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Title:	PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC -  GERMAN PISTOL WALTHER PPK 7.65MM SN# 820182
Maker/Manufacturer:	WALTHER, CARL
Date of Manufacture:	1931-1935
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 892
Measurements:	OL: 15.2CM 6" BL: 8.2CM 3 1/4"

Object Description:

GERMAN PISTOL WALTHER PPK 7.65MM SN# 820182
Manufactured by Walther, Zella-Mehlis, Germany - German commercial semi-automatic pistol with 7-round detachable box magazine. Blowback-operated. Blued-finish with one-piece wrap-around brown checkered plastic grips. Double action, loaded chamber indicator, hammer release safety. Plastic bottom magazine. 90 degrees safety variant. 6-groove rifling, right hand twist. Muzzle velocity 950 fps. Weapon weighs approximately 1.5 lbs. unloaded. Weapon is complete and in excellent condition.

Markings:
Frame: 820182.
Slide: Walther logo. WAFFENFABRIK WALTHER, ZELLA-MEHLIS (THUR)/WALTHER'S PATENT CAL. 7.65 MM. MOD. PPK (Polizei Pistole Kriminal). Right side: Crown/N proof.
Barrel: Crown/N commercial proofs.

Notes: "Walther began its serial numbering sequence for the Model PPK at around 757800, suggesting that its production followed the PP's by several months. Throughout the early years of production, up to about 1938, Walther interspersed the serial numbers of the Model PPL with those of the PP. Once the serial numbers reached the one million mark the company began numbering the PPK in a separate serial number sequence beginning at 1000000 K. When the German proofmark changed from 'Crown over N' to 'Eagle over N' in April 1940, the PPK serial numbers were around 2500000 K to 258000 K. By war's end in 1945, PPK serial numbers had reached approximately 433,000 K. Near the end of the war, Walther produced far fewer PPKs than PPs; some authorities go so far as to maintain the Walther may have actually ceased PPK production by late 1943. Nevertheless, it is unquestionably true that the PP received far more orders from Germany's armed forces during the closing months of the war." - Gangarosa

"The Walther PPK is a smaller edition of the PP, intended to be issued to plain clothes police (Pistole, Polizei-Kriminale) and hence easily concealed. In mechanism and construction it is almost identical with the PP, the only differences lying in the dimensions and construction of the butt. On the PP, the butt frame is forged to shape, with two separate side-pieces of plastic. On the PPK, the frame forging is a simple rectangle and the plastic grip is a one-piece wrap-around component which produces the final shape. Like the Model PP, the PPK can be found in .22 Long Rifle, 6.35mm, 7.65mm and 9mm Short calibers, although the 7.65mm is by far the most common and only a few 6.45mm pistols seem to have been made." - Hogg & Weeks

References:
Gangarosa, Gene. THE WALTHER HANDGUN STORY. Stoeger Publishing Co. Wayne, N.J. 1999.
Hogg, Ian V. John S. Weeks. MILITARY SMALL ARMS OF THE 20TH CENTURY. 7th Ed. Krause Publications. Iola, Wi. 2000.
Hogg, Ian. SMALL ARMS: PISTOLS AND RIFLES. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, Pa. 2001.