Production of P-38/P-1 pistol began in Ulm in 1957. Walther reemerged in 1953 in Ulm,West Germany. Zella-Mehlis became trapped behind the Iron-Curtain and became East-Germany,the Walther plant was no more. WWII came along and the Walther folks found themselves in a Russian controlled section of Germany and fled with whatever technical data they could. The original Walther plant was located in (Most often this can be corrected by altering your grip.) Personally, the PPK is too small for me, but the extra 1/4" of the PPKS makes all the difference in the world.Īnd I'm only going to ask this because I'm curious.and no offence meant.but what does "If I ever decide to "carry" a gun," mean?Ī little history lesson is in order. Meaning, you can get a good grip, not suffer from slide, or hammer, bite. I will say that before you buy a PPK, make sure you can shoot a PPK. And, what the seller throws into the deal. It all depends on what you want and how fast you want it. I've paid more for Interarms pistols, at times, than German made pistols. The guys over at Walther Forums are a wealth of knowledge.) (And beware of fakes and reproduction parts if you decide you want a rare weapon. Wartime and rare pistols can cost you your first (and second or third) born. It depends how much effort you're willing to put into the search, where you search, and how much you want to own one "Right Now!" My personal opine is that SWalther weapons are, well, different. Price for German and French (Manurhin) made pistols is generally higher but not significantly so over an Interarms (imported and Ranger made) or SWalther made weapons. German made PPK pistols say so on the slide or the frame.