutting my nose off, I'm better off without it.

[ripley16]

Not hardly. I'm experienced with Walthers. Their track record from my ownership experience is unacceptable.

1st S&W PPK/s I owned failed to go into battery after only 200 rounds. Sent back for repair. Proved unreliable after repairs.

2nd S&W PPK/s I owned was also unreliable. Random failures to feed even after 1000 rounds, regardless of ammo or magazine.

S&W PPK - current in for warranty repair/recall.

Walther P22 - failure of slide to lock back after last round fired. Problem started at 1500 rounds. Sold it.

Walther PPS - no failures while owned, but since it is a Walther (see 1 & 2) I sold it.

If that is cutting my nose off, I'm better off without it.

I can feel your pain, especially with the P22, I sold mine too, but I was thinking of some of the classic Walthers too; the PP, P5, P88, P99 for example. It sounds like your main beef is with Smith & Wesson.

[Nexttime]

The PPS in 9mm is a much different gun in terms of quality than the S&W PPK.

I love my PPS, it eats everything I throw into it. But I wouldn't trade my Interarms PPK for a S&W PPK.

[argy1182]

I bought a P22 a year ago to plink around with and get my wife comfortable with weapons in general. Not a bad pistol so far, but in hindsight, I would have bought something else. Not to sound too inarticulate, but the gun feels...breakable.

All in all, we're a glock family anyhow.

[retsupt99]

I had a new Walther a few years ago, the company ended up having to melt the gun down and remake it with the same serial #...it was returned as a new gun and sold as new...no more Walther's for me.
OMOYMV

[Rexster]

I don't think many manufacturers, if any, provide loaner guns. With all of BATFE's rules, it make not be legally practical to do so, anyway.

I have heard, over the years, of recalls and warranty service to take quite very long with other manufacturers, too. Try owning an HK, SIG, or Taurus, that needs service, and feel the LOVE. S&W and Ruger are examples of quite good CS, compared to others. (I say this as a devotee of SIG pistols; no fanboy mentality here!)

Owning only one handgun? I would not even consider such a thing! That is like not having a spare tire for one's car, or not having an emergency stash of funds put away somewhere. Yeah, it is possible to live that close to the edge, but why? I have five P229s; two for duty and CC, and one in reserve, with which I have also "qual'ed" for duty/CC. The other two are still in the break-in period. While this may seem extreme or extravagant, I know what it is like to shoot a bad guy, and my handgun have to live at a firearms examiner's lab for a while. I also know what it is like to have a previously reliable duty/carry pistol develop issues, and need tinkering. My personal minimum is three carry handguns, and even if I normally carried just one, instead of two, and did not wear a badge, I would still feel totally justified owning three carry guns.

[Saber]

Not hardly. I'm experienced with Walthers. Their track record from my ownership experience is unacceptable.

1st S&W PPK/s I owned failed to go into battery after only 200 rounds. Sent back for repair. Proved unreliable after repairs.

2nd S&W PPK/s I owned was also unreliable. Random failures to feed even after 1000 rounds, regardless of ammo or magazine.

S&W PPK - current in for warranty repair/recall.

Walther P22 - failure of slide to lock back after last round fired. Problem started at 1500 rounds. Sold it.

Walther PPS - no failures while owned, but since it is a Walther (see 1 & 2) I sold it.

If that is cutting my nose off, I'm better off without it.

I would agree, this is just cause to brand-bash, as I too had a P99 that locked-up. Initially I forgave it, since it just came out from service from my local gun shop. Still, I couldn’t trust it any more, so I sold it back to the store at a loss. Now, this was a long time ago so I thought it truly was a one-off thing. Well, here’s the PPK recall and all I can think of is my old experience.

Conversely, I really liked the PPS when I held and fitted it in my Thunderwear, and many of the PPS owners apparently love this pistol and have nice things to say regarding function and reliability.
Regards,

[ppkheat]

Man I need to change my member name !

Funny thing though I've had good service out of my PPK, I recently bought a PPS and it's been good also. I really don't CC the PPK since there are so many other good CCW's to choose from.

For those of you who are having problems with your PPK, I'm sure you have a legitimate gripe, it seems like a quality control issue?

[wjh2657]

A long time ago I went through a heart-rending experience twice with Interarms PPKs. The first one was a jam-a-matic. I just couldn't believed that the wonderful classic PPK (sexiest gun around then, Luger was out of production) could be that messed up. Must have a lemon, for after all, James Bond carried one! Second one developed one mechanical problem after another and was super ammo picky. I was buying a certain foreign ammo in one bullet weight and style as that was the only round it would feed. Went through the same experience again here lately with a pretty little .380 ammo from South America. Same issues again. Now own 5 S&W J Frames. Not as sleek or sexy, but d--n things work with all ammo. In this time of ammo shortage you may have to use other than your favorite ammo, J-Frame goes bang with all of them. I EDC and I need that warm fuzzy sound!