Type: Semiautomatic pistol
Produced: 1931-Present
Caliber: 7,65 mm Browning (7,65x17 mmSR/.32 Auto)
Action: Blowback
Trigger: Double action
Safety: Thumb lever/decoker (slide), half cock, load chamber indicator
Magazine: 7 rounds, box single
Sights: Rear, open sight fixed, square notch; Front, blade shape fixed
Grooves: 6 grooves, right-hand twist
Barrel length: 3.3" (83 mm)
Overall length: 6.10" (155 mm)
Muzzle energy: 119 ft-lb (161 J)
Muzzle velocity: 978 ft/s (298 m/s)

The most common variant of Walther PP is the PPK, a smaller version of the PP with a shorter grip, barrel and frame, and reduced magazine capacity. A new, two-piece wrap-around grip panel construction was used to conceal the exposed back strap. The smaller size made it more concealable than the original PP and hence better suited to plain-clothes or undercover work. It was released in 1931.
"PPK" is an abbreviation for Polizeipistole Kriminal (literally "police pistol criminal"), referring to the Kriminalamt crime investigation office. While the K is often mistakenly assumed to stand for kurz (German for "short"), as the variant has a shorter barrel and frame, Walther used the name "Kriminal" in early advertising brochures and the 1937 GECO German catalog.
This pistol was widely used as police and military gun in Hitler’s Germany.
The PPK saw widespread use. Adolf Hitler killed himself with his PPK (.25 Auto/6,35 mm Browning) in the Führerbunker in Berlin. A Walther PPK .32 Auto (gun number 159270) was used in 1979 by Kim Jae-gyu, director of the Korean Central Intelligence, to kill former South Korean leader Park Chung-hee. A PPK carried by Princess Anne's personal police officer James Beaton infamously jammed during a kidnapping attempt on the princess and her husband.
Either James Bond and Walther dates to Ian Fleming’s 1958 novel Dr. No in which 007 relinquishes his Beretta “ladies gun” (Beretta 1934, in this particular movie) and starts carrying a Walther PPK in .32 Auto, on the advice of firearms expert Geoffrey Boothroyd, because in early movies before Dr. No the gun was, indeed, a Beretta 1934. In more recent years, Bond has appeared on screen with the Walther P99.
Although referred to as a PPK in the film adaption of 1962, the actual gun carried by actor Sean Connery was a Walther PP.
Actor Jack Lord, who played Felix Leiter in Dr. No, was presented with a gold-plated PPK with ivory handgrips, given to him by his friend Elvis Presley. Presley himself owned at least two PPK pistols: a silver-finish PPK, inscribed "Elvis" on the barrel and "TCB" ("taking care of business") and a gold-plated and intricately engraved on the slide, frame and portions of the grip, which included again his name and trademark “TCB” (Taking Care of Business) and lightning bolt. The first one, nickel finished, was produced in West Germany in 1974, as one of Elvis’ favorite pistols, and it sold at auction in 2015 for a reported USD $62,500.
In the past, the PPK version has been manufactured by Walther in its own factory in Germany, as well as under licenses by Manurhin in Alsace, France, since 1952 to 1986.
In 1978, Ranger Manufacturing of Gadsden, Alabama, was licensed to manufacture the PPK and PPK/S (Slide). This version was distributed by Interarms of Alexandria, Virginia. Ranger made versions of the PPK/S in both blued and stainless steel and chambered in .380 Auto and only made copies chambered in .32 Auto from 1997 to 1999. This license was eventually canceled in 1999. Walther USA of Springfield, Massachusetts, briefly made PPKs and PPK/Ss directly through Black Creek Manufacturing from 1999 to 2001. From 2002, Smith & Wesson began manufacturing the PPK and PPK/S under license in Houlton, Maine, until 2013. In February 2009, S&W issued a recall for PPKs it manufactured for a defect in the hammer block safety. In 2018 Walther Arms began producing them again at their new USA manufacturing plant in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and new ones are being shipped as of March 2019.
As mentioned there are other versions as PPK-L (Lightweight) and PPK-S (Slide), both in .32 Auto and .22 Long Rifle, and PPK/E, produced in Hungary under Walther licence since 2000 by FÉG (Fegyver- és Gépgyártó Részvénytársaság/Arms and Machine Manufacturing Company), in .22 Long Rifle, .32 Auto and .380 Auto.
Designed by Fritz Walther (1889-1966).

Credits:
Author's knowledge;
DOCKERY, Kevin - Compendium of Modern Firearms: Edge of the sword. Vol. I. Berkley, California, USA: R. Talsorian Games, 1990. ISBN 978-0937279236;
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