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    #1

    Walther ppk W suffix

    Hi guys,
    I stopped by a pawn shop yesterday where I chanced upon a ppk rig. It turned out to have a W suffix rather than the standard K. It was made sometime in '39 and it came with a single finger extension mag and a nice unmarked brown holster. The pistol is in pretty nice shape however I think the seller refreshed the red safety dot with a grease pencil. From what I've read these occur in the 185,000-196,000 range and are not often seen. Here are some pics.

    Best regards,
    Len





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    #2
    Len , very nice rig ! can't complain about this one.
    lucky you !! jeff

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      #3
      It is a shame to have a potentially interesting thread started and then gutted by the removal or unavailability of the photos. I found the same thread posted on two other forums, one of which had the photos unavailable, but the others were still there. This is a good discussion material about an unknown Walther serial production PPK. Here are three of the photos.





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        #4
        Joe,

        Thanks for finding the photos and posting them; I too was upset to see them removed.

        Nice looking gun and I would enjoy learning more abou the "W" suffix guns. Are there any theories floating around on the "W" suffix?

        Comment

          #5
          I've checked my research sources and so far have come up with a blank. I too have never seen a "W" suffix before.
          Jim

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            #6
            Last night I was thinking the same thing = W ?? today my little book shows nothing.
            so I to have no clue too.
            jeff

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              #7
              I think everyone has wondered about this odd suffix. Mine is in the 187,xxx range and in similar condition. Walther most often used the serial suffix to denote a model name: K-Kriminalpistole, P-Polizeipistole, A-Model 8 (Acht) and so forth. But the W is a mystery. It is hard to ascribe factory error to so many pistols that appear in two rather tight serial ranges.

              Comment

                #8
                Joe - I'm with you: the "W" suffix is not an accident or mistake. As the gun itself is (I assume) otherwise mechanically identical to other PPK's, I am inclinded to think that "W" suffix was intended to designate this particular range of PPK's as being for a specific customer (much like the extra SN applications we see used on the SS PPK's).

                How many of these have been reported? Are reported examples linked to any specific geographic areas or other common denominators that might give some clue as to where the guns were originally issued/used?

                I'm guessing that this must have been a really special batch of PPK's for Walther to go to the trouble of setting aside a unique SN range as, to my knowledge, no other PPK's exhibit their own separate SN range.

                Any further thoughts from our resident Walther experts?

                Comment

                  #9
                  I am answering though I am certainly not an expert. But you forget the RZM series? The main production effort of that contract was a separate SN range. I know of no period documentation that would link these guns to any areas or common denominator. The only other use of the "W" serial suffix is the Walther Sportmodell .22lr rifles.

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