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Walther PPK and Interarms

Odesseus
Hi, I've been seeing a number of PPK's listed as being "made in USA" and they have the Interarms banner on the side. Were these truly USA made, or did Interarms just import them and stamp their banner and made in usa on the weapons? I didn't know Interarms had manufacturing capabilities, they were importers. Or did they have them made by a company in the USA? Thanks.

TH Gibbs
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • nmyers
    Interarms didn't discuss their business very much, so it's difficult to know exactly how they operated. The Interarms banner was stamped on W. German imports until 1968; after the ban, they began production in the US for Walther licensed copies. If you examine one closely compared with a W German gun, you can tell that the quality of the Interarms guns is inferior. I saw their facility from the outside, & it didn't appear to be a "factory" to me. My guess is that they contracted for the parts with one or more precision parts manufacturing companies, & did the assembly, testing & packaging at their own facility. This is still common practice in the US firearms manufacturing industry today.

    Neal
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  • Odesseus
    Thanks Neal. So, if you can find a pre-68, you can be pretty sure it was made in Germany and imported by Interarms? Have you had a chance to see/use any of the new PPK's being made by S&W in the US currently? Tommy

    TH Gibbs
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  • nmyers
    If it has a chamber date of 68 or less, it was made in W Germany. In addition, most of them will also be stamped "Made in W Germany". You may see some that were not intended for export. And, Interarms banner won't be on all guns that they imported.

    I haven't fired the guns made by S&W, & haven't heard any reports, either. They are like lobsters: protected from their greatest natural enemy by their high price. For what they charge, you can get a nice 9mm or .40 that is not much larger or heavier. But, as I've been told, S&W doesn't make many mistakes.

    Neal
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  • Xracer
    The "Walther" PPK has been manufactured by Walther in Germany, Manurhin in France, F.E.G. in Hungary, and now by Smith & Wesson in Houlton, Maine.....which is (just barely) in the U.S. [:D]

    http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_165_27/ai_105698452
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  • NOTPARS
    I recently sold an Interarms PPK/S. It was a nice gun but had sharp edges and didn't shoot as well as my Manurhin which is both flawless and accurate. I haven't tried a Smith yet. Sure wish I could get another Manurhin especially in PP (I kept the PPK/S)
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  • Pearyw
    The stainless steel PPK/S pistols that are marked made in usa, were made in Gadsten,AL. I have a PPK/S that was made there.
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  • jsergovic
    My 'Smith PPK/S took almost a brick of rounds to settle down, plus one trip to the factory for feed ramp polishing (warranty work).

    Along the way, a chipped titanium firing pin @ 300 rounds and a broken MIM ejector @ 450. The latter really surprised the techs, but in both cases, parts were mailed promptly.

    The return-to-factory shipping was pre-paid by Walther America.
    The gun appears 100% today, and gets continual use.

    True, they are sharp on the edges. 130 rounds was the most I fired at a time.
    Expensive, yes. But as an early purchase, I was led by a sense of fine machining.
    There are cheaper copies (Makarov) but the stainless PPK/S is a nice part of any collection.
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  • coreware
    Why were they banned from import after 1968? Was that when the "sporting test" was implemented or was it something to do with West Germany?
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  • nmyers
    It all goes back to the late '50's & early '60's when the anti-gun folks in Congress tried to save us from the scourge of "Saturday Night Specials". They couldn't really tell you what a SNS was, but they thought that they one when they saw it. So, in the mid '60's, they contracted with HP White Laboratories to destruction-test a wide range of handguns, looking for a common thread in the "bad" ones, such as small size, low price, non-ferrous frame, foreign made, etc. White's tests only proved that there was no way to identify SNS's, but that didn't stop Congress. They developed a point system for imports (they would have liked to apply it to ALL handguns) which gave points for "good" features, such as large size, adjustable sight, thumb rest, big bore, etc. This point system became part of the Gun Control Act of 1968.

    At least, that's the way I recall it.

    Neal
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  • rsnyder55
    Which is why we have the PPK/S, why Beretta 70S's came with grips with a thumbrest, etc.....
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