Article: Walther PPKS: American style; S&W's Version "1" of this distinguished design fixes some previous faults and raises the bar for Walther.

Historically, the Walther PP was the first commercially successful double-action semiautomatic pistol. Since its introduction in 1929, the basic Walther design has been produced in Germany, France, the U.S.A. and copied in a number of other places.

We think the compact pistol is an American invention and we are wrong. Walther did it in 1931 with the PPK. Then in 1968, to comply with restrictions of the Gun Control Act of 1968, the PP frame was combined with the PPK slide and presto, we have the PPK/S. The letters come from the German: Poliziepistole and Poliziepistole Kriminal. I always thought it was for "kurz" which is German for "short."

Both of the ...

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