Artist's commentary
Walther PPK- Polizei Pistole Kriminal
Graphite Pencil sketch traced, proportionally corrected, inked, colored and shaded in the procreate drawing app on my iPad 7 with the Apple Pencil.
Introduced in 1931 by Walther as a pistol intended for plainclothes detectives, this little famous gun would go on to be a well known sidearm or backup firearm for Nazi party officers and other German big wigs who didn’t carry a larger Luger or P-38 Pistol. Various German government agencies and Wehrmacht outfits did have contracts for PPKs as well as being available commercially. After the war, it became well known as the gun of Ian Fleming’s fictional novel and movie 007 character James Bond.
It and the slightly larger Walther PP (introduced 1929) were the first modern double-action semi automatic pistols, meaning they could be safely carried with a round in the chamber and the manual safety off. This was because pulling the trigger for the first shot was a heavy pull that also cocked the hammer. The PPK was offered in .22-LR, .25-ACP, .32-ACP, and .380-ACP but .32-ACP as seen in my picture was by far the most common. In .32-ACP (known as 7.65mm in Europe) the PPK held 7 rounds in the magazine. Two magazines would typically ship with each gun, one with an extended grip (shown in the gun) and one without. Pictured is a vintage box of .32-ACP (7.65mm) from the WWII era.