The Real Reason British Intelligence Chose the Walther PPK Over Their Own Pistols

Comments · 233

• FI

  @firearmsvault · 2 weeks ago · pinned

  Which firearm do you think had the biggest impact on history—and why? 🔥<br>Drop your answer below! 👇 I’m curious to see which one gets mentioned the most.<br>👍 Enjoyed the video? Hit LIKE and SUBSCRIBE for more fascinating stories from history!

• DA

  @DavidLittle-o7l · 3 weeks ago

  Good afternoon<br>I have just seen this item and feel compelled to inform viewers about what really happened in the Mall when a protection officer had to use his Walther PPK and it failed.<br>I was a police officer and one of many who attended the scene of the attempted kidnap.<br>The pistol which failed was examined the following day at the firearms school and the following was found.<br>The barrel was blocked by pocket lining lint and grease which mixed formed a barrel plus there was a paper bus ticket rolled up and inserted into the barrel.<br>The ammunition failed to fire because the rounds were empty of powder and upon firing only the cap fired and the bullet was stopped by the obstruction as described. This was repeated until the officer collapsed. The pistols issued were from a pool of weapons held at Cannon Row Police Station where the protection officers were based. On arrival for duty one was taken from the cupboard and signed out together with two loaded magazines. This officer carried his weapon in an attache case which he kept under the seat he sat in whilst in the car otherwise he carried the case.<br>When drawing the weapon it would be in the front office of the station and the checks had they been done would have shown the barrel was blocked and was unsafe. It was not checked nor were the rounds which had never been checked and the bullets had been removed and the propellant lost.<br>The weapons were never checked or serviced. No one was responsible for them being in good working order.<br>The protection officer has blamed the dust collecting on the weapon but in reality he will never tell the truth .<br>The commissioner and all senior officers at the Met all knew and said nothing.<br>Walthers were banned from all Police Forces following this by the Home Secretary blaming faulty spring in magazines.<br>Walthers were chosen because they were mentioned in the first pages of DR NO . Also the other pistol mentioned there was the smith and wesson model 36 also issued for years until replaced by smith and wesson model 10.<br>The protection officer was saved by a boxer who deserved all the rewards and not the neglectful officer.<br>I hope this is useful.

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• DO

  @douglloyd9662 · 4 weeks ago

  I have carried the PPK &nbsp;in 380 acp for thirty years, like any weapon it must be kept clean and you must choose the proper ammunition.

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• IA

  @ianbeedles1329 · 2 weeks ago

  One of the little known facts about the Walter PPK was that it was used by section of the British Armed Forces.<br>During the early stages of &apos;Op Granby&apos; (Gulf War 1990-91 - or &apos;Desert Shield/Storm&apos; for our American readership), the RAF pilots and navigators of &apos;XI (Composite) Squadron&apos;, flying Tornado F.3, had their standard SLP (Self Loading Pistol - AKA L9A1 or Browning Hi-Power), removed from they flight safety equipment vests and had the PPK&apos;s in their stead. The advantages of this change-over were laid out in this video (small size and less bulky compared to the L9), the disadvantage was that none of the Aircrews had been put through the TOET&apos;s (Test Of Elementary Training) on this new weapon (to the best of my knowledge, none ever did until the returned to the UK and did their annual Ground Defense Training).<br>I was fortunate to be one of the 330 ground crew attached to the Squadron, and as a lowly MT Driver, was asked if I&apos;d help the Safety Equipment Fitters (Squippers) clean about two dozen PPK&apos;s before they attached them to the vests.<br>After the war, a new aide-memoire was issued to all members of the RAF. The old one was called &apos;Survive to Fight&apos; (covering all aspects of NBC, first-aid etc), and the new one was &apos;Ground Defense Training Common Core Skills &apos;. In it was &nbsp;a whole new section dedicated to safe handling drills for the Walter PPK.

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• PJ

  @Pjs75 · 3 weeks ago

  The Princess Anne incident occurred on ‘The Mall’ not ‘Pall Mall’ that is a separate though parallel roadway, that lies just outside the route toward Buckingham Palace, &nbsp;‘The Mall’ is the major, direct route from ‘Admiralty Arch’ to Buckingham Palace, whereas ‘Pall Mall’ veers away from St James’s Palace toward Piccadilly.

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• JO

  @josephnoll2754 · 4 weeks ago (edited)

  I&apos;m going to assume the officer like most police failed to maintain his service pistol... known a few police officers and armed security only a couple regularly cleaned and maintained their sidearms. Training matters...<br>The PPK in 380acp is a nice piece

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• AU

  @audacity60 · 3 weeks ago

  The Walther jammed in the Mall incident because of cheap ammo. The Met changed to better ammo &amp; the jams stopped. However, the decision was made to switch to S&amp;W model 10 &amp; 36 revolvers. &nbsp;The British Army did buy a small batch of Walther PP in .32 for discrete use. &nbsp;The Royal Ulster Constabulary used the Walther PP in .380. &nbsp;Northern Ireland citizens under threat from the IRA were allowed a Walther PP in .22lr.

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• RU

  @RumRunnerO1 · 3 weeks ago (edited)

  The PPK was the first pistol I ever bought. I’ve never had a single malfunction in 20+ years. It will give you a slide bite if you have large hands and don’t handle it correctly though. That’s a PPK right of passage right there. Mine has gotten a few people with that, myself included.

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• SC

  @schizoidboy · 10 days ago

  When my Dad was in the Customs Service he carried a PPK and he hated it. The slide kept on nipping his hand in the space between the thumb and the fingers. They had other guns, particularly the Smith and Wesson types like the Chief&apos;s Special which was also geared towards police work, my Dad called it a &quot;belly gun&quot; probably because that was where the holster was located most of the time hooked to the belt along the belly. Incidentally, as I understand it, Boothroy also suggested the Colt snub nosed revolver, it might have been the Colt Cobra model although the Colt Detective Special was also available. So on a whim it might be suggested that Fleming picked the PPK rather than the Colt snub nosed revolver. It also might have been more reliable than the PPK in that instance (though it was said a faulty magazine caused the jam). I also understand the British police were known for carrying the Smith and Wesson Model 36 - the Chief&apos;s Special for many years.

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• TH

  @therusn8r10 · 3 weeks ago

  The irony being in the movie Dr No, they cited to Bond that the reason for replacing his Beretta was that it jammed on him last job.

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• MA

  @masudashizue777 · 3 weeks ago

  In spite of this unfortunate incident, I trust the Walther PPK wholeheartedly, having 10 examples German-made PPKs in my collection. &nbsp;However, I do have a different weapon for home protection due to the low ammo capacity of the PPK.

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• JA

  @janmale7767 · 10 days ago

  The wheelgun remains the 👑 of reliability!

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