The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Walther PPK "Heirloom"- to shoot or not to shoot...

DATL · January 18, 2013, 12:40 AM

So my late father passed down a Walther PPK to me. His father, my grandfather, served in WWII and brought it back from Germany.

We shot it from time to time, years ago. Then it sat in a safe undisturbed for a long time and started to get some rust on it. When we discovered this we had it re-blued, and my father and I were never really happy with the quality of the service. The lines of the gun just don't look too terribly nice anymore.

The German writing is almost not legible. It says WaA 359 under the eagle stamp. I hear the PPK everyone's granddad brought back from WWII has some "special story" but without papers it's just a neat story. So I can't see this specimen being of any more value than any other run of the mill PPK from that period regardless of story.

I really question having something just sitting in a safe until you die. I get the whole heirloom thing. I want to pass down all my guns to my future kids and all...

My question is this:
A) Would you keep a gun like this in a safe (since it's an heirloom)? Or get it looked over by a gunsmith and shoot it or carry it whenever you want?

B) Would you keep it in the condition it is in? Or have a nice looking custom finish and grips put on it if you wanted to?

Thanks for any opinions!!!

January 18, 2013, 12:40 AM	#1
DATL Senior Member Join Date: January 21, 2012 Posts: 113	Walther PPK "Heirloom"- to shoot or not to shoot... So my late father passed down a Walther PPK to me. His father, my grandfather, served in WWII and brought it back from Germany. We shot it from time to time, years ago. Then it sat in a safe undisturbed for a long time and started to get some rust on it. When we discovered this we had it re-blued, and my father and I were never really happy with the quality of the service. The lines of the gun just don't look too terribly nice anymore. The German writing is almost not legible. It says WaA 359 under the eagle stamp. I hear the PPK everyone's granddad brought back from WWII has some "special story" but without papers it's just a neat story. So I can't see this specimen being of any more value than any other run of the mill PPK from that period regardless of story. I really question having something just sitting in a safe until you die. I get the whole heirloom thing. I want to pass down all my guns to my future kids and all... My question is this: A) Would you keep a gun like this in a safe (since it's an heirloom)? Or get it looked over by a gunsmith and shoot it or carry it whenever you want? B) Would you keep it in the condition it is in? Or have a nice looking custom finish and grips put on it if you wanted to? Thanks for any opinions!!! Last edited by DATL; January 18, 2013 at 01:28 AM.