NRA Gun of the Week: Walther PP

The first double-action pistol that really worked, the Walther PP (for Polizei Pistole) changed how semi-automatic triggers would operate. Originally a police and pocket pistol, the double-action trigger mechanism would translate to other designs, as would its decocker. Oh, and the James Bond thing with the later PPK doesn't hurt either.

But not all Walther PPs were made for Polizei or personal protection. No, the beautifully made Walther PPs were also made as a training and plinking guns in .22 Long Rifle not long after the .32 ACP was introduced, and the rimfires went back into production after World War II.

Although the diminutive .22 TPH would come later, full size PPs with 3.86” long barrels and well-polished blued steel slides and barrels and 10-round-capacity magazines were imported by Interarms in Alexandria, Va., starting in 1963, and for a time (before the fall of the Iron Curtain) they were actually marked “Made in W. Germany.” This is one classy vintage rimfire pistol.