Posted: 7/31/2012 10:51:46 AM EDT
| How come Walther has never gone to a full 9mm instead of 380 for the PPK? A 9mm PPK I would buy without hesitation but 380 I'm just not sold on the cartridge. |
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Because the PP series like the PPK are straight blow-back guns.
Blow-back pistols are suitable only for low pressure rounds like the .22LR, .32, and .380. What few blow-back pistols that were made in larger calibers had VIOLENT ejection and recoil. The only practical way to build a blow-back pistol in a more powerful round is to make it with a massive, heavy slide like a submachine gun. An example today are the cheap Hi Point crappy pistols that weigh a lot due to the huge slide. Without a locking system to keep the slide and barrel locked shut until pressures drop, they simply can't handle high pressure cartridges. The only thing keeping the PPK slide shut is the mass of the slide and the strength of the recoil spring. It's just not possible to build the PPK in a more powerful round, it just wasn't designed for that. |
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There have been a few straight blow back pistols in more powerful rounds.
Astra made the Model 400 pistol in 9mm Bayard Long, which could also fire the 9mm Steyr and 9mm Luger. Recoil isn't bad but ejection is violent. One test shooter noticed that the gun was ejecting cases so violently some where sticking mouth first in a oak door 20 feet away. |