Over the last few months I’ve purchased a pair of FÉG Walther clones, one locally and one on GB.

The FÉG clones are not Walther PPs or PPK/Ss and are not finished to the same high standard as a German or French finished Walther, but they are very nice pistols in their own right and they seem to sell for around $300 in new condition, making them very good deals as shooters, given the rising prices of Walther PP series pistols in excellent condition.

The FÉG AP is a PP clone with the same general layout, barrel and slide length, but with a very slightly heavier feel to it, due to a bit more metal in the slide and frame, probably due to chambering of the 9x18mm Makarov in some of it’s predecessors.  

My AP is chambered in .380 ACP and when carrying the pistol I noted that it is only slightly heavier than a PP and the additional weight is not readily noticeable.  However when shooting it in .380 ACP, the extra weight is appreciated in terms of even better control than the PP offers in the same caliber.  In fact, I liked it almost as much as my PP in .32 ACP.

PP (top) and AP (bottom)



My AP was an Interarms import and while the box was missing the pistol appeared to be new and unfired, which is interesting given that Interarms went under almost 20 years ago.     The polish on the pistol was very nicely done with a very dark, almost black blued finish.   The lines were straight and the flats were flat and the over all impression was of a quality pistol.  

The very prominent and nicely done Interarms mark on the slide appears to be intended as more than just an import mark, but rather as a branding of the pistol, along the lines of what they did with their excellent Zastava made Mausers sold as the Interarms Mk X.    

The trigger felt very similar to a PP, but with just a bit of almost imperceptible creep.  I’d blame this on the firing pin safety, except my APK has the same feel to it, but lacks the firing pin safety.   This AP was marked  “Mark II” and my suspicion is that this references the firnign pin safety, at least on Interarms branded pistols.  

The firing pin safety is a very simple design and appears to be very similar to the safety used on the 48M.  The firing pin pivots so that the rear of the pin drops below the face of the hammer until the trigger is pulled.  As the hammer comes to full cock it raises almost in line with the hammer and as the trigger comes back after the hammer is released, it rises the rest of the way, creating a pistol that is drop safe if carried with the safety off to a degree that the PP is not.  

Firing pin detail in the slide:


Firing pin safety detail in the frame:


Left side detail:


Accuracy was very good for a small pistol with the pistol shooting 1.5” 10 shot groups at the 10 yard line and shooting to point of aim.   It’s not quite on par with my PP and PPK/S as both of them will shoot closer to 1” at that range, but it’s still good enough for it’s intended purpose and it seems to be by design.

I’ve noted that the FÉG AP series pistols have comparatively generous chambers in both .32 ACP and .380 ACP, which results in a loss of about 50-70 fps compared to their Walther PP and PPK/S cousins.  In addition, the more generous chambers and bores probably account for the slightly decreased accuracy.  However the payoff is relentless reliability and a pistol that is by no means a picky eater.   My AP ate everything I fed it and ate rounds that would not feed in my PP.  There is some cost involved for the reloader as the greater expansion of the brass in the slightly oversized chamber does shorten brass life.  

I fired about 150 rounds through the pistol on its first range session and it had zero failures.  

My overall impression of the pistol is very favorable.  It has slightly sharper and more angular lines than the PP, and the very dark blued finish is slightly less appealing than the rich blue on my Manuhrin PPs, but my Interarms marked AP was still very well made and demonstrated very high quality fit and finish.  

Given its mint condition, quality manufacture and excellent performance, the $280 I paid for it, it was almost a steal.   Given it’s reliability, accuracy and predictable trigger and reset, I’d seriously consider it as a concealed carry pistol.

My APK was imported by Tennessee Guns Inc. and is simply marked “AP” on the under side of the frame next to the TGI import mark.  It came new in the box and the manual also referred to it as an “AP”.   It is a PPK/S clone with a PPK length slide and barrel, with a PP length grip.

APK (top) and AP (bottom):



As noted above, my APK lacked a firing pin safety.

Detail in the slide:


Detail in the frame:


The APK uses the same magazine as the AP in the same calibers.  The AP/APK .32 ACP magazine holds 8 rounds and has seven witness holes in the side, compared to 7 rounds and six witness holes for the .380 ACP version of the magazine.   As noted above the .32 ACP lips are more pronounced and roll in farther from the edge of the magazine, keeping the smaller cartridge suitably low in the magazine.

Magazine lip differences, .380 ACP left, .32 ACP right


Performance on the range was identical to the AP mentioned above with the same ever so slight creep in the trigger.  It also had a similarly larger than normal chamber and would eat anything, including slightly over sized cast bullet loads that the PP would not reliably feed.   Accuracy was identical to the  AP and in .32 ACP it was very pleasant to shoot.  I’ve had this pistol awhile longer than the AP and have put upwards of a thousand rounds through it with no mis-feeds or failures when using the correct magazine.  

I tried the .380 ACP magazine from the AP as .32 ACP magazines are all but unobtainable, and it works fine until the last or second to last round, where the wider lips appear to release the round to early and at too steep an angle, allowing it to jam its nose into the corner between the barrel and top of the slide.

