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- Umarex Walther PPK/S BB pistol
- Jungle Jim Jam's review
Have a picture of Umarex Walther PPK/S BB pistol?, please send it to us.
Picture courtesy of Stewart Curtis.
| Value for Money | 8.3/10  |
|---|---|
| Reviewer Rating | 7.9/10 |
| Overall Rating | 7.9/10  |
By Jungle Jim Jam
on 17th Apr 2007
| Value for money | 5/10 |
|---|---|
| Overall value | 5/10 |
 Jungle Jim Jam's recommendation | |
Blow-back semi-automatic self-cocking action, mostly metal, mostly exact detailing.
Lots of plastic components, very poor safety-catch detailing, extremely inaccurate to the point of being dangerous.
Umarex PPK.
Like the rest of the Umarex CO2 gun line, this is both a replica of a real firearm and a working airgun. Where it differs from the other guns in their range is that instead of firing pellets from a rotary clip in a concealed revolver mechanism it uses BB's in a stick magazine and a reciprocating "blow-back" mechanism. It also has a smooth brass barrel rather than their usual rifled steel.
The real Walther PPK originated in the PP designed in 1929 as a weapon for the German police. A small frame "pocket" pistol, it has been widely copied and remains in production, particularly in the U.S.A. There have been a number of variants, including the TPH, which is even smaller.
The specimen that I have is the "black" one. My particular one is not really black, but a very dark brown, with an apparently anodised finish that looks good but scratches very easily to reveal shiny metal underneath. Personally, a finish that "wears" rather than being permanently shiny and new appeals to me visually and in the appreciation of a replica. It is one reason why plastic, which only gets rough and tatty when scratched, cannot look as good as metal in a replica, unless painted in some way. There are methods of doing that, but it's not a topic for this review. Of course, the real PPK is not black but blued steel ( or stainless ). A result not possible on the "spelter" used in Umarex CO2 pistols.
There is another version with a nickel slide, which I have not seen. Sadly, there is no version with nickel frame as well as slide. The real PPK is available in such an all stainless version but I do not know that there is one factory produced with nickel slide on a blued frame.
The CO2 bulb is inserted into the grip of the gun and tightened by a large knob under the butt. Many people have objected to the way the knob looks. Certainly a ring or lanyard swivel would have looked more in keeping with the general era of the gun. I have read that you can remove the knob and replace it with a driver-operated screw. That is a risky proposition, only for the technically confident. Personally, I don't mind the knob but I do object to another detail. That is the safety catch. Whilst the real gun has a slide mounted catch, on the left, the CO2 pistol has a lever on the right of the frame. OK so far as it goes. But the original, inert, slide mounted catch is very poorly reproduced. It is simply part of the moulding as you would expect on a cheap airsoft model. Whilst the knob under the grip is in addition to the appearance of the real gun ( which one can ignore with the thought that, this is the PPK, plus a knob ) and the same can be thought of the operating safety, the poor reproduction of the real safety is ruinous for the overall value of this gun as a replica. Whilst the internal mechanism precludes locating the active safety where it is on the real gun ( or does it, bearing in mind that Baikal do that on their similar Makarov CO2 model ) they might at least have made the detail as a separately attached piece rather than a poorly differentiated moulding on the side of the casting. Moreover, whilst the operating safety is marked with a nice inset red dot ( much smarter than a blob of paint and an admittedly sweet detail ) the red dot indicating "fire" mode on the real gun is not simulated at all on the fake safety. Presumably to prevent user confusion between the real and fake safety catches.
