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Old March 16, 2007, 07:33 AM   #1
BOILERMAN
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Walther PPK/S

I have a Walther PPK/S 380 made in W. Germany.Ulm It's stamped 72 with the antlers. The thing is it's finished in a dull satin silver. Appears to be a factory finish but I couldn't find much info on it. Any ideas? I ran across another site that someone posted they made a few hundred of these. Some sort of nickle electrolisis finish? serial # starts 166xxx. No concrete facts though.
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Old March 16, 2007, 02:46 PM   #2
RJay
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Regardless of what is roll marked on the slide, from 1952 until 1984 all PP/PPK/PPK/S were manufactured at the Manurhin factory in France. Your serial number, if there are no prefixes or suffixes, dates your PPK/S to 06/68 to 12/85. That's not a contradiction on the dates. Frames were made ahead of time and assembled by Manurhin after Walther restarted production. Can't help you on the finish, My reference dont list it.
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Old March 16, 2007, 04:30 PM   #3
Bill DeShivs
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Sounds like a satin chrome finish.
It may be factory or maybe someone had a new one Armolloyed, or similar.
Bill
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Old March 31, 2007, 07:06 PM   #4
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heres some pics...







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Old March 31, 2007, 09:28 PM   #5
RJay
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Very nice, and it does look factory.
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Old March 31, 2007, 10:30 PM   #6
Bill DeShivs
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I would say the finish is chrome. If you plate a brand new gun, you can dip it in acid to remove the bluing and "frost" the steel, then put it directly in the plating tank, and it will look "factory" as no polishing was done. Whether this is a factory finish, I can't say.
Bill

Last edited by Bill DeShivs; April 1, 2007 at 01:49 AM.
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Old April 1, 2007, 04:16 PM   #7
kennybs plbg
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It's a factory finish. In 83/84 I purchased new a Manurhan PPK/S made in France with the same finish. It was said to have a Duragaurd/nickel finish at that time. It by far is one of the most durable finishes I have seen. I have carried mine CCW over 20 years in some of the worst conditions, eg. cold, hot, sweat from my body and it just gets thrown in the top drawer until the next carry, I'm embarresed to say it's my only firearm I neglect and it looks like the day I purchased it. Works flawlessly every time I go to the range.
My ser #267xxx. That was imported through a florida based importer. My friend was a licensed dealer at the time, and we both purchased one from a small limited shipment that came in.
Yours is the first stamped Walther that I have seen.

I still have the original box and paperwork, I'll pull it out and see if it has any info on the finish.

kenny b

Last edited by kennybs plbg; April 1, 2007 at 04:25 PM. Reason: additional info.
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Old April 1, 2007, 04:59 PM   #8
kennybs plbg
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The original owners manual has no reference to the finish. I do have a so called birth certificate for it but I don't have a clue to what it say's, it's in french.
My bad on the importer above, it was Matra-Manurhin International in Alexandria, Virginia.
Do you have the second mag. with it? It gives it a sportier look with the black extension.

kenny b
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Old April 3, 2007, 08:40 PM   #9
9mmHP
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Anyone have old Interarms catalogs from that period? They might list it. (I used to love thumbing through their catalogs when I was a kid.)
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