The quality of the pistol is still good with the same bluing as the AP. However there are some subtle differences in the polish.  The shoulder where the flats of the slide start into the curve over the top is just a bit wavy, when you cycle the slide manually you can hear the spring slide along the machining marks where the barrel was turned (where the AP’s barrel was polished smooth), and the points on the rear of the slide were left incredibly sharp (where the points on the AP’s slide were nicely rounds like they are on a PP).  It’s probably good that the tang is slightly larger on these two pistols (not S&W objectionably large) as it eliminates the slide bite that would otherwise be awesome with the two sharpened fangs at the rear of the slide.  

On the other hand if you end up at slide lock in a gunfight, you could turn it around, use it like a claw hammer and probably penetrate someone’s skull with the back of the slide.  It’s scary sharp.

I suspect the differences in finish and lack of the firing pin safety may reflect the price point preferences of the customer who ordered them.  In this case, the TGI import mark is hidden on the underside of the frame and is intended to be just that, a small import mark.    

Overall, I’m still impressed as it was a new, decently finished all steel pistol for $300 that performs as almost as well a Walther PPK/S (less picky with ammo, but slightly less accurate, and slight creep in the trigger) that would cost $500-$600.    

Some history of models and nomenclature

The pistols we are talking about here are the steel framed FÉG AP, a Walther PP clone, and the FÉG APK, a Walther PPK/S clone.  

The variations of the “Attila Pisztoly” FÉG pistols is a bit bewildering.  FÉG made similar military and commercial pistols in the form of:

1) the FÉG 48M, a steel framed near perfect copy of the PP with a high degree of parts interchangeability with the PP and chambered in 7.65mm;

2) FÉG Walam 48M, an Egyptian contract 48m where Walam is short for WAlther-LAMpart, where 'Walther' refers to its Walther PP origin, Lampart refers to FÉG's short lived post-WW2 name, Lámpagyár Rt;

3)  the RK-59 which is an aluminum famed PPK sized pistol with the short slide and the short grip;

4) the R-61 which is a PPK sized aluminum and titanium alloy framed version of the RK-59 (which resolved problems with cracked frames in the earlier all aluminum frame);

5) the military PA-63, which is chambered in 9x18 Makarov and uses a PP length slide and barrel on a left in the white aluminum/titanium alloy frame;

6) the commercial AP-63 which is the same pistol with a black anodized alloy frame and chambered in .32 ACP or .380 ACP, and a black anodized police version can be found stamped as AP-MBP;

7) the steel framed FÉG AP and APK.

The major visual difference between the PA-63 and AP-63 pistols and the AP and APK pistols is that the aluminum alloy and aluminum/titanium alloy framed FÉG Walther clone pistols all have a very pronounced hump on the back strap.   In contrast, the steel framed FÉG AP and FÉG APK pistols have a straight back and the steel framed 48 series pistols have the mildly curved Walther shaped back strap.

The nomenclature however gets even more confusing than it needs to be as people will call the commercial FÉG pistols “AP7” and “AP9” depending on the 7.65mm or 9x17mm caliber rather than “AP 63” “AP” or “APK”, without regard to the long or short slide

Then it gets really difficult as the FÉG Walther clone pistols were imported by Interarms, Century, Tennessee Guns Inc, and K.B.I.  They were not consistent in what they called them and K.B.I. in particular named them with 3 letter model designations that are the initials of Michael Kassnar’s family and key employees.  From a post by Michael Kassnar:

http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/threads/feg.55393/

“The PJK-9HP was named for my wife, Pamela Jane.
The MBK-9HP and MBK-9HPC were named for me.
The PMK-380 was named for my father, Paul Martin
The GKK-45, GKK-92 and GKK-92C were all named for my daughter.
The SMC-380, SMC-918 and SMC-22 were named for my sales manager at the time (who got jealous that I was naming all the guns after my family).”

So, the K.B.I. marketed R-61 can be found stamped “SMC” in SMC 918 and SMC 380 form and the K.B.I. marketed AP-63 can be found stamped as a PMK-380.


There are also differences in the steel framed AP and APK depending on when they were made as some will have a 48M style firing pin safety and others will not.   I have no idea why, other than possibly a cost cutting measure or something done at the request of the importer.  

FÉG redesigned the Walther PP pistol with a passive firing pin safety.  The rear of the firing pin of the FÉG is below the line of the hammer face when the hammer is uncocked, and raises up when the hammer is cocked and comes in line with the hammer face when the trigger is pulled further when the hammer falls.  To accommodate this the FÉG hammer face has a slightly profile.

While the 48M magazines interchange with the Walther PP, the later FÉG pistols use a different magazine with a tab on the left side of the magazine follower to activate the slide hold-open.  Pre-1945 Walther PP magazines and post-1945 Manuhrin PP magazines will fit the magazine well of a FÉG pistol, but they will not latch into place as the latch cut in FÉG and Walther magazines are in slightly different places.
That’s unfortunate as magazines can be hard to find for the PP and PPK/S sized 7.65mm caliber variants, but the 9x18 Makarov magazines for the PA-63 work fine in the .380 ACP caliber AP series pistols.  The 9x18 magazines almost work in the 7.65mm caliber pistols, but the cartridge is a bit loose in the lips and is raised a bit too high with the result that the last or second to last round will usually misfeed.  Bending the lips inward a bit might help, but I have not tried it as PA-63 magazines are available but are not exactly cheap.