The overall look and feel of the gun is good and quite realistic. The grip plates are well reproduced and the trade-marks nicely inscribed ( although with additional inscriptions peculiar to the fact that it is a CO2 pistol, such as "Read the manual before use", etc ). There are some very exact details around the gun, such as the subtle nip between the front sight blade and the textured rib along the top of the slide. But the poor detail of the fake safety-catch really spoils the whole result. Nor does it help to find that the breech block visible through the fairly well reproduced ejection port is black plastic. A soft, inappropriate looking plastic at that. The outer barrel is sadly made of this same cheap looking plastic. I applied a thin layer of Plastikote chrome effect paint to those components in mine, producing a vastly superior dull metal effect. To do this requires stripping the gun, which is very easy indeed. Remove gas and magazine, cock the hammer, pull down the trigger guard and lift the slide back and off. It as simple as that. There is one large, weak, not easily lost return spring inside. Very easy procedure for maintenance or clearing jams, although I doubt either is likely to be needed.
One aspect of this design, which is the same as on the real gun, is that the trigger guard is not fixed but microscopically moveable. This makes the attachment of a laser to the trigger-guard, as widely advertised, rather a silly scheme.
Unfortunately, the heel of the grip frame is made entirely of that shiny, soft-looking plastic, being the floor of the butt, the bottom of the back strap and part of the block that contains the CO2 screw.
When it comes to loading the gun, the spring-loaded grip plate removes easily but is quite irritatingly fiddly to replace. Although it does grip very steadily once back in position. However, the stick magazine is incredibly feeble and fragile seeming. More feeble than the feeblest airsoft stick magazine. I sense it will snap in two very easily. I mean, you won't need to accidentally step on it when it disappears into the ( even recently mown ) grass of the lawn, but just holding it without great care could, I fear, snap this pathetic effort. Compared to the solid steel magazine of the roughly similar Baikal Makarov CO2 pistol, this effort is simply a joke. Hilarious until you realise you have paid good money for it. Moreover, had those German engineers the ingenuity with which they are credited, they could have produced an all in one, full-size, gas and BB mag like that on the Baikal, rather than this feeble stick and removable grip effort. In mitigation, I must concede that the Makarov is modelled on a double stack grip that is a good bit wider than that of the PPK. Nonetheless, this magazine is very disappointing.
On top of this, the loading of the magazine, never a fun operation on any pistol, is here an incredible chore. BB's fly everywhere. You have to use either tweezers or needle nose pliers. Then they are also reluctant to go down the chute. You have to hold back the follower with the thumb of the other hand. Frequently they jump out again or go right through the other side. One slip with that thumb and out they whoosh.
I have used the gun with both steel and lead BB's. The lead that magazine really does not like. They won't go down the chute unless you use the tip of a pen inserted into the slot at the side to drag them! You can almost hear them "kicking and screaming"
When it comes to firing the gun, the trigger is very light and the action delightfully smooth altogether. However, it is incredibly inaccurate. With steel BB's they scatter so far and wide that it would, again, be hilarious, were it not positively dangerous. Pellet trap you say? Back-stop? Don't kid yourself. The gun is so inaccurate that at five paces it'll miss a target completely, hit the edges of the pellet trap and ricochet unpredictably. At ten metres, it'll go wide of the back-stop even. Well, I assume so: I have never had the nerve to fire this gun at anything more than about five metres, it feels so unpredictable as to where the shot will strike.
The secret behind this dreadful performance lies in that pathetic smooth-bore brass barrel.
Incidentally, the trigger is single action only. Whereas the real PPK has double action ( in which trigger cocks as well as releasing the hammer ) the trigger of the CO2 gun only releases a pre-cocked hammer. Which means that the first shot must be cocked manually, by thumbing the hammer or racking the slide. For subsequent shots this is no issue as the slide cocks the hammer for you. This is a genuine semi-automatic mechanism. The other Umarex guns are in reality revolvers disguised as semi-auto's.
Although evidently designed for steel BB's and the magazine hates lead shot, the gun itself shoots much better with them. In spite of that smooth-bore barrel. Even so, the best "grouping" you can expect is about five centimetres at three metres. I am comparing performance with the similar Baikal Makarov, same ammunition at five metres, yielding a group of about 2.5cm! I expect a lot of plinkers who miss a tin can with this gun assume that it's their fault rather than due to the inaccuracy of the weapon. The gun is fast, and therefore "fun", but ultimately unsatisfactory when you realise that it shoots less well than you do! Almost uniquely in air-gunning. As a plinker, this puts it in the same category as a fun-fair gun.
I have read that it is possible to switch the barrel for a rifled one from another gun ( a Daisy ) and use lead shot with vastly improved accuracy ( as well as more power ). However, this project is not straightforward as the barrel is not easily removed and you could end up with a pair of pistols that don't shoot at all!
The shooting experience is quite fun, at first. But soon gets familiar. There is a lack of vigour about the gun. Not much kick even from the recoiling slide. It is also too quiet. I am not that bothered about the power of a gun, but for what it's worth, with lead shot, this baby only punched to about 50 pages of the phone book compared to my Baikal Makarov's 300 pages of penetration! Same book, same shot, roughly the same distance. Herein is a clue to the feebleness of the gun. Much of the gas is put into the blow-back mechanism and cocking the hammer.
I have not kept precise count, but my impression is that you get roughly fifty usable shots from one CO2 bulb.
If you want to experience that blow-back and a genuine semi-auto operation, then that is the strongest point of this item. Outside of airsoft, in which blow-back has been standard for quite a while, there are really very few airguns that do this. Some pretend to. The Umarex Desert Eagle still has a revolver mechanism hidden inside its fake semi-auto blow-back. The Gamo V3 actually uses the trigger mechanism to shunt back the slide. There was in the 'Sixties a Crosman that had a real semi-auto mechanism firing pellets, but the only one I know of from recent times is the Daisy Powerline 2003. I have one of these: seven inch rifled steel barrel, firing flat-heads from a thirty shot helical magazine. Very complex and very fragile. Also no longer in production and more of a collection piece than a user. I shall write about it another time.
A distinctive quality of the genuine semi-auto mechanism is the lightness of the trigger, the mechanism being cocked for the next shot by each blow-back of the slide. This is something that the revolver mechanism in the fake semi-auto's made by Umarex could never compare with. However, if this is an experience you seek, I would suggest that a good airsoft gun would be an alternative to consider. There are also very many to choose from, some cheaper than this, many all metal ones and many of them better replicas. Although they fire plastic BB's from a smooth-bore barrel, the good ones are more accurate than this. My WE Colt is louder and has more kick as well as being more accurate, with a realistic magazine and cheaper operating costs. Heck, even my electric airsoft Glock pistol made in China shoots more accurately, albeit without blowback ( but with a ripping full auto mode ). A few airsoft blow-back guns can also be operated with CO2 instead of the usual aerosol gas.
As a collector, I appreciate this gun for it's feel, operation, general appearance and look. It is an interesting object to handle and good as an example of...well, German CO2 guns at the end of the 20th Century. It is indicative of the terms in which the gun does appeal that it has grown on me as I have been writing about it, re-examining it in detail.
However, it is not a gun I can recommend except within those parameters. That is to say, no collection would be complete without it and it is also a fun gun for the once in a blue-moon shooter ( whether it is safe in such hands being a different matter ). But it is not suitable as a dedicated tool for a serious, enthusiastic shooter who wishes to invest in but one pistol with which to practice.
Many of the gun's deficiencies are due to it having clearly been made to sell cheaply. However, the Baikal Makarov, a very similar gun ( sometimes referred to as a Russian copy of the PPK ) is not much more expensive and is superior in every respect although lacking the blow-back mechanism. If you must have blow-back, however, I would again advise considering an air-soft pistol for the same price or even less than that at which the Umarex PPK sometimes sells. Which leads to my last point. The price for this gun varies hugely. In the UK, the cheapest I know of is £55 from DAI Leisure Pursuits ltd. But most retailers ask for nearer £80. Some even higher. At £55 it is a good buy. At the higher prices, less so.
| Helpful | Unhelpful | Agree | Disagree |
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| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total Respect: +1
Would you like to see a review that's not being listed?
drjod
on 13th May 